Symposium: Utopia and Dystopia in Turkish SF Literature
Environmental Disaster and Postapocalyptic Fiction in Gülayşe Koçak’s Ecodystopia: Siyah Koku
Meltem Dağcı
Translated by Eyşan Çolak
Artistic works that aim to promote sustainable living in natural way while warming people against threats and environmental destruction are particularly noteworthy. Through visual or literary means, these works not only raise awareness but also encourage people to take preventive action. The role of literature in addressing environmental issues has become increasingly significant. In science fiction, subgenres such as dystopia and postapocalyptic fiction portray pessimistic scenarios, dark aspects, and potential disasters, while also serving as pioneers of a conscious environmental movement. In this context, the role of science fiction in literature has gained growing importance in highlighting environmental crises.
In science fiction literature, ecodystopia has emerged as a response to supernatural events such as environmental pollution, waste, and natural disasters. In recent years, it has begun to appear across all forms of cultural texts. Literary works that combine ecocritical approaches and ecodystopian narratives with postapocalyptic fiction have also found their place in literary discourse. Thus, it aims to contribute to transforming environmental awareness into a non-anthropocentric social consciousness through the art of science fiction, encouraging humanity to abandon its flawed way of thinking inherited from the past- one that interprets the external world solely based on its own interests and perceptions- and to develop lasting solutions to environment problems. This is significant because postapocalyptic fiction demonstrates how the world can deteriorate when humanity ignores warnings related to environmental factors and becomes completely isolated from the outside world. In postapocalyptic fiction, dystopian themes of nature are frequently encountered. Ecodystopia and postapocalyptic fiction can be viewed as interconnected through a cause-and-effect relationship. Every situation involving the human-nature dichotomy that results in negative outcomes inherently contains a harmful cause that affects the green environment. Therefore, postapocalyptic fiction often presents us with the image of a consumed environment and a consuming human.
This article aims to conduct a text focused analysis of Siyah Koku by Gülayşe Koçak- known within Turkish science literature for its ecodystopian and postapocalyptic element- in terms of its relevance to the existing literature. In Siyah Koku, natural resources have been depleted, water consumption per person is rationed, and organ donation is mandated by law without regard for age. In a world where even “souls” have become plasticized, people are only able to continue their daily lives through the use of calming drugs dispersed into the air via massive “sprayers.” With the use of these drugs, a future dominated by obedient citizens comes to prevail. The work in question will be examined within the framework of science fiction and literature, focusing on its postapocalyptic atmosphere and dystopian narrative that explores the potential consequences of environmental destruction.
The Relationship Between Ecodystopia and Postapocalyptic Fiction
In science fiction literature, ecodystopia- one of the subgenres of dystopia- depicts a fictional world that conveys future environmental concerns, warnings, and dangers through dystopian elements. While emphasizing ecological awareness, it also contains utopian aspects within its own narrative structure. One of the key features that distinguishes ecodystopia from other subgenres of speculative fiction is its direct emphasis on environmental concerns and its use of dystopian and postapocalyptic elements to reveal the consequences of ecological collapse. Marco Malvestio (2022) defines ecodystopia as a “hybrid genre” that combines the “catastrophic narrative of the postapocalyptic with the speculative foresight of dystopia” (Malvestio 26-28). In this regard, ecodystopias critique the societies they emerge from through an “ecological perspective” and depict to their readers “worlds in which natural life has either disappeared, is on the verge of extinction, or has undergone terrifying transformations causing humanity to suffer as a result.” (Aksu-2) The bleak future visions in these narratives, in which the relationship between humans and nature is irreparably damaged, intersects with the discourse of the “post-nature” era. The concept of “post-nature” introduced by American environmentalist writer and journalist Bill Mckibben, suggest that due to the destructive impact of human activities-such as ecological disasters, exploitative industrial practices, and pollution-the world as we once knew it has transformed into a post-nature world. In this sense, “nature has now given way to the post-natural” (Şensoy 33).
While technology is a central focus in dystopian fiction, the opposite is often seen in postapocalyptic scenarios. In such settings, technology is broken down, technological devices malfunction, consumerism comes to an end, and consumption is portrayed as a force that has transformed both environments and human beings. As a result, in postapocalyptic fiction, we encounter a world where the final point reached through technology evokes a simulated atmosphere.
