Abstract
The aim of the study is to analyze the narrative structure with sociological criticism of the Hababam Classroom film series, which satirizes the education system in Turkey with all its stakeholders. The series consisting of six films between 1975 and 1981 was chosen as the sample. The basic assumption is that while the educational system is aimed to be satirically criticized, the narrative structure turns into comedy. As a matter of fact, the Hababam Classroom series has taken its place in the memories as the first cult works of the comedy genre in Turkish cinema. The study is based on the assumption that instead of an epic narrative in satirizing and criticizing the education system with all its stakeholders, the narrative structure turns into comedy due to the nature of the satirical tradition. As a result, this assumption was confirmed.
TopIntroduction
“I talked about a collapsing education system. We all laughed looking at this dying system.” – Rıfat Ilgaz
“In the whole Hababam Classroom series, I experienced my own student years and mischief.” – Kemal Sunal
Cinema is a branch of art that reflects all the subjects of daily life to the screen with different narrative types. In addition, it is a science discipline that develops and continues to develop by examining these contents, which it reflects, with various analysis methods. Thus, cinema has become an ideal medium to find traces of all kinds of discourses and their representations. The subject of this study is the transformation of satirical narrative that first appeared in literature. The tradition of satire appears before us in cinema as a type of narrative built on the criticism of a person, event or social phenomenon with sarcastic words.
The aim of the study is to analyze the narrative structure with sociological analysis of the Hababam Classroom film series, which satirizes the education system in Turkey with all its stakeholders. The series consisting of 6 films between 1975 and 1981 was chosen as the sample. The basic assumption is that while the educational system is aimed to be satirically criticized, the narrative structure turns into comedy. As a matter of fact, the Hababam Classroom series has taken its place in the memories as the first cult works of the comedy genre in Turkish cinema.
While the cinema continued its technological evolution in its first 30 years, on the other hand, it benefited from the narratives of previous art branches until the formation of its unique narrative structure. The main function of the narrative is to transfer the culture in which it is formed and the achievements of the society to which it belongs to future generations. Cinema is one of the most effective tools used/used by the narrative while fulfilling this function. Cinema is a narrative that can cover all the realities and experiences in daily life, as well as the subjects of fictional and non-existent fantasy worlds.
The Hababam Classroom film series is the reflection on the silver screen of a literary narrative that set out to satirize the education system from a critical point of view in a way that mirrors the socio-economic structure of the period at the very center of life.
The film series, which is the subject of our study, was born from the book 'Hababam Classroom', (Ilgaz, 2019) which was written by the writer Rıfat Ilgaz, who, as a teacher himself, wrote about the flaws he personally saw in the education system, from his short stories in the weekly political humor magazine 'Dolmuş', which he turned into a book in 1957 and from which the films took their name. In 1966, it first met with the audience as a theater play with a cast led by the young theater actors of the period, Zeki Alasya and Metin Akpınar.
With the publication of the book and the theater play on the agenda, attempts begin for the movie of Hababam Classroom. Producers and directors get permission from Rıfat Ilgaz to film his work. However, the first attempts were fruitless as the book failed to pass the censorship board of the period on the grounds that it 'denigrated the education system'.
Finally, Ertem Eğilmez was the director who wanted to film the book. Eğilmez, reworked the book in accordance with the language of cinema, and retouched the script so that the harsh criticisms in the book, which had previously prevented it from being approved by the board, were softer and more appealing to the audience. In this way, after receiving permission from the film supervision board of the period, the film was released after a very short and very fast production phase, again according to the conditions of the period. After the first movie broke records with great interest, sequels were made and the movie series that is the subject of this study was formed.
It can be classified as an example of 'social satire' (Sunal, 2001), as Kemal Sunal, who portrayed the character of İnek Şaban, the locomotive of the sequels, wrote in his master's thesis about himself.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Narrative: It is the narration of two or more events (or a situation and event) that are logically related, occur over time and become a whole with a consistent topic ( Mutlu, 1998 ).
Rifat Ilgaz: Author of the story adapted into sequels.The poet and writer, whose main profession was teacher, is a Turkish literary writer. His series of stories, which he first published in the magazine Dolmus under the nickname Stepne, were later published as a book under the title Hababam Sinifi. This novel is also as one of the most successful examples of literary adaptations that can be seen many examples in Turkish cinema, was the source of the Hababam Classroom film series.
Sociological Criticism: It emphasizes the examination of the social conditions of the period in which the film was produced or the period it deals with in its content. Within the scope of evaluation of the sociological approach to films, there are subjects such as how social values are reflected and embodied in films, the effect of films on social values, the power to strengthen or change these values, and the changes that films cause in social attitudes and behavior patterns ( Özden, 2000 ).
Satire: A narrative form with a heavy amount of rhetorical elements developed with the aim of vilifying the shortcomings, flaws and bewildering behavior of a person, group or community.
Literary Adaptations in Turkish Cinema: Adaptation is the act of creating a work of art by transferring elements from another work of art to the new medium ( Katz, 1979 ). The rapprochement between cinema and literature is based on the opportunities provided by literature to cinema. In this sense, the novel, which is the literary genre that cinema has been the closest to, has taken priority in preferences ( Yilmaz, 2008 ). “In the relationship between literature and cinema, cinema, which has the advantage of finding ready-made subjects and snopsis, is as eager and willing as literature, which has the opportunity to become widespread and popular by being filmed. Almost all genres of literature with a certain “subject”, firstly novels and stories, then plays, memoirs, anonymous literary products such as fairy tales and epics, and sometimes even genres without a “subject” such as poetry, have attracted the intense interest of cinema ( Abaci, 2006 , p. 10).
Comedy: It is a comedy narrative. It is a type of narrative based on humor that aims to entertain and make the audience laugh.
Hababam Classroom: It is a movie series that has become one of the masterpieces of Turkish cinema. Adapted from Rifat Ilgaz's book, the series brought to the cinema: Hababam Classroom (1975) AU12: The in-text citation "Hababam Classroom (1975)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. , Hababam Classroom Failed (1976) AU13: The in-text citation "Classroom Failed (1976)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. , Hababam Classroom Waking Up (1977) AU14: The in-text citation "Waking Up (1977)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. , Hababam Classroom on Vacation (1978) AU15: The in-text citation "Vacation (1978)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. , Hababam Classroom Giving Nine (1979) AU16: The in-text citation "Giving Nine (1979)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. , and Hababam Classroom Bye Bye (1981) AU17: The in-text citation "Bye Bye (1981)" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. consists of films.
Ertem Egilmez: Director of Hababam Classroom sequels. As a director, producer and screenwriter, Egilmez has left his mark with his contributions in every branch of Turkish cinema, and has left many works including the Hababam Classroom series. Unlike his colleagues who tried before him, he succeeded in obtaining permission from the censorship board for the Hababam Classroom film at the expense of going to court with Rifat Ilgaz, the owner of the work, and brought this unique series to Turkish cinema.