Elçin’in Ölüm Hükmü Romanı Üzerinden Sovyet Sistemine Bakış

Abstract

Ölüm Hükmü , the third and most comprehensive work of Elçin, can be evaluated as the panorama of the Soviet Union within seventy years. The novel consists of eighteen chapters which appear to be independent but in fact, each connected with the others. Elçin criticizes the Soviet system through different characters in each episode. In the novel, it can be seen that the consciousness of being an individual and the sense of self outweigh the collectivity. This situation creates various conflicts between the system and human. Bribery, favoritism and increasing incompetence cause the order that promises people heaven in this world to deteriorate. The Soviet system makes it impossible to criticize the ideology which it substituted for religion. This also makes it impossible to repair cracks in the system. In his novel Ölüm Hükmü , Elçin sheds light on the social, political and economic degeneration between 1929-1983 through the stories of the characters. Taking its subject from recent history, Ölüm Hükmü guide the reader through the axis of historical reality-fiction, while conveying the realities of the Soviet period in all its nakedness. In this context, the author relates the different stories in eighteen chapters to each other and forms an entirety by using the flashback technique. In this article, the corruption in the system and values of the Soviet Union has been examined through the Ölüm Hükmü , and the said novel has been discussed in the context of historical novel and historical reality.