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Anomi, Yabancılaşma ve Büyüklenmeci Kendilik: Taxi Driver (1976) Filminin Sosyo-Psikolojik Analizi

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 18 Sayı: 2, 669 - 692, 15.10.2025

Öz

Bu çalışma, Martin Scorsese’nin Taxi Driver (1976) filmi aracılığıyla modern bireyin yabancılaşma, yalnızlık, kimlik krizi ve varoluşsal bunalımlarını incelemektedir. Çalışmada, filmin yalnızca bireysel bir psikolojik çöküşü tasvir etmediği, aynı zamanda modern toplumun ürettiği daha geniş ölçekli varoluşsal sorunları görünür kıldığı savunulmaktadır. Bu doğrultuda çalışmanın temel amacı, Travis Bickle’ın içsel krizlerini toplumsal bağlamda ele alarak bireysel sorunların ardında yatan yapısal etmenleri açığa çıkarmaktır. Karakterin dönüşümü; anomi, yabancılaşma, narsisistik savunma mekanizmaları, bireyleşme süreci ve psikolojik kırılganlık gibi kuramsal çerçeveler ışığında çözümlenmektedir. Söz konusu kavramlar, Durkheim, Marx, Fromm ve Kohut gibi düşünürlerin görüşleri üzerinden tartışmaya açılmaktadır. Travis’in yalnızlığı, topluma yabancılaşması ve anlam arayışı, modern kentsel yaşamın birey üzerindeki baskıcı ve yabancılaştırıcı etkileriyle ilişkilendirilmektedir. Araştırma, nitel bir yöntem benimsemekte; film, sosyolojik ve psikanalitik yaklaşımlar doğrultusunda refleksif tematik analiz yöntemiyle incelenmektedir. Filmin anlatı dili ile Travis’in iç dünyası arasındaki ilişki çözümlenmiş, karakterin deneyimlediği krizlerin yalnızca bireysel değil aynı zamanda toplumsal kökenlere sahip olduğu ortaya konmuştur. Dolayısıyla, kimlik oluşumunun bireysel olduğu kadar toplumsal koşullar tarafından da şekillendiği vurgulanmaktadır. Taxi Driver, günümüzde de güncelliğini koruyan; anomi, yalnızlık ve yabancılaşma ile bunların aşılması çabasında bireyi sürükleyebilecek nevrotik durumlar üzerine güçlü bir anlatı sunmaktadır.

