Congist'26: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Crisis

Session

Session 4.2 (Day 3)

D3-S4-A7

15 May 2026, 14:30

A7 (Istanbul University Faculty of Letters)

Conveners

Session 4.2 (Day 3): Edebiyat Bilimi / Literary Studies

• Kerem Aras (Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University)

Writing Through Crisis: Existential Humanism in Tanpınar, Lessing, and Özlü (D3-S4-A7)

Evren Akaltun Akan (Yaşar University)

15/05/2026, 14:30

Oral Presentation

This paper explores how crisis reshapes humanism in literature through the works of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Doris Lessing, and Tezer Özlü. Although seemingly unrelated, these authors depict crisis as a generative force that opens up a new way of existential humanism. In Tanpınar’s case, the cultural crisis (buhran) opens a space where one can connect beyond the borders of one’s culture and bond...

Social Ecology of Resilience in Buchi Emecheta’s The Second Class Citizen and In the Ditch (D3-S4-A7)

Fahime Serhatti (Middle East Technical University & Yuksek Ihtisas University)

15/05/2026, 14:50

Oral Presentation

This presentation examines the concept of resilience in Buchi Emecheta’s The Second Class Citizen and In the Ditch. It focuses on Adah, a Nigerian immigrant and single mother in London, and how she navigates the challenges of migration, poverty, and gender discrimination across different stages of life and postcolonial settings. Using Michael Ungar’s theoretical framework, as outlined in...

In the Ditch by Buchi Emecheta: Resonances of Poverty, Sexism and Classism in Times of Permacrises (D3-S4-A7)

Dilek Tüfekçi Can (Balikesir University)

15/05/2026, 15:10

Oral Presentation

Buchi Emecheta (1944–2017), a prominent African novelist and influential feminist voice, offers a comprehensive portrayal of African women’s experiences through her eight novels. In her semi-autobiographical debut novel, In the Ditch (1972), Emecheta presents nuanced feminine perspectives on poverty, sexism, and classism, while also addressing themes of racism, injustice, and female...