The Earth hosts all kinds of living beings and offers them various alternative ways of life. At the same time, important steps must be taken to ensure the sustainability of life and the healthy and efficient renewal of the resources consumed by humans. One of the key steps is to establish a balanced ratio in response to the growing human population. This is because a universe in which resources are consumed in direct relation to increasing population rates may point to the core problems underlying dystopia. The rise in the human race, combined with individual ambitions and the advanced use of technology, may lead to actions that could ultimately bring about the end of the universe.
Novel Structure
Siyah Koku consists of 35 chapters and 621 pages. This study uses the first edition of the novel, published in 2021 by Everest Publishing. Focusing on the life of the protagonist Mine Özbizden, Siyah Koku presents the world and people around her through her perspective. The central focus of the novel is Mine’s relationship with Tuncay, as it is through this romantic connection that she becomes aware of the “plastic world” she inhabits. Tuncay—who at times reminds her of her grandfather or occasionally her brother—acts as the catalyst in her journey of self-discovery. In the novel, where Mine Özbizden’s struggle for individuality and selfhood is portrayed, the narrative features a depiction of a dystopian world. The state of the world is revealed through the lens of Mine’s personal experiences.
In the novel, natural resources have dried up, the ecological system has begun to deteriorate, and water consumption is strictly rationed—everyone uses Sukretcard to access Pırıltemiz water. It is known that everything has become plasticized and artificial, and that organ donation has been legalized and made mandatory. People inhale a tranquilizer called Dosilin in every environment. Individuals are categorized as Us, the Other, or those who return from being the Other, and there is an ongoing war between the Bizistan soldiers and the mountain men. Pills such as the tea pill, forgetting pill, sleeping pill, no-smell pill, and happiness pill are commonly used. In a country where MutluTV is watched constantly, we witness the strange and complicated love between Tuncay and Mine, along with the unfolding ecological disasters, the climate crisis, and an entirely artificial atmosphere.
Ecodystopian Motifs in the Novel: Scent and Giant Sprayers
According to McKibben, as a result of the environmental disasters caused by humans inhabiting the planet, it has become difficult to find an untouched or pristine natural area anywhere on Earth. “By altering the air, we have made every point on the surface human-made and artificial”. Nature has lost its ability to transform independently and exist on its own terms. McKibben argues that it is hardly possible to claim that anything remains other than a damaged and deteriorated environment (McKibben 50). The disruption of the Earth’s ecosystem—through the increase in natural disasters, abrupt shifts in weather patterns, and the abnormalization of climatic conditions—has led to a state in which “no clear distinction can be made between the human and the non-human realms” (Wapner 37). Building on this, ecodystopian fictional texts propose the possibility of an atmosphere in which it is either difficult or entirely impossible to distinguish what still belongs to nature, and what a life devoid of nature might look like.
In Siyah Koku by Gülayşe Koçak, one of the most striking examples of the ecodystopia genre in contemporary literature, ecological collapse and its consequences, social unrest, the erosion of biodiversity, and the rise of oppressive and controlling powers are all addressed. In this dark world, water’s taste and sound have turned into a melancholic legend; social rage and human emotions are kept in check by tranquilizers sprayed into the streets; discrimination, cruelty, and apathy have become normalized; culture and language are nearly extinct; and even the human body has been transformed into a source of global profit under state control. The novel traces the footprints of dystopian motifs lurking in the shadows of this bleak reality.
The novel reflects the globalized climate crisis and its consequences. One of the major issues depicted is the desertification of habitable areas and the scarcity of water sources due to extreme heat. Another problem arising from the depletion of water resources is the onset of the World Water War. As a result of this global conflict, water has ceased to be considered an infinite resource, prompting the implementation of protective policies. Chief among these are preventative measures like limiting consumption to “a few drops of water.” In addition to various nutritional pills, citizens receive their daily water rations via Sukredi or Sukret cards (Koçak 63).
