An ecocritical approach on Turkish science fiction novels

Science fiction is the creation of events, situations, stories, scenarios that may happen in the future using elements of science and technology that are not possible today. Science and technology are the basis of science fiction, which is translated from the English word "science-fiction" into Turkish. At the beginning of the 19th century, authors such as Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe began to write their first works of science fiction. Writers such as Jules Verne and H. G. Wells also wrote works in this genre with the use of electricity and the emergence of new transportation technologies. The theoretical framework of the genre that has become widespread with magazine activities since the beginning of the 20th century, was initially created by editors. Science fiction is very popular today and continues to increasingly exist in Turkish literature. Science fiction novels became very popular especially in the post-1980 period. Works produced in various subgenres of science fiction include various intellectual principles and approaches according to the authors' perspectives. Ecocriticism among these approaches critically examines how nature is handled in literary works. Ecocriticism examines man's destructive attitude towards nature and has become more systematic after 1970; Ecocriticism has various sub-approaches such as abundance, environmentalism, deep ecology, social ecology and ecofeminism. Environmental districtions such as global warming and climate change has led science fiction writers to write on these issues as the result of human activities based on industrialization and technological development, especially in the last two centuries and this continues to increase. In this context, the effects of humans on nature and the environment are questioned in the works produced. It is also emphasized that environmental destruction will put nature into an irreversible process if precautions are not taken and a sensitive society does not emerge. In the study, the concepts of science fiction and ecocriticism are discussed and science fiction novels in Turkish literature are examined with ecocritical approaches. In this context, novels that reflect the characteristics of the period, from the first Turkish science fiction novel to the present day, have been evaluated on the axis of ecocriticism, based on the phases they have gone through.