Functioning of power mechanisms in Kemal Tahir's prison novels

Our study, which focuses on the functioning of power mechanisms and the possibilities of subjectivation in Kemal Tahir's prison novels, aims to conduct a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis through the texts it deals with. Foucauldian Discourse Analysis has shown the deviations in the social order and the elements that are outside the general tendency. As a result of the discourse analysis carried out in our study, in Kemal Tahir's novels; rather than the manifestations of the dominant discourses in Turkish social life, discourses that these dominant elements exclude and limit their visibility emerge. It has been observed that the power mechanisms and discourse order in prison have very limited destructive, subjugating and dominating qualities on the subjects they are dealing with. It can be said that resisting the dominant discourses of the social order, especially the discourse of crime and punishment, and developing different practices of agency and subjectivation are common tendencies of prison experiences. As a result of this tendency to resistance, the power practices operating in prison did not produce reasonable and obedient citizen subjects. It has been observed that the visibility of many discourses such as modern, pre-modern, Ottomanist, Turkist, nationalist, religious, superstitious, rational, evolutionist, positivist, criminal, deviant, obscene, immoral, Westernist, secularist has become evident in the discourse order in prison. This diversity of discourses has shown that prison is not a place of absolute segregation and confinement, but a place of social visibility and contact at significant levels. In our study, it has been observed that the intellectual has a central position in the discourse distribution and power network in the prison experience. In the novels of our study, it is clear that the institution of prison does not point to an order of power based on absolute sovereignty, but rather to a place of visibility of extremely diverse discourses and subjectivities spread in social space. The discourses and subjective experiences that spread throughout social life gain visibility through the central intellectual in the prison. Being visible through the central intellectual subject points to the influence of the position of the intellectual in social life. It is possible to state that the intellectual establishes his/her own subjectivity and undergoes transformation by coming into contact with extremely diverse discourses in prison life. Keywords: Kemal Tahir, Prison, Power, Discourse, Intellectual