Humans perceive their environment through five primary senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. These sensory inputs are essential for their connection to and survival in the world. However, not all senses carry the same weight in daily life. While sight and hearing tend to dominate everyday experiences, the sense of smell holds a unique status—it is the first to develop in humans and is directly registered in the brain. From the moment of birth, individuals are exposed to countless scents, which are stored in the brain’s olfactory memory. In the novel, the imagery associated with the sense of smell—one of the five senses—is conveyed through the scent of flowers and the distinctive odor of the sprayer, encapsulated in the notion of the “black scent” (siyah koku). Flowers are now plastic, and their scents, too, are artificial.
As soon as I heard the words rose scent, I felt nauseated. Admittedly, though there are still a few scattered gardens where one might come across a living flower, I must have grown quite distant from the real thing. Now, when I hear ‘rose scent,’ what comes to mind isn’t the smell of an actual rose, or even rosewater, but rather the plasticky odor of those so-called artificial roses sprayed with synthetic rose essence. (Koçak 76)
Rising temperatures and carbon emissions, disrupted seasonal balances, extreme droughts, melting glaciers, declining oxygen levels in seas and oceans, among many other factors, are destroying animals’ natural habitats. Food sources are depleting. While some species lose the battle for survival, the balance among the remaining ones is disrupted. This imbalance affects all living and non-living elements of the ecosystem. The extinction of a single species can destabilize the entire ecosystem. In the novel’s narrative, endangered or extinct species primarily include animals, especially birds. Due to the effects of global warming, it no longer even snows:
Constantly migrating in search of water, large families—children, grandparents, entire households—see each other as competitors. It’s as if the entire country’s population has abandoned their homes; spilling onto the roads in drought and perhaps in hope of leaving something else behind, caught in a perpetual motion, an ongoing flight. Perhaps what they flee is not just the lack of water as a drink. Could the drought that envelops every aspect of life—relationships, love, cultural life, aesthetic feelings, our humanity—be the consequence of water scarcity as the source of life? (Koçak 112)
Siyah Koku can be read through the lens of the climate crisis’s harmful effects on the ecosystem and humanity, with a continued focus on the human experience. As ecological destruction escalates, nature can no longer fulfill even the most basic human needs. It can be said that this adverse trajectory of nature also causes fluctuations in people’s mental and emotional states. “Could the drought that envelops every aspect of life—relationships, love, cultural life, aesthetic sensibility, and our humanity—be the consequence of water scarcity as the source of life?” (Koçak 112)
Mine’s grandfather takes care to nourish her with “real” food and “real” water to protect her from becoming “plastic.” His advice to always remember water reflects an ecological awareness.
The deadly radioactive rays of the Sun, especially during the periods when there was no atmosphere, were blocked by the oceans and seas formed in the early days of the Earth. Even today, radioactive rays practically cannot penetrate below 200 meters of the sea surface. The fact that life began on the ocean floors leads us to consider a connection between the protective nature of water and the origin of life. For all these reasons, and perhaps more, water is extremely important for life as we know it. We say that without water, life on Earth likely would not have begun, since all known living organisms depend on water molecules in one way or another. (Bakırcı 2018, para. 12)
Could it be that water has become the last stronghold not only for cleansing our bodies but also for purifying our hearts and souls? They invented dozens, even hundreds, of cleaning products that do not require water, yet strangely, people no longer feel the need to be clean… They can increase the dosage of Dosilin they spray on us as much as they want—just as people have grown bitter with water’s absence, they too have become bitter, surrendered, and given up… Life has grown bitter… (Koçak 123)
In Bizistan, giant sprayers constantly spray antidepressants over the people on the streets, and various narcotic pills are delivered free of charge to every home. The public has become accustomed to these tranquilizing drugs. People, habituated to the antidepressant and calming scent permeating the air, have forgotten how to feel and transformed into robotic or “plastic” individuals exhibiting uniform reactions. According to Marcuse, capitalist societies suppress human emotions, turning people into passive beings who think in a standardized way (Marcuse 11).
They even installed sprayers at the bus station; we stood right beneath one. Coming from outside the city, Dosilin didn’t smell calming at all; it was like an outright assault on the nose. The rhythmic hiss from the sprayer evoked the feeling that the city was surrounded by monsters breathing deeply. (Koçak 70)
The constant spraying of tranquilizers on people, the vitamins and thirst-quenching additives mixed into water or synthetic foods, are all imposed by the state without individual consent. Many chemicals, such as happiness pills and drugs that erase memories and traumas, are distributed free of charge and marketed to people through the media. According to Adorno, the media acts as a chemical that shows people ways to escape reality; by presenting its content as a “convenient and simple” happiness pill, it constructs social suffering as an invisible structure (Adorno 93).