Kaynakça

  • Akgün, A. (2015). Türk toplumunda değişme süreci ve yabancılaşma-din ilişkisi [Master's thesis, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University]. https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/tezDetay.jsp?id=6xpe0qfwvefJAA6GSI7z7g.
  • Ballas, A. T. (2021). White ignorance and forgetting: Approaching white supremacist fantasies in Taxi Driver (1976) and Joker (2019) [Master's thesis, University of Colorado]. https://digital.auraria.edu/work/sc/43daa2b7-1a9c-434f-9a18-94ec135524f9.
  • Bauman, Z. (1991). Modernity and ambivalence. Polity Press.
  • Beck, U. (2009). Risk society: Towards a new modernity. SAGE Publications.
  • Berman, M. (1983). All that is solid melts into air: The experience of modernity. Verso.
  • Blake, R. A. (2005). Street smart: The New York of Lumet, Allen, Scorsese, and Lee. University Press of Kentucky.
  • Blake, R. A. (2017). Inside Bickle's brain: Scorsese, Schrader, and Wolfe. Journal of Popular Film and Television, 45(3), 139–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/01956051.2017.1293604
  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
  • Briody, M. (2021). The patron saint of New York City: The search for redemption in Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull [Bachelor's thesis, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology]. https://illustro-iadt.figshare.com/articles/thesis/The_patron_saint_of_New_York_City_The_search_for_redemption_in_i_Mean_Streets_i_i_Taxi_Driver_i_and_i_Raging_Bull_i_/25152074.
  • Durkheim, É. (2005). Suicide: A study in sociology (J. A. Spaulding & G. Simpson, Trans.). Free Press. (Original work published 1897)
  • Durkheim, É. (2014). The division of labor in society (W. D. Halls, Trans.). Free Press. (Original work published 1893) Freud, A. (1966). The ego and the mechanisms of defense. Karnac Books.
  • Freud, S. (1914). On narcissism: An introduction. https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Freud_SE_On_Narcissism_complete.pdf
  • Frey, C. (2024). A psychoanalytic reading of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. Dawson English Journal. https://www.dawsonenglishjournal.ca/article/a-psychoanalytic-reading-of-martin-scorseses-taxi-driver-by-clara-frey
  • Fromm, E. (1959). The sane society (2nd ed.). Routledge.
  • Gedikli, C. (2001). Modern kentleşme ve yabancılaşma: Sosyo-ekonomik perspektifler. Toplum ve Bilim, (53), 369–379.
  • Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Polity Press.
  • Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. Prentice-Hall.
  • Harvey, D. (1989). The condition of postmodernity: An enquiry into the origins of cultural change. Blackwell.
  • High, M. D. (2015). Taxi Driver and veteran trauma. In A. Baker (Ed.), A companion to Martin Scorsese (pp. 373–395). Wiley Blackwell.
  • Honneth, A. (1992). Integrity and disrespect: Principles of a conception of morality based on the theory of recognition. Political Theory, 20(2), 187–201.
  • Iannucci, M. J. (2005, January 31). Postmodern antihero: Capitalism and heroism in Taxi Driver. Bright Lights Film. https://brightlightsfilm.com/postmodern-antihero-capitalism-and-heroism-in-taxi-driver/
  • Jung, C. G. (1951). Aion: Researches into the phenomenology of the self (R. C. Hull, Trans.). Princeton University Press.
  • Jung, C. G. (1959). The archetypes and the collective unconscious (R. C. Hull, Trans.). Princeton University Press. Kernberg, O. F. (1975). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. Jason Aronson.
  • Kohut, H. (1971). The analysis of the self: A systematic approach to the psychoanalytic treatment of narcissistic personality disorders. University of Chicago Press.
  • Kolker, R. (2011). Cinema of loneliness (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
  • Kristofferson, K. (1971). The Pilgrim: Chapter 33 [Song]. On The Silver Tongued Devil and I. Monument Records.
  • Lasch, C. (1979). The culture of narcissism: American life in an age of diminishing expectations. W. W. Norton & Company.
  • Leetham, T. (2024). 'Taxi Driver' explained: Was the ending just a dream? Rout Magazine. https://routmagazine.co.uk
  • Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space. Blackwell.
  • Lewis, H. B. (1971). Shame and guilt in neurosis. International Universities Press.
  • Lombardo, P. (2014). Memory and imagination in film: Scorsese, Lynch, Jarmusch, Van Sant. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Marx, K. (1993). Economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844 (M. Milligan, Trans.). International Publishers. (Original work published 1844)
  • Merton, R. K. (1938). Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3(5), 672–682.
  • Miller, A. (1981). The drama of the gifted child: The search for the true self. Basic Books.
  • Morrison, A. P. (1983). Shame: The underside of narcissism. The Analytic Press.
  • Petković, R., & Jurleta, G. (2022). Martin Scorsese's character-driven films: The study of main protagonists in Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980). Anglisticum. Journal of the Association-Institute for English Language and American Studies, 11–29. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7278534
  • Polegubić, K. (2022). Flâneur of the urban decay: Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver [Master's thesis, University of Zadar]. https://repozitorij.unizd.hr/en/islandora/object/unizd:7232
  • Scorsese, M. (Director). (1976). Taxi Driver [Film]. Columbia Pictures.
  • Scorsese, M. (1990). Mean Streets, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver. In D. Thompson & I. Christie (Interviewers), Scorsese on Scorsese. Faber and Faber.
  • Simmel, G. (1997). The metropolis and mental life. University of Chicago Press.
  • Skoble, A. J. (2007). God's lonely man: Taxi Driver and the ethics of vigilantism. In M. T. Conard (Ed.), The philosophy of Martin Scorsese (pp. 23–30). University Press of Kentucky.
  • Stevens, J. (2023). Taxi Driver film analysis: The sacred & the profane. Loud and Clear Reviews. https://loudandclearreviews.com/taxi-driver-film-analysis-1976-movie-scorsese/
  • Tönnies, F. (2001). Community and society (C. P. Loomis, Trans.). Transaction Publishers.
  • Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2010). The narcissism epidemic: Living in the age of entitlement. Atria Books.
  • Yates, C. (2007). Taxi Driver: The psychopathic hero and the rescue romance: How jealousy drives the narrative along (M. Scorsese, USA, 1976). In C. Yates, Masculine jealousy and contemporary cinema (pp. 75–91). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230592926_5

