Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

Sevim Burak’s Protest Theatre: Understanding Sevim Burak Through Adorno

Year 2021, Issue: 32, 57 - 74, 21.06.2021
https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.877058

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore Sevim Burak’s theatre through Adorno’s “negative dialectics” and “culture industry” theories. The article claims that Burak’s theatre is revolutionary in the sense that it challenges the traditional norms of theatre based on representation of real life. Burak, in contrast to traditional theatrical forms, creates a form negating real life and resisting against any form of mimetic representation. However, this does not turn her theatre into an apolitical, anti-social, or extremely individualistic one as Burak’s form is rooted in the social and parental background of the playwright. However, her unique form was expelled from the literary circles and has long been neglected by scholars, which the article claims is the result of the reflections of Adorno’s “culture industry” on the literary scene in Turkey. Thus, the final claim of the article is that Burak’s theatre is revolutionary and a protest not due to its subject matter but to its form.

References

  • Adorno, T.W. Aesthetic Theory, Translated by R. Hullot-Kentor. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. google scholar
  • Adorno, T.W. Culture Industry. Edited by J.M. Bernstein. London and New York: Routledge Classics, 2005. google scholar
  • Adorno, Theodor. “Reconciliation under Duress”, in Aesthetics and Politics. Edited by Ronald Taylor. London; New York: Verso Publishing, 1980. google scholar
  • Adorno: Kitle, Melankoli, Felsefe- Cogito Dergi. Edited by E. Efe Çakmak. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2020. google scholar
  • Aracagök, Zafer & Yalım, Burcu. “Spectacle, Speculative, Spectile: Situations in Sarah Kane, Sevim Burak etc.”, Third Text, (2010). 437-444. google scholar
  • Bir Usta Bir Dünya: Sevim Burak. Edited by Filiz Özdem. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2013. google scholar
  • Burak, Sevim. Sahibinin Sesi. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2020. google scholar
  • Burak, Sevim. Mach One’dan Mektuplar. İstanbul: Palto Yayınları, 2014. google scholar
  • Chris Thornhill and Ronny Miron, “Karl Jaspers”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edited by Edward N. Zalta (Spring 2020 Edition), google scholar https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/jaspers/. google scholar
  • Cough, Maria. “Back in the USSR: John Heartfield, Gustavs Klucis, and the Medium of Soviet Propaganda”, New German Critique, No.107. (2009), 133-183. google scholar
  • Demirtaş, Mustafa. Postyapısalcı Edebiyat Kuramı: Sevim Burak Edebiyatta Bir Tekillik Düşünürü. İstanbul: Otonom Yayınları, 2015. google scholar
  • Dow, Arthur Wesley. “Modernism in Art”, The American Magazine of Art 8. (1917), 113-116. google scholar
  • Driver, Tom F. Interview with Samuel Beckett, in Samuel Beckett: The Critical Heritage, Edited by Lawrence Graver and Raymond Federman.
  • London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979. google scholar
  • Göknar, Erdağ. “The Novel in Turkish: narrative tradition to Nobel prize” in The Cambridge History of Turkey: Turkey in the Modern World, Ed.
  • Reşat Kasaba. Cambridge University Press, 2006, 472-503. google scholar
  • Gümüş, Şeyma. “Sevim Burak’ın Queer Nesneleri: Yanık Saraylar’da Eşya-İnsan İlişkileri, Öznellik ve Ötekilik”, Monograf 14. (2020), 60-82. google scholar
  • Güngörmüş, Nilüfer. “Sanatçının Annesinin Kızı olarak portresi”, YKY Feminizm Üzerine Konuşmalar Dizisi, Kadınlar, Kimlikler, Hafızalar, Psikanaliz ve Feminizm Paneli, (2005). google scholar
  • Güçbilmez, Beliz. “Tekinsiz Tiyatro: Sahibinin Sesi/Sevim Burak’ın Metninde Teatrallik ve Minör Sesin Temsili”, Tiyatro Araştırmaları Dergisi 16. (2003), 4-17. google scholar
  • Halman, Talat Sait. “Modern Turkish Literature: Disorientation and Reorientation”, Books Abroad, 46 (1972), 226-231. google scholar
  • Horkheimer, M. & Adorno, T.W. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments, Edited by G.S.Noerr, Translated by E. Jephcott. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002. google scholar
  • Karpat, Kemal H. “Social Themes in Contemporary Turkish Literature”, The Middle East Journal, 14/1, (1960), 29-44. google scholar
  • Karpat, Kemal H. “Political Developments in Turkey, 1950-70”, Middle Eastern Studies 8/3 (1972), 349-375. google scholar
  • Kılınç, Ahmet. “Sevim Burak’ın Küçürek Öykücülüğü”, Turkish Studies (2011), 1983-1994. google scholar
  • Koçakoğlu, Bedia. Aşkın Şizofrenik Hali Sevim Burak. Konya: Palet Yayınları, 2009. google scholar
  • Koçakoğlu, Bedia. “Sevim Burak’ı Besleyen Damarlar”, Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 17. (2007), 45-59. google scholar
  • Lambert Zuidervaart, “Theodor W. Adorno”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edited by Edward N. Zalta (Winter 2015Edition), google scholar https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2015/entries/adorno/. google scholar
  • Lukâcs, Georg. “Realism in the Balance”, in Aesthetics andPolitics. Edited by Ronald Taylor. London; New York: Verso Publishing, 1980. google scholar
  • Marx, Karl. Capital Vol. I. Translated by Ben Fowkes. London: Penguin Classics: 1990. google scholar
  • Notos Dergi. İstanbul: Notos Yayınları, Ağustos-Eylül 2019. google scholar
  • Notos Dergi. İstanbul: Notos Yayınları, Aralık 2018-Ocak 2019. google scholar
  • Rabate, Jean-Michel. “Philosophizing with Beckett: Adorno and Badiou”, in A Companion to SamuelBeckett, edited by S.E. Gontarski, 97. Singapore: Wiley&Blackwell, 2010. google scholar
  • Roswitha Mueller, “Montage in Brecht”, Theatre Journal, Vol. 39, No.4. (1987), 473-486. google scholar
  • Şeyben, Burcu Yasemin. “(In)sight of Things: An Analysis of the Relation between Subjectivity and Reality in His Master’s Voice”, Third Text, 26 (2012), 745-755. google scholar
  • Varlık Dergisi. İstanbul: Varlık Yayınları, Aralık 2018. google scholar

