In the article published in the IGU Journal of Social Sciences, it was emphasized that most of the films that reached large audiences in Turkish Cinema, especially in the post-2000 period, were comedy films and it was preferred to present the narratives of the types that can be called lumpen in the films. In the article, in which the Geniş Aile film series was chosen as an example, the reflection of humor in domestic comedy cinema, which was created through the concept of lumpen, which Marx put forward to define a social group was examined. The analyzes made on the lümpen types in the films revealed that the lumpenity is used as a humor element in the narratives of the movies, and that the lümpen types are fictionalized through the Theories of Superiority, Incongruity and Relief.
What is a lumpen?
The authors summarized the concept of lümpen which was first used by Karl Marx in the 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1852) to describe a social class in the literature and referred to as “dangerous class, social residue”, as “lumpen-proletariat”:
1. Lumpen is a concept used to describe a non-homogeneous social group.
2. Lumpen people, who are said to constitute the lowest layer of society, are classless.
3. Lumpen is not class conscious.
4. Lumpen is not included in any class.
5. Lumpen voluntarily refuses to be included in any class.
6. A lumpen is not a capital owner or a working-class individual.
7. The lumpen person is apolitical because he does not have the potential to become politicized in terms of self-knowledge, existence and struggle against the opposing class.
8. Lumpen people or communities are similar to slang and swearing, the meaning is implicit and its meaning is predominantly masculinity, sexuality, violence, cheating, etc. There is a “lumpen language” based on content topics.
9. There is no radical change between the concept of lumpen as it emerged and its current meaning. In addition to the meanings such as classless and apolitical, the concept is not smart or well-educated; uncouth; ignorant; rascal; rabble; cheat; corrupt etc. A derogatory word against someone has become a popular concept used as an insult.
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