Yeşilçam sinemasinda absürt komedi ve melezlik: 1970ler ve 1980ler Türkiye sosyopolitik bağlaminda Baytan ve Sunal filmleri"

ABSURD COMEDY AND HYBRIDITY IN YESILCAM CINEMA: BAYTAN AND SUNAL FILMS IN THE SOCIO-POLITICAL CONTEXT OF 1970s AND 1980s TURKEY ABSTRACT Natuk Baytan and Kemal Sunal made ten absurd comedies between 1976 and 1986, coinciding with the declining period of Yeşilçam Cinema. The worsening economic situation and the lack of a solid foundation for the cinema industry led filmmakers to fast low-cost productions in the 1970s, which were harshly criticised in terms of content and form. At a first glance, Baytan-Sunal comedies seem to be merely for entertainment. A close analysis demonstrates that they address and criticise the societal issues of the era, through their satirical absurdity. This thesis aims to understand Baytan-Sunal films as products of Yeşilçam's hybridity. Through preventing an invisible and continuous storytelling which creates a realist impression, the hybrid aesthetics of the ten films in question works against the intention of the apparatus; hence, enhances the critical distance created by their absurdity. Within the turbulent socio-political and economic context of Turkey of the 1970s-1980s, the hybrid aesthetics of Baytan-Sunal movies highlight their absurdity in narrative structure, character choices and stylistic features. The absurd and hybrid aesthetics of Baytan-Sunal movies is a result of Yeşilçam's declining and Turkey's unrestful sociopolitical climate, with its unstable governments, declining economy, political polarization, and violence. In Baytan-Sunal movies, absurdities on the levels of narrative structure, character choices and stylistic choices, which are due to the hybrid nature of Yeşilçam Cinema, create a distance that allow for a meta-critical gaze (since they prevent immersive and relatable storytelling), although movies as such have been criticized for not being critical or educational for the public.