Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
TURK DILI VE EDEBIYATI DERGISI-JOURNAL OF TURKISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, cilt.65, sa.3, ss.792-808, 2025 (ESCI)
Although Turkey did not directly participate in World War II, the war's economic, political, and social consequences deeply affected the country. With the rise of the Democratic Party to power, a multi-party-political system was adopted, initiating Turkey's integration into the capitalist economic system. The new socio-economic conditions particularly affected peasants and the working class, leading to the spread of poverty, social disintegration, and mass migration. This transformation was not limited to the economy; it also reshaped moral values, social hierarchies, and individuals' perceptions of identity. In this context, masculinities underwent a significant transformation, becoming increasingly fragile and facing various crises. Rather than focusing directly on macroeconomic changes, this article aims to explore how the complete transformation of peasant and working-class conditions, along with the spread of poverty and migration, influenced the construction of masculinitythrough the literature ofOrhan Kemal. As a close observer ofthe period, Orhan Kemal portrays masculinity crises in a multifaceted way in Eskici ve O & gbreve;ullar & imath; (The Cobbler and His Sons), blending social observation with autobiographical elements. Accordingly, the article focuses on the male characters of The Eskici ve O & gbreve;ullar & imath; to discuss how class, bodily integrity, livelihood struggles, insecurity, and family power dynamics intersect with masculinity, highlightingthe anxious and often unattainable nature of hegemonic masculinity and its increased vulnerability to threats under the socio-economic conditions of the 1950s.