Sevim Burak’s Protest Theatre: Understanding Sevim Burak Through Adorno

Year 2021, Issue: 32, 57 - 74, 21.06.2021
https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.877058

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore Sevim Burak’s theatre through Adorno’s “negative dialectics” and “culture industry” theories. The article claims that Burak’s theater is revolutionary in the sense that it challenges the traditional norms of theatre based on representation of real life. Burak, in contrast to traditional theatrical forms, creates a form negating the real life and resisting against any form of mimetic representation. However, this does not turn her theatre into an apolitical, anti-social, or extremely individualistic one as Burak’s form is rooted in the social and parental background of the playwright. However, her unique form was expelled from the literary circles and has long been neglected by scholars, which the article claims, is a result of the reflections of Adorno’s “culture industry” on the literary scene in Turkey. Thus, the final claim of the article is that Burak’s theatre is revolutionary and protest not due to its subject matter but to its form.

References

  • Adorno, T.W. Aesthetic Theory, Translated by R. Hullot-Kentor. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. google scholar
  • Adorno, T.W. Culture Industry. Edited by J.M. Bernstein. London and New York: Routledge Classics, 2005. google scholar
  • Adorno, Theodor. “Reconciliation under Duress”, in Aesthetics and Politics. Edited by Ronald Taylor. London; New York: Verso Publishing, 1980. google scholar
  • Adorno: Kitle, Melankoli, Felsefe- Cogito Dergi. Edited by E. Efe Çakmak. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2020. google scholar
  • Aracagök, Zafer & Yalım, Burcu. “Spectacle, Speculative, Spectile: Situations in Sarah Kane, Sevim Burak etc.”, Third Text, (2010). 437-444. google scholar
  • Bir Usta Bir Dünya: Sevim Burak. Edited by Filiz Özdem. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2013. google scholar
  • Burak, Sevim. Sahibinin Sesi. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2020. google scholar
  • Burak, Sevim. Mach One’dan Mektuplar. İstanbul: Palto Yayınları, 2014. google scholar
  • Chris Thornhill and Ronny Miron, “Karl Jaspers”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edited by Edward N. Zalta (Spring 2020 Edition), google scholar https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/jaspers/. google scholar
  • Cough, Maria. “Back in the USSR: John Heartfield, Gustavs Klucis, and the Medium of Soviet Propaganda”, New German Critique, No.107. (2009), 133-183. google scholar
  • Demirtaş, Mustafa. Postyapısalcı Edebiyat Kuramı: Sevim Burak Edebiyatta Bir Tekillik Düşünürü. İstanbul: Otonom Yayınları, 2015. google scholar
  • Dow, Arthur Wesley. “Modernism in Art”, The American Magazine of Art 8. (1917), 113-116. google scholar
  • Driver, Tom F. Interview with Samuel Beckett, in Samuel Beckett: The Critical Heritage, Edited by Lawrence Graver and Raymond Federman.
  • London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979. google scholar
  • Göknar, Erdağ. “The Novel in Turkish: narrative tradition to Nobel prize” in The Cambridge History of Turkey: Turkey in the Modern World, Ed.
  • Reşat Kasaba. Cambridge University Press, 2006, 472-503. google scholar
  • Gümüş, Şeyma. “Sevim Burak’ın Queer Nesneleri: Yanık Saraylar’da Eşya-İnsan İlişkileri, Öznellik ve Ötekilik”, Monograf 14. (2020), 60-82. google scholar
  • Güngörmüş, Nilüfer. “Sanatçının Annesinin Kızı olarak portresi”, YKY Feminizm Üzerine Konuşmalar Dizisi, Kadınlar, Kimlikler, Hafızalar, Psikanaliz ve Feminizm Paneli, (2005). google scholar
  • Güçbilmez, Beliz. “Tekinsiz Tiyatro: Sahibinin Sesi/Sevim Burak’ın Metninde Teatrallik ve Minör Sesin Temsili”, Tiyatro Araştırmaları Dergisi 16. (2003), 4-17. google scholar
  • Halman, Talat Sait. “Modern Turkish Literature: Disorientation and Reorientation”, Books Abroad, 46 (1972), 226-231. google scholar
