Autobiographical elements in Necati Cumali's stories and novels

Developing an understanding or appreciation of a literary work detached from its author is not possible. A work cannot be appreciated in all aspects without an adequate understanding of its author. However, getting to know the life of an author in all aspects is possible thanks to an appreciation of his works. It is possible both to understand all aspects of the work and to understand the life of the author sufficiently by understanding the connection between the author and the work. Starting from here, this study aims to identify the autobiographical elements in the works of Necati Cumalı, who devoted almost sixty years of his life to literature and reflected his life to his works, thereby helping develop a better understanding of Cumalı's life and his works. In this study, in order to better determine the place of Cumalı in Turkish literature, firstly, a literature review was conducted to create a theoretical framework. Then the story and the novel genres in the republican period were examined, and the relationship between literature and biography was explained. Later, Cumalı was introduced with reference to his life, art and works. Finally, the autobiographical elements in the stories and novels of Cumalı were identified and the similarities between the life and works of the author were determined. Cumalı is an outstanding figure considering the connection between his life and his works. The author himself said that he personally experienced the things he wrote, visiting and seeing them. Thus, there is a very strong connection between the author's life and works. Many autobiographical elements have been identified in his 6 novels, and 117 stories which were included in 9 story books.