THE POLITICS OF THE DEAD BODY: ABJECT ENCOUNTERS IN “ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA

Thisstudyresearchesthefunctions of a dead body in OnceUpon a Time in Anatolia in whichthe presence of a dead body is a prominent element. Inthe film, throughout a nightandday, a group of men set out in search of a corpse in theAnatoliansteppesfor a murderinvestigation. The presence of a corpsegives an opportunityforthereviewing of crime, law, goodandevilwithrespecttothefragility of identity, lawandorder. Inthisway, it can be considered a construction of feelingsaboutdeathand a dead body both on a socio-culturaland an individualbasis. Concordantly, aproposthefunctionandthemeaning of thecorpse, thestudyfollows Julia Kristeva'sconcept of abjectconceptualized in her work Powers of Horror (1982: 4) as somethingwhich ‘disturbsidentity, systemandorderanddoes not respectborders, positionsandrules as in-between, theambiguous,thecomposite'.Bymeans of Kristeva'sconceptualization of theabject, it is triedtofindoutthepotential of Onceupon a time in Anatoliato put crimeandevil in a moral ambivalentplacethatdestabilizessubject in a corporealworldthatdeath is infectedandtodrawattentiontothefragility of thesymbolicorder.