Anomie, Alienation and the Grandiose Self: Socio-Psychological Analysis of Taxi Driver (1976)

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 18 Sayı: 2, 669 - 692, 15.10.2025

Öz

This study examines the alienation, loneliness, identity crisis, and existential struggles of the modern individual through Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). It argues that the film depicts not just the psychological breakdown of an individual but also the broader existential problems generated by modern society. The main purpose of the study is to uncover the structural factors underlying individual crises by situating Travis Bickle’s inner turmoil within a social context. His transformation is analyzed in light of theoretical frameworks such as anomie, alienation, narcissistic defense mechanisms, the individuation process, and psychological vulnerability. These concepts are explored through the perspectives of thinkers including Durkheim, Marx, Fromm, and Kohut. Travis’s loneliness, estrangement from society, and search for meaning are linked to the oppressive and alienating forces of modern urban life. The research employs a qualitative approach: the film is examined through reflexive thematic analysis, informed by sociological and psychoanalytical perspectives. The relationship between the film’s narrative language and Travis’s inner world is analyzed, demonstrating that the crises experienced by the character have roots not simply in the individual but in society as well. Consequently, it is emphasized that identity formation is shaped by social conditions alongside personal ones. Taxi Driver thus offers a powerful narrative that remains relevant today about anomie, loneliness, alienation, and the neurotic states into which individuals may be driven in attempting to overcome them.