  • Horkheimer, M. & Adorno, T.W. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments, Edited by G.S.Noerr, Translated by E. Jephcott. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002. google scholar
  • Karpat, Kemal H. “Social Themes in Contemporary Turkish Literature”, The Middle East Journal, 14/1, (1960), 29-44. google scholar
  • Karpat, Kemal H. “Political Developments in Turkey, 1950-70”, Middle Eastern Studies 8/3 (1972), 349-375. google scholar
  • Kılınç, Ahmet. “Sevim Burak’ın Küçürek Öykücülüğü”, Turkish Studies (2011), 1983-1994. google scholar
  • Koçakoğlu, Bedia. Aşkın Şizofrenik Hali Sevim Burak. Konya: Palet Yayınları, 2009. google scholar
  • Koçakoğlu, Bedia. “Sevim Burak’ı Besleyen Damarlar”, Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 17. (2007), 45-59. google scholar
  • Lambert Zuidervaart, “Theodor W. Adorno”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edited by Edward N. Zalta (Winter 2015Edition), google scholar https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2015/entries/adorno/. google scholar
  • Lukâcs, Georg. “Realism in the Balance”, in Aesthetics andPolitics. Edited by Ronald Taylor. London; New York: Verso Publishing, 1980. google scholar
  • Marx, Karl. Capital Vol. I. Translated by Ben Fowkes. London: Penguin Classics: 1990. google scholar
  • Notos Dergi. İstanbul: Notos Yayınları, Ağustos-Eylül 2019. google scholar
  • Notos Dergi. İstanbul: Notos Yayınları, Aralık 2018-Ocak 2019. google scholar
  • Rabate, Jean-Michel. “Philosophizing with Beckett: Adorno and Badiou”, in A Companion to SamuelBeckett, edited by S.E. Gontarski, 97. Singapore: Wiley&Blackwell, 2010. google scholar
  • Roswitha Mueller, “Montage in Brecht”, Theatre Journal, Vol. 39, No.4. (1987), 473-486. google scholar
  • Şeyben, Burcu Yasemin. “(In)sight of Things: An Analysis of the Relation between Subjectivity and Reality in His Master’s Voice”, Third Text, 26 (2012), 745-755. google scholar
  • Varlık Dergisi. İstanbul: Varlık Yayınları, Aralık 2018. google scholar
There are 35 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Applied Theatre
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Mehmet Zeki Giritli 0000-0002-3421-4205

Publication Date June 21, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Issue: 32

Cite

APA Giritli, M. Z. (2021). Sevim Burak’s Protest Theatre: Understanding Sevim Burak Through Adorno. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği Ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi(32), 57-74. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.877058
AMA Giritli MZ. Sevim Burak’s Protest Theatre: Understanding Sevim Burak Through Adorno. JTCD. June 2021;(32):57-74. doi:10.26650/jtcd.877058
Chicago Giritli, Mehmet Zeki. “Sevim Burak’s Protest Theatre: Understanding Sevim Burak Through Adorno”. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği Ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi, no. 32 (June 2021): 57-74. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.877058.
EndNote Giritli MZ (June 1, 2021) Sevim Burak’s Protest Theatre: Understanding Sevim Burak Through Adorno. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi 32 57–74.
IEEE M. Z. Giritli, “Sevim Burak’s Protest Theatre: Understanding Sevim Burak Through Adorno”, JTCD, no. 32, pp. 57–74, June 2021, doi: 10.26650/jtcd.877058.
ISNAD Giritli, Mehmet Zeki. “Sevim Burak’s Protest Theatre: Understanding Sevim Burak Through Adorno”. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi 32 (June 2021), 57-74. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.877058.
JAMA Giritli MZ. Sevim Burak’s Protest Theatre: Understanding Sevim Burak Through Adorno. JTCD. 2021;:57–74.
MLA Giritli, Mehmet Zeki. “Sevim Burak’s Protest Theatre: Understanding Sevim Burak Through Adorno”. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği Ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi, no. 32, 2021, pp. 57-74, doi:10.26650/jtcd.877058.
Vancouver Giritli MZ. Sevim Burak’s Protest Theatre: Understanding Sevim Burak Through Adorno. JTCD. 2021(32):57-74.