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The preparatory phase of the 1928 Alphabet Reform: A typographic and discursive analysis of Cumhuriyet Newspaper

Cilt: 23 Sayı: 2026 5 Eylül 2026
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The preparatory phase of the 1928 Alphabet Reform: A typographic and discursive analysis of Cumhuriyet Newspaper

Öz

This study conceptualizes the 1928 Alphabet Reform in Türkiye not merely as an orthographic change, but as a deep-rooted epistemic rupture that reconstructed social memory. Specifically, it examines how the influential Cumhuriyet newspaper functioned as an ideological state apparatus, supporting the new regime's ideological construction and indoctrinating the masses during this transformation. Adopting a sequential mixed-methods design, the research analyzes the 114-day period from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s August 9, 1928 speech to December 1, 1928, when newspapers fully transitioned to Latin letters. Quantitatively, the visibility of Latin letters on the newspaper's front and back pages was measured by frequency and spatial distribution. Qualitatively, Teun A. van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was applied to four historical breaking thresholds identified in the quantitative data. Findings reveal that Cumhuriyet proactively changed its layout months before the legal mandate, creating a pedagogical space for the new alphabet. Furthermore, discourse analysis demonstrates that the newspaper systematically “othered” the Arabic alphabet and its associated Eastern-Islamic episteme via macro and micro structures, framing the reform as a rational integration into Western civilization. Consequently, rather than being a passive transmitter, Cumhuriyet acted as a founding apparatus that eliminated the old epistemic order and constructed the new one.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Alphabet reform, Cumhuriyet Newspaper, critical discourse analysis, ideological state apparatus, epistemic rupture

Kaynakça

  1. Althusser, L. (2010). İdeoloji: Devletin İdeolojik Aygıtları (Çev: Alp Tümertekin). İthaki.
  2. Bugün Arap harflerinin son günü. (1928). Cumhuriyet, 1639, 1.
  3. Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd edition). Sage.
  4. Çubukçu, İ. A. (1985). Atatürk, Din ve Lâiklik. Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi Dergisi, 1(2), 573–576. https://izlik.org/JA99WD54SR
  5. Cumhuriyet Yolunda Yunus Nadi (Haz. Sami Karaören). (1999). Cumhuriyet Gazetesi Yayınları.
  6. Ertem, R. (1991). Elifbe’den Alfabe’ye: Türkiye’de Harf ve Yazı Meselesi. Dergah Yayınları.
  7. Fortna, B. C. (2011). Learning to read in the late Ottoman Empire and the early Turkish republic. Palgrave Macmillan.
  8. Foucault, M. (1992). Hapishanenin Doğuşu (Çev: Mehmet Ali Kılıçbay). İmge Kitapevi.
  9. Foucault, M. (2011). Entelektüelin Siyasi İşlevi (Çev: Işık Ergüden, Osman Akınhay, Ferda Keskin). Ayrıntı Yayınları.
  10. Gazi H.z. Tarihî nutukları. (1928). Cumhuriyet, 1611, 8.

Kaynak Göster

APA
Tosun Durmuş, B. (2026). The preparatory phase of the 1928 Alphabet Reform: A typographic and discursive analysis of Cumhuriyet Newspaper. OPUS Journal of Society Research, 23(2026), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.2008017
AMA
1.Tosun Durmuş B. The preparatory phase of the 1928 Alphabet Reform: A typographic and discursive analysis of Cumhuriyet Newspaper. OPUS TAD. 2026;23(2026):1-15. doi:10.26466/opusjsr.2008017
Chicago
Tosun Durmuş, Büşra. 2026. “The preparatory phase of the 1928 Alphabet Reform: A typographic and discursive analysis of Cumhuriyet Newspaper”. OPUS Journal of Society Research 23 (2026): 1-15. https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.2008017.
EndNote
Tosun Durmuş B (01 Eylül 2026) The preparatory phase of the 1928 Alphabet Reform: A typographic and discursive analysis of Cumhuriyet Newspaper. OPUS Journal of Society Research 23 2026 1–15.
IEEE
[1]B. Tosun Durmuş, “The preparatory phase of the 1928 Alphabet Reform: A typographic and discursive analysis of Cumhuriyet Newspaper”, OPUS TAD, c. 23, sy 2026, ss. 1–15, Eyl. 2026, doi: 10.26466/opusjsr.2008017.
ISNAD
Tosun Durmuş, Büşra. “The preparatory phase of the 1928 Alphabet Reform: A typographic and discursive analysis of Cumhuriyet Newspaper”. OPUS Journal of Society Research 23/2026 (01 Eylül 2026): 1-15. https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.2008017.
JAMA
1.Tosun Durmuş B. The preparatory phase of the 1928 Alphabet Reform: A typographic and discursive analysis of Cumhuriyet Newspaper. OPUS TAD. 2026;23:1–15.
MLA
Tosun Durmuş, Büşra. “The preparatory phase of the 1928 Alphabet Reform: A typographic and discursive analysis of Cumhuriyet Newspaper”. OPUS Journal of Society Research, c. 23, sy 2026, Eylül 2026, ss. 1-15, doi:10.26466/opusjsr.2008017.
Vancouver
1.Büşra Tosun Durmuş. The preparatory phase of the 1928 Alphabet Reform: A typographic and discursive analysis of Cumhuriyet Newspaper. OPUS TAD. 01 Eylül 2026;23(2026):1-15. doi:10.26466/opusjsr.2008017