SOCIAL PROFILES OF TURKISH CHILDREN AND YOUTH LITERATURE AUTHORS

Abstract

When examined the national and international literature, there are very few studies on the social profiles of the artists working in the fields of children and youth literature. The scarcity of existing studies in the field in terms of quantity has been the starting point for this study. In this study, the profiles of 577 authors in Hasan Latif Sariyuce's encyclopedia of Turkish children's and youth literature were examined in terms of gender, date and place of birth, educational status, father's profession, own profession, literary genre, the number of awards they received, and foreign expansion variables. The study was qualitative, and the data were analyzed using content analysis technique. According to the results obtained in the study, it is evident that the number of authors who wrote works in the field increased after the Republic period. The gender role of most authors was male. The artists were mainly born in the western provinces of Turkey. The fathers of the artists were mostly soldiers, teachers, and members of parliament. When the professions of the artists are examined, it is seen that they are mostly teachers, authors, and civil servants. It has been seen that artists mostly produce poems, stories, and novels. Few artists in the field have received awards. The number of authors whose works have been translated into foreign languages is also very low. Some suggestions are presented based on the findings obtained from the study.