Describing the Nomenclature of the Comic: The Case of Turkish Language

Abstract

The description of the nomenclature for the comic phenomenon is complicated by the possibility of examining the issue from different perspectives: specifically, through literary analysis or the perspective of common sense. Throughout history, these two approaches have led to inconsistencies in naming the phenomenon. Western scholarship interprets the comic as a specific aesthetic and social category that includes a whole system of various genres and modalities. However, in Turkish literary scholarship, this phenomenon did not receive sufficient attention until the 20th century, and hence, this area lacks a necessary nomenclature. In this study, the phenomenon of humor has been investigated with the aim of establishing the required definitions. This article examines the historical aspects of how humor has developed in Turkish and detects the related definitions and logical connections between them. It also identifies the factors that have influenced the formation of these definitions. The specific categories of comic in Turkish were illustrated through forms of national culture, which contributed to the creation of visual patterns, cultural codes, and memes. In conclusion the found pieces of nomenclature were summarized in a classification based on their origins.