Abstract
Social Change in the Works of Cemil Meriç and Kemal Tahir
The concept of social change is at the core of sociology and social structure studies. From this point of view, considering the social structure of Turkey, social change refers to the processes of Westernization, modernization, and globalization which started in the Tanzimat Era and is still progressing. Even though it is given different names or definitions, this whole process corresponds to a single social change movement in the history of Turkish society. This change, which is in progress from the Ottoman Empire to the Establishment of Turkish Republic, from the first years of the Republic to the present, is generally referred as Westernization. Cemil Meriç and Kemal Tahir are two important thinkers who should be referenced in order to understand the social structure of Turkey. Meriç dealt with social change as the main factor determining the structure of Turkish society and he tried to investigate the impact of historical processes such as Tanzimat Era and the proclamation of the Republic on the social structure of Turkey. Tahir, on the other hand, presented his works with a sociological perspective as a novelist who believed that the problems of Turkish society could be resolved within the framework of historical and social conditions. In the works of both Meriç and Tahir, the structure of Turkish society is dealt with on the themes of the East - the West conflict, Westernization and social change. The most important common feature of Meriç and Tahir is that they both analyze the society with an indigenous frame of reference, but with a critical approach. Both names are the great thinkers who tried to find solutions to the social problems of Turkish society; both set out to conquer the world of Western thought and they reached their national values at the end of the journey.
Keywords
Social Structure, Social Change, Cemil Meriç, Kemal Tahir, Social Structure of Turkey.
