“An Overview of Zygmunt Bauman's The Individualized Society Thesis Through the TV Series Yalan Dünya

Sociological analysis of social problems that affect the flow of life is crucial for giving meaning to human life and improving its quality. Individualization is one of the most significant issues faced by contemporary societies. The bitter consequences of individualization are experienced as the members of society become indifferent to each other, individuals become alienated from themselves, and they experience loneliness within communities. Zygmunt Bauman, one of the thinkers focusing on this subject, believes that people who are increasingly individualized should struggle to add meaning and purpose to their lives, and that they can re-express themselves with an uninterrupted effort they can sustain in this dire human condition they are in. Zygmunt Bauman, one of the critical and productive sociologists of the age we live in and considered by some circles as the "theorist of postmodernity", is a Polish sociologist and philosopher. He is known for his works that reveal both the adaptation of postmodern philosophy to the field of sociology and its evaluation at the theoretical level. Among them, one of his important works is The Individualized Society. In this work, he discussed how the individual will continue to exist in the society in the process of individualization, and focused on the changing character of today's social and political life. In the study, the "Yalan Dünya" series, which is thought to have the potential to reflect social reality, is examined. In the study, in which the sociological analysis method was used, the data were collected with the monograph technique, and the characters in the series were analyzed by associating them with Bauman's "The Individualized Society" thesis. As a result of the research, significant similarities were seen between Bauman's concept of individuation and the characters of the series. These similarities were interpreted in line with the problematic of the research.