Analysis of Yaşar Kemal's İnce Memed-1 novel's according to the theory of cultural semiotics Yuri Lotman

Cultural semiotics is the discipline that explores how people express and communicate their cultures through language, symbolism, imagery, and aesthetics. This field focuses on examining social structures and cultural practices using semiotic analysis. The primary goal of cultural semiotics is to study how cultural products and practices acquire meaning and the functions these meanings serve within society. Language and symbols are used to understand the differences and similarities between cultures. The meanings and values of cultures are expressed through symbols, and cultural semiotics investigates how these symbols operate and how people interpret them. This discipline also examines the transformation and evolution of cultures over time. Cultural semiotics aims to understand how cultures have changed throughout history. Moreover, cultural semiotics draws from various disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, and linguistics to comprehend how people express and interpret their cultures through language and symbols. When Yaşar Kemal's novel İnce Memed is analyzed from the perspective of cultural semiotics, it is found to contain numerous symbolic and cultural elements. The social structure of Turkish society, village life, the feudal system, and the struggle against this system are aspects that can be deeply examined. The novel particularly reflects the societal changes of the early Republic era, offering symbolic representations of these changes through its characters. Cultural codes such as the quest for justice, individual resistance against the system, and local traditions are embedded in the fabric of this novel, and through cultural semiotic analysis, the social meanings and functions of these elements are revealed. Additionally, İnce Memed's heroic journey shows parallels with the epic narratives commonly found in Turkish folk literature. The reason for choosing the first novel of the series is that it is where the fundamental elements and characters of the story are first introduced, and where the main themes are shaped. The first book lays the groundwork for the events that unfold in the rest of the series and marks the starting point of Memed's personal and social struggle. viii Therefore, the first book is considered the most suitable material for examining the cultural codes, social structure, and societal dynamics of the period in their purest form. This allows for a clear analysis of the initial meanings of the characters' development and cultural representations.