THE REFLECTIONS OF 1980 MILITARY COUP IN TURKISH THEATRE: THE EXAMPLE OF MEMET BAYDUR.

Sociology of literature which is based on Marxist criticism acts according to the assumption that there is a strong link or interaction between life and art or society and literature. This interaction has two directions: Either society can affect literature or vice versa. Therefore, it is the duty of sociology of literature to trace these relations between society and literature. This article, through the method of sociology of literature aims to reveal the political, social and economic reflections of 1980 military coup in three plays of Memet Baydur: Cumhuriyet Kızı (The Republican Girl), Yalnızlığın Oyuncakları (The Toys of Loneliness), Kamyon (The Lorry), thus trying to emphasize the interaction between literature and society once more by three examples from theatre. Since Memet Baydur stepped into the world of theatre and started his career as a playwright during a turbulent period in Turkey, namely the 1980s, it is important to analyse his plays in order to reach the traces of that period. Therefore, also regarding the limits of this study, only three plays of the writer, Cumhuriyet Kızı revealing political reflections, Yalnızlığın Oyuncakları especially focusing on social reflections and Kamyon basically carrying the economic reflections of the period, have been selected to be analysed in this study. Thus, the notion that there is a strong bond between life and art, or between society and literature and either of them can influence the other, which lies at the basis of the sociology of literature, is justified once more through the examples from three plays. The result reached at the end of the article is that Memet Baydur's three plays give a political, social and economic portrayal of Turkey in 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]