A Brief Glance at the Relationship of Urban Spaces and Social Change on Turkish Novels

Author/s: Köksal Alver

Year: 2019 Vol: 1 Number: 2

Abstract

The relationship of novels and cities is quite deep because novels are heavily interested in urban life. The view is common that urban life and urban social processes have impacted the birth of the novel. The concepts of individuality, bourgeoisie, modernity, urbanization, and modernization have been cited in different contexts with the birth of the novel as a new literary genre. Therefore, talking about the novel means to mention the city and urban relations in a sense. Cities are a never-ending, inexhaustible resource for novels. The world of the novel, which describes in detail all conditions of urban spaces and people, also fulfills a function directed at urban social analysis. Novels narrating about lives in the city have become a basic resource for revealing the different directions and orientations of social structure and social change. In this sense, reading novels can be stated as bearing witness too social life. Sociology, being another testimonial of social life, can take some samples from the lives that come forth in the world of novels and strengthen analyses. Therefore, sociology can use the novels in front of it as a colossal resource in social analyses.

Keywords
modernization, sociology of literature, cities of the novel, Turk novels, urban culture