Grotesque in postmodern Turkish novel

The concept of grotesque, which emerged as a name given to cave decorations in Europe in the 15th century, has started to appear in all art branches such as theater, painting, and literature in time. We can say that grotesque has covered many sub-concepts in time and thus no clear limit has been defined for its definition. As a result, the content of the grotesque has changed about its content over the centuries and has evolved with rich connotations in modern times. Although many artists comment on the concept of Grotesque, we see two fundamental theorists, Mihail Bakhtin (1895-1975) and Wolfgang Kayser (1906-1960). While Bakhtin, one of the mentioned theorists, focuses on the grotesque concept with a comic aspect, Kayser takes the grotesque concept based on fear and theorizes it. In this study, the fear-centered perception of grotesque was emphasized through the views of W. Kayser. Since the comic aspect of the grotesque concept in Turkish literature is emphasized, this study focuses on the fearful and alienating aspect of Kayser's perception. In total number, twenty-five (25) novels of fourteen (14) authors were examined in the study. Considering the novels that are examined, we can say that the concept of grotesque mainly focuses on alienation, differentiation of the human body, grotesque body, fragmentation, contrast, and finally polyphony and pluralistic expression. If we consider the way that is followed by the Turkish novel within the framework of the grotesque perception after 1980, we can say that the concept has changed over the years. Also we can say that when the postmodernity was dominant, grotesque perception was completely intertwined with postmodernity.