Author(s): Melih ERZEN
Literary works dealing with the teenagers or their psychology, problems and the spiritual world at their transition to adolescence are generally regarded as “the youth literature”. Despite the scope and validity of such description and nomenclature in Turkish literature yet to be discussed in detail, there have been significant compilations of literature appealing to the young people in adolescence. Nur ?çözü is one of the authors who wrote several children's books, as well as youth novels have contributed to this accumulation. ?çözü's work called Dönemeç (The Turning Point), published in 2001, it has gained attention as a novel focused on the particular problems of the youth. In this novel dealt with the story of a teenager’s who emigrated from a province to metropolis, ?çözü looks into many aspects of the social and psychological issues of teenagers. The author describes the status of contemporary teenagers by looking into immigration problems, parent - child conflict, economical problems meanwhile she also offers suggestions towards solving out difficulties of livelihood. On the other hand, the desire to self-realization, lack of communication, psychological dilemmas brought about the feelings of love and other forms of youth are among the issues that the author drew attention. A fiction based on the complimented youth perspectives and hopeful, optimistic approach is apparent in this novel. The aim of this study is to contribute to the youth literature in Turkey by examining the novel named Dönemeç (The Turning Point) by Nur ?çözü in terms of the problems of youth. In the study, the approach of the author to the matter and the novel's plot in terms of youth issues will be addressed through examining the thematic structure.
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