Kaynakça

  • Akgün, A. (2015). Türk toplumunda değişme süreci ve yabancılaşma-din ilişkisi [Master's thesis, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University]. https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/tezDetay.jsp?id=6xpe0qfwvefJAA6GSI7z7g.
  • Ballas, A. T. (2021). White ignorance and forgetting: Approaching white supremacist fantasies in Taxi Driver (1976) and Joker (2019) [Master's thesis, University of Colorado]. https://digital.auraria.edu/work/sc/43daa2b7-1a9c-434f-9a18-94ec135524f9.
  • Bauman, Z. (1991). Modernity and ambivalence. Polity Press.
  • Beck, U. (2009). Risk society: Towards a new modernity. SAGE Publications.
  • Berman, M. (1983). All that is solid melts into air: The experience of modernity. Verso.
  • Blake, R. A. (2005). Street smart: The New York of Lumet, Allen, Scorsese, and Lee. University Press of Kentucky.
  • Blake, R. A. (2017). Inside Bickle's brain: Scorsese, Schrader, and Wolfe. Journal of Popular Film and Television, 45(3), 139–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/01956051.2017.1293604
  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
  • Briody, M. (2021). The patron saint of New York City: The search for redemption in Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull [Bachelor's thesis, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology]. https://illustro-iadt.figshare.com/articles/thesis/The_patron_saint_of_New_York_City_The_search_for_redemption_in_i_Mean_Streets_i_i_Taxi_Driver_i_and_i_Raging_Bull_i_/25152074.
  • Durkheim, É. (2005). Suicide: A study in sociology (J. A. Spaulding & G. Simpson, Trans.). Free Press. (Original work published 1897)
  • Durkheim, É. (2014). The division of labor in society (W. D. Halls, Trans.). Free Press. (Original work published 1893) Freud, A. (1966). The ego and the mechanisms of defense. Karnac Books.
  • Freud, S. (1914). On narcissism: An introduction. https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Freud_SE_On_Narcissism_complete.pdf
  • Frey, C. (2024). A psychoanalytic reading of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. Dawson English Journal. https://www.dawsonenglishjournal.ca/article/a-psychoanalytic-reading-of-martin-scorseses-taxi-driver-by-clara-frey
  • Fromm, E. (1959). The sane society (2nd ed.). Routledge.
  • Gedikli, C. (2001). Modern kentleşme ve yabancılaşma: Sosyo-ekonomik perspektifler. Toplum ve Bilim, (53), 369–379.
  • Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Polity Press.
  • Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. Prentice-Hall.
  • Harvey, D. (1989). The condition of postmodernity: An enquiry into the origins of cultural change. Blackwell.
  • High, M. D. (2015). Taxi Driver and veteran trauma. In A. Baker (Ed.), A companion to Martin Scorsese (pp. 373–395). Wiley Blackwell.
  • Honneth, A. (1992). Integrity and disrespect: Principles of a conception of morality based on the theory of recognition. Political Theory, 20(2), 187–201.
  • Iannucci, M. J. (2005, January 31). Postmodern antihero: Capitalism and heroism in Taxi Driver. Bright Lights Film. https://brightlightsfilm.com/postmodern-antihero-capitalism-and-heroism-in-taxi-driver/
  • Jung, C. G. (1951). Aion: Researches into the phenomenology of the self (R. C. Hull, Trans.). Princeton University Press.
  • Jung, C. G. (1959). The archetypes and the collective unconscious (R. C. Hull, Trans.). Princeton University Press. Kernberg, O. F. (1975). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. Jason Aronson.
  • Kohut, H. (1971). The analysis of the self: A systematic approach to the psychoanalytic treatment of narcissistic personality disorders. University of Chicago Press.
  • Kolker, R. (2011). Cinema of loneliness (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
  • Kristofferson, K. (1971). The Pilgrim: Chapter 33 [Song]. On The Silver Tongued Devil and I. Monument Records.
  • Lasch, C. (1979). The culture of narcissism: American life in an age of diminishing expectations. W. W. Norton & Company.
  • Leetham, T. (2024). 'Taxi Driver' explained: Was the ending just a dream? Rout Magazine. https://routmagazine.co.uk
  • Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space. Blackwell.
  • Lewis, H. B. (1971). Shame and guilt in neurosis. International Universities Press.
  • Lombardo, P. (2014). Memory and imagination in film: Scorsese, Lynch, Jarmusch, Van Sant. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Marx, K. (1993). Economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844 (M. Milligan, Trans.). International Publishers. (Original work published 1844)
  • Merton, R. K. (1938). Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3(5), 672–682.
  • Miller, A. (1981). The drama of the gifted child: The search for the true self. Basic Books.
  • Morrison, A. P. (1983). Shame: The underside of narcissism. The Analytic Press.
  • Petković, R., & Jurleta, G. (2022). Martin Scorsese's character-driven films: The study of main protagonists in Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980). Anglisticum. Journal of the Association-Institute for English Language and American Studies, 11–29. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7278534
  • Polegubić, K. (2022). Flâneur of the urban decay: Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver [Master's thesis, University of Zadar]. https://repozitorij.unizd.hr/en/islandora/object/unizd:7232
  • Scorsese, M. (Director). (1976). Taxi Driver [Film]. Columbia Pictures.
  • Scorsese, M. (1990). Mean Streets, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver. In D. Thompson & I. Christie (Interviewers), Scorsese on Scorsese. Faber and Faber.
  • Simmel, G. (1997). The metropolis and mental life. University of Chicago Press.
  • Skoble, A. J. (2007). God's lonely man: Taxi Driver and the ethics of vigilantism. In M. T. Conard (Ed.), The philosophy of Martin Scorsese (pp. 23–30). University Press of Kentucky.
  • Stevens, J. (2023). Taxi Driver film analysis: The sacred & the profane. Loud and Clear Reviews. https://loudandclearreviews.com/taxi-driver-film-analysis-1976-movie-scorsese/
  • Tönnies, F. (2001). Community and society (C. P. Loomis, Trans.). Transaction Publishers.
  • Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2010). The narcissism epidemic: Living in the age of entitlement. Atria Books.
  • Yates, C. (2007). Taxi Driver: The psychopathic hero and the rescue romance: How jealousy drives the narrative along (M. Scorsese, USA, 1976). In C. Yates, Masculine jealousy and contemporary cinema (pp. 75–91). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230592926_5
Toplam 45 adet kaynakça vardır.

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil İngilizce
Konular İletişim ve Medya Çalışmaları (Diğer)
Bölüm Araştırma Makaleleri
Yazarlar

Deniz Kurtyılmaz 0000-0001-8123-8034

Bedir Han Ünlü 0009-0007-0227-192X

Yayımlanma Tarihi 15 Ekim 2025
Gönderilme Tarihi 15 Nisan 2025
Kabul Tarihi 15 Eylül 2025
Yayımlandığı Sayı Yıl 2025 Cilt: 18 Sayı: 2

Kaynak Göster

APA Kurtyılmaz, D., & Ünlü, B. H. (2025). Anomie, Alienation and the Grandiose Self: Socio-Psychological Analysis of Taxi Driver (1976). Selçuk İletişim, 18(2), 669-692.