Ecocritical reading of Reha Erdem's movies; Analysis of nature and culture dichotomy

Today as the environmental destruction scales up, narratives such as novels, movies and tv serials tackle this subject more and more. These narratives manifest anxiety for the future of nature. As the environmental crisis worsens, the number of these narratives increases too. Thus, what used to be the investigation matter of solely the natural sciences, has also entered the field of culture. Within the field of Cultural Ecology, which analyzes the effects of climate conditions and geographical circumstances on the development of culture, the cultural outputs are studied based on the interaction of humankind and the environment. This study carries out an ecocritical reading of the movies of Reha Erdem. The main concepts of the study are, 'Literature as Cultural Ecology' by Zapf and 'Cinema as Cultural Ecology' by Gürses. This study investigates the dichotomy in the foundation of cinema via the movies of Reha Erdem. The literature research of this study affirms that, the movies of Reha Erdem can be analyzed from this point of view. Hence the movies of the director, are established as the research subject. The sample of the study are Kosmos (2009), Şarkı Söyleyen Kadınlar (2013), Koca Dünya (2016), Jin (2012), Hayat Var (2008) and Beş Vakit (2006). The historical evolution of Ecocritism is analyzed in the literature review. The position of Ecocritism within the scientific paradigms is investigated. Furthermore, the connection of Cultural Ecology with fields such as literature, mythology and cinema is researched to provide foundation for the field research.