But some news I got from the media really confused me: many articles have been published marking the second anniversary of the government’s organ harvesting and exporting policy. In our crisis-ridden world, where everything revolves around short-term survival and making money, our Bizistan has become the world’s number one source of organs. Within five years, everyone over the age of 20 will have donated at least one organ. (Koçak 436)
Thus, as a state policy, people become manipulable both physically and mentally. This total control of the individual by power, encompassing all aspects of life, is a defining characteristic of dystopian literature.
The Bodily Resources Act
Factors such as the Earth’s limited resources and environmental problems indirectly encourage humanity—and by extension, states—to pursue various illegal paths with the aid of science and technology. Authoritarian totalitarian governments experimenting with unlawful methods are a common theme in dystopian fiction. State institutions serving oligarchic structures impose practices that harm both health and the life cycle on the populace through coercive power.
Foucault emphasizes that power does not merely supervise individuals in society but transforms into a structure that regulates and controls their life processes—especially biological processes such as health, the body, and fertility. In this context, state institutions perceive themselves as having the authority to intervene directly in people’s lives ostensibly for their benefit (Foucault 105-108). In the novel’s narrative, where even water resources are restricted and sprayers are mentioned, people’s health is hardly a concern of the state. In an environment where decisions are made unilaterally by the government, certain illegal projects, laws, and practices that assert the state’s power are imposed on the people as mandatory conditions. In dystopian fiction, the human body is disregarded and human health is neglected. A law is enacted over people’s bodies.
The National Minister of Bodily Resources explains at length—with statistics and graphs—how the annual income generated from eyes taken through BK (Bodily Resources) procedures increases steadily every month and how it raises our social welfare: ‘BK surgeries are a project of love, a project of turning into life,’ he says, emphasizing his words. (Koçak 456)
It can be inferred that the government enacted the Bodily Resources Act to generate revenue and made organ donation mandatory regardless of age. Although organ donations are portrayed as a sustainable environmental practice, the dystopia reveals a strikingly harsh and realistic aspect of this reality.
In Siyah Koku, the Bodily Resources Act and the right to life granted through organ donation fall short of protecting the physical and biological integrity of the individual. The fundamental purpose of the right to life is to safeguard human existence. However, in the novel, the protection and respect for the right to life have ceased to be among the core responsibilities of the state. Under an oppressive regime, it is hardly possible to speak of respect for human health.
The assistant appeared; he had one eye. At the time, this did not surprise me because the Bodily Resources Act had just been enacted and was not yet implemented nationwide… At that time, there was no obligation to wear a patch over the blinded eyes; the state had not yet decreed, ‘All blind eyes must be covered!’ in order to prevent the disgrace caused by the law from being so openly visible. (Koçak 62-63)
In the last century, as a result of natural disasters and devastating catastrophes linked to climate change, various environmentally conscious and solution-oriented efforts have emerged. The concept of a sustainable environment appears as a green ecological movement aimed at raising awareness about environmental issues such as global warming, water scarcity, and the climate crisis. Since the biology of nature is also disrupted by climate crises, it is difficult to assert that ecosystems remain suitable for healthy life under normal circumstances. Considering the human–nature relationship as an inseparable part of living organisms’ life cycles, the serious disruption of nature’s balance can also be seen as a threatening disturbance to human biological cycles.
“Isn’t the meaning of the phrase ‘Every organ sacrificed for the integrity of Bizistan is immortal,’ which is framed and hung even in schools everywhere, exactly this? Mortals are living beings; doesn’t one have to be lifeless to be immortal?” (Koçak 480-481) According to Agamben, modern forms of sovereignty expose not only the political status of the individual but also their very biological existence to political intervention. This normalizes the idea of creating a social “immortality” by exposing the human body, thereby turning the human body into a victim of political power (Agamben 98-102).
