Looking for Utopia in the Mediterranean: Contemporary Türkiye and Underground Station by Çağrı Aktaş

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recent research in global literature, with a focus on non-Anglophone and non-European literatures and cultures, has sparked a growing interest in utopian and dystopian narratives. These narratives present alternative world scenarios that unfold in both the present and the future. Amidst the escalating impact of the climate crisis in the Anthropocene, the complex issue of migration, and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, speculative fiction in the Mediterranean region captures the fears, aspirations, and dreams of individuals concerning both the present and the future. Over the last three decades, authors in contemporary Türkiye have increasingly produced utopian and dystopian works. These speculative works exhibit a heightened focus on ecological breakdown, political polarization, gender roles, and the exercise of power. Çağrı Aktaş’s Toprak Palas (Underground Station, 2018), a representative work of speculative fiction in contemporary Turkish literature, carries both utopian and dystopian undertones as it investigates the pressing challenges of Rahim, Aktaş’s finely textured underground city. Through its open-ended structure, the narrative galvanizes readers into action, urging an expedited process of transformation toward a different future.