Selim İleri'nin Kaleminden Cahide Sonku ve Eşyaya Atfedilen Değer

Abstract

Although Selim İleri, who became famous as a writer, screenwriter and critic, is mostly known for his novels, he also wrote theater plays. The author’s first theatrical work Cahide/Death and Diamond is inspired from the life story of the director, theater and cinema actor Cahide Sonku (1916-1981). The flashbacks to Cahide Sonku’s life used in this work has brought a different perspective to the story of the artist's romantic and tragic life. Selim İleri departing from classical literary styles, prefers to use a postmodern style and a structure in which readers, writers and actors are intertwined. Features such as witnessing the formation process of the theatre text, sometimes using sarcastic elements and reviving more than one person, show that the work bears traces from Bertolt Brecht's “epic theatre” understanding. The traces of Cahide Sonku’s life are presented in a fictitious way integrating it with items/objects. It thus reflects the place, change, transformation, culture and life on the objects which are loaded with different meanings from the usual meanings of daily life. Selim İleri uses the motif of the objects as a symbol for the personal, professional and social role changes of the artist and he loads values such as creating atmosphere, creating characters, setting fiction and psychological function.