In dystopian fiction, bodily projects and practices imposed by governments concerning human health often emerge as consequences of the disruption in nature’s vital cycles.
Ecocriticism examines the meanings attributed to nature in textual narratives by assigning an imaginative mode of expression to these meanings, analyzing the conceptual frameworks they create, and exploring how rivers, seas, soil, plant, and animal species shape human-environmental cultures and approaches to environmental issues (Oppermann 25). An ecocritical perspective centers on reducing nature-destructive attitudes of individuals, striving to instill an awareness of living in harmony with nature and a sustainable lifestyle.
The building bearing the large, golden letters ‘STANDARD BODILY RESOURCES HOSPITAL’ on its door was perhaps the most crowded place I had ever seen in my life; I had never shared a room with so many people. Yet, the only image that came to mind about that place, the only feeling that awoke within me, was a deep, bottomless loneliness. (Koçak 473)
In the novel, the concept of sustainable living is not presented as a utopian ideal but rather as a grace granted to people within a dystopian setting, as if it were a normal, ordinary condition devoid of any negativity. The government, acting in response to the catastrophes and climate crises at the core of a sustainable environment, has created a chaotic, isolated atmosphere and environment.
There are distinct consequences stemming from the totalitarian government’s lack of commitment to a clean, green, or sustainable environment. Climate change, natural disasters, nuclear pollution, militarization, insatiable demand for endless energy sources, energy crises, biological epidemics, diseases, social injustice, ethical issues arising from biotechnological research, environmental pollution, and depleted natural resources are among the major problems depicted in the novel and faced by the contemporary world. In Siyah Koku, the traces of ecodystopian and apocalyptic fiction are accompanied by bodily laws enacted in response to the destructive outcomes of climate change and natural disasters.
Conclusion and Evaluation
This study examined the descriptive analyses within ecodystopias that depict dystopian futures caused by climate change, focusing on their role in fostering collective consciousness and encouraging action. The research presented dark future projections resulting from humanity’s failure to effectively combat climate change, culminating in ecological collapse. Postapocalyptic fictional narratives were explored to contribute to the literature by advancing discourse on environmental issues in literary texts and deepening the analysis of ecodystopian constructs.
The ecodystopian perspective emphasizes that humans have no real chance to reorganize their ecosystem and resources, highlighting the need to overcome false consciousness and raise environmental awareness. It problematizes anthropocentric environmental approaches by asserting that nature’s existence is not contingent upon humanity—that nature can persist without humans, whereas humans cannot exist without nature. This framework is suitable for critically examining areas where human-centered environmental attitudes must be challenged. Within this scope, literature is recognized as a powerful tool to guide society positively toward the protection of nature. Literary works aim to raise awareness of the scale of the ecological crisis. Through functional readings of ecodystopian novels, steps can be taken to promote a sustainable environmental consciousness. The struggle to preserve natural life and maintain ecological balance is carried out through literature.
Gülayşe Koçak’s novel Siyah Koku falls within the category of ecological dystopian fiction. Alongside ecodystopia, impressions related to postapocalyptic narratives were interpreted through selected excerpts from the text. Inspired by real-life nature-human disaster reports, the novel constructs a pessimistic future that brings readers’ anxieties to the fore while drawing attention to ecological crises. It traces the likelihood of disasters occurring if the necessary sustainable environmental understanding and green policies for nature protection are not implemented.
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Meltem Dağcı graduated from Ondokuz Mayıs University Computer Programming, then from Eskişehir Anadolu University Turkish Language and Literature. She completed Pedagogical Formation Training at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University. She graduated from Mersin University Institute of Social Sciences Women’s Studies Non-Thesis Master’s Program. She is interested in science fiction, speculative fiction stories and novels. Her stories, book reviews and interviews were published in various magazines and newspapers. She continues his Writer’s Room interviews on Edebiyat Haber with pleasure. The Other Side of the World, published by Ithaki Publishing, is her first book of short stories. Her anthology works include Women Around the Planet (Feminist Speculative Fiction Story Anthology) and A Strange Spark (Special for the 70th Anniversary of Fahrenheit 451). She is continuing her studies in Ondokuz Mayıs University Institute of Postgraduate Education, Women and Family Studies Master’s Program with Thesis.
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