Abstract:

The ‘March 12th novels’ is a retroactive umbrella term used to describe the works of fiction written between 1971 and 1980 which take as their inspiration the events surrounding the coup d’etat; the military takeover, the battle between revolutionary left wing activists and nationalists, and the political and social fallout of the intervention. Çetin Altan’s first novel, Büyük Gözaltı (Great Surveillance), is very much a work which reflects the reality of its era, or at least reality as experienced by its author and many on the political left in Turkey after the March 12th military intervention in 1971. The novel plays a significant role in the collective memory of this turbulent period of recent Turkish history, when left-leaning academics, writers, journalists, politicians, university students and activists suffered persecution at the hands of the state, with thousands being imprisoned and tortured. This article, with particular reference to the philosophical and social theories of Michel Foucault on the nature of punishment and power relations, aims to analyse the effect of an overwhelming state power on the imprisoned protagonist of the novel and the way in which he responds by internalising state power, becoming his own interrogator and accuser. Moving beyond concepts of guilt and innocence, the psychological reaction of the protagonist to his position within this unbalanced power structure and the symptoms of its surrealist consequences are the primary focus of this article.

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