Abstract

This study shows how the short story “Mecehamal” written by Kemal Beyatlı developed and managed to emerge a language of resistance in Iraqi Turkmen literature from a sociopolitical perspective. In the introduction of the study, the cultural, cultural and literary developments of Iraqi Turkmens are summarized; how Turkmen literature was shaped under the conditions of authoritarian regimes and the role of individual effort in this process are detailed. Then, the story of Mecehamal is systematically analyzed in terms of character analysis, plot, use of space and time, symbolic language and narration. In the story, the exclusion, identity loss, invisibility and social alienation experienced by Mecehamal, a mentally disabled individual; are discussed together with the pressure of the authoritarian regime on him, and the literary reflections of passive resistance are evaluated. Symbols such as the torn skullcap, stars, the Tall Girl, the fair and the identity card used in the narration represent not only an individual drama but also the collective memory and traumatic past of the Iraqi Turkmen community. The study, by using text analysis and critical discourse analysis, has revealed the emergence of the function of literature as a tool for creating memory and identity; systematic injustice, social compassion, silent resistance and visibility methods have been eliminated through the character of Mecehamal.
As a result, it shows that individuals under oppression carry resistance even in their silence; and that literature is a powerful tool both to make this silence heard and to keep the memory that will carry a future alive.