`Dusman` (Enemy) Film and Class Consciousness: Who is the Guilty One

Authors : Nazar Bal

Pages : 67-96

Doi:10.48131/jscs.1677009

View : 118 | Download : 354

Publication Date : 2025-12-27

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Cinema is a communication tool that reflects the society by visualizing the culture, values and norms in which the society lives, as well as conveying the periodic problems experienced by the society from a social and political perspective. Addressing the changes occurring in a society through social realism allows the social, economic, and cultural problems experienced by the society to be revealed within the framework of a certain ideological perspective. Yılmaz Güney\\\'s films attempt to depict social realism through themes such as unemployment, exclusion, poverty, social mobility, alienation, freedom, class differences, and class consciousness. In this study, the 1979 film “Düşman”, written by Yılmaz Güney and directed by Zeki Ökten, is evaluated from a sociological perspective using document analysis techniques of qualitative research, focusing on the “class consciousness” approach. In the film “Düşman”, it is observed that individuals migrating from the village to the city develop a working-class consciousness as a result of their experiences in job searching, employment, and working.Additionally, it shows how, with the dominance of capitalist society, the lower-income group strives to emulate the upper class and luxury consumption to cope with poverty. Efforts to climb the social class ladder, in particular, lead to alienation between spouses within the family. The film explores the question “Who is the guilty one?” by highlighting how class differences lead to competition, conflict, devaluation, alienation, and exclusion in daily life. While the capitalist system is viewed as the enemy, it becomes evident that the real culprits are those subjected to the oppression of this system. The film demonstrates that overcoming the pressures of the capitalist system is achievable through class consciousness and solidarity. Güney’s cinema critically reflects the socio-political conditions of its time within an ideological framework and offers a realist representation of social struggles.
Keywords : Sınıf bilinci, toplumsal gerçekçilik, göç, yabancılaşma

ORIGINAL ARTICLE URL