An examination of Miyase Sertbarut's works called Guinea Pigs of Kapiland I and Gudrun Pausewang's Last Children of Schewenborn under of modern dystopia

Literature has been a part of human life since ancient times, alongside the tradition of oral literature. The interaction between different societies has naturally allowed the cultural characteristics of one society to be reflected in others, enabling literary texts to exist across various cultures. Consequently, events affecting society have also shaped literature. Each society has transferred many of its unique features to the other societies it interacts with, making the appearance of similar elements in different cultures inevitable. The occurrence of cultural exchange and its presence throughout various historical periods has brought research on influence and inter-influence in national literatures to the forefront. Over time, this research has transformed into a discipline and has become a distinct field within literature. Comparative literature is an important area of study that seeks to uncover the connections between two different literary works. This discipline does not merely focus on the similarities and differences within the literary world, but also reveals various characteristics of societies in many different areas. Every positive or negative development experienced in society inevitably reflects in literary texts and is examined through comparative literature. Therefore, comparative literature, while drawing from various disciplines, also contributes to these fields through the insights it provides. From an ontological perspective, humans serve the society they are part of through their actions in social life as well as through their negative behaviors. However, this service progresses along two distinct paths: good and evil. As a result, the world we live in is affected positively or negatively. This influence inevitably finds its reflection in literary texts across societies and corresponds with the concepts of utopia and dystopia. The concepts of utopia and dystopia, which are included among literary genres, are used both to critique the era and to raise awareness within societies. Utopia and dystopia represent good and evil, respectively, while also striving to highlight the problems that society faces and may face in the future. Thus, they evolve into two distinct genres with a broader scope. This study will examine the novels Kapiland's Guinea Pigs I by Miyase Sertbarut and The Last Children of Schewenborn by Gudrun Pausewang. Youth literature is an important literary field that encompasses the identity development of adolescents, social criticism, and anxieties about the future. In this context, the dystopias in youth literature not only present dark future scenarios to young readers but also critique existing social structures. The works of Sertbarut and Pausewang express this criticism powerfully through the struggles of young individuals against the pressures of the capitalist system. The main theme of the study is the function of the dystopian genre in youth literature and how this genre encourages social awareness among young readers. The comparison between the works of Miyase Sertbarut, written in Turkey and Gudrun Pausewang, written in Germany, demonstrates how the dystopian genre is interpreted in different cultural contexts. The texts overlap with universal themes such as resistance, the search for identity and the struggle for freedom. The aim of this study is to reveal how two dystopian novels from different cultures reflect the state of young individuals in a chaotic environment influenced by the negative developments of the modern world, as well as how they construct this reality within youth literature.