Abstract
CONFLICT BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY IN PERIDE CELÂL'S NOVEL GECENIN UCUNDA
Social and political changes bring about a transformation in society's traditions, expectations, and values. During this process of change, individuals struggle to establish a balance between the values they carry from their past and the norms imposed by the present. One of the most crucial factors determining an individual's identity formation is their ability to maintain an internally consistent stance in diverse situations. Individuals who achieve this consistency can maintain their connection to the past and adapt to an ever-changing society. In this way, they can rebuild their identity without completely shedding their roots. Otherwise, they become trapped between societal expectations and personal desires and struggle to maintain a balance in life. With the modernization process, dynamics such as an individual's social position, lifestyle, preferences, and values have added new dimensions to an individual's search for identity. In this context, it is possible to find many works reflecting social change in Turkish literature during the Republican era. Peride Celâl, notable for her works on women and women's issues, is among those who, particularly in her novels from the 1950s onward, thematically explore the problems, internal tensions, and external conflicts of individuals in public life. Macide, as the author characterizes her novel Gecenin Ucunda is a fictional individual who confronts the cultural transformation of the period and finds herself in conflict with the social changes taking place. This study, centered on the character of Macide, examines the internal and external conflicts experienced by this abstract individual during this period of social change within the context of the historical and cultural atmosphere of the period in which the work was written.
Keywords
Peride Celâl, Gecenin Ucunda, society, individual, conflict