Reflections of Diaspora in Turkish Children’s and Youth Literature

Fundamental changes have driven people to adopt new perspectives and, in some cases, relocate. This has heightened migration tendencies, resulting in a growing body of literature that reflects the experiences of diaspora members, addressing social, cultural, and psychological contexts. The study focuses on how the experiences of child and youth immigrants are represented and how ideologies related to migration are conveyed in children’s and young adult literary works whose main theme is migration or diaspora. These literary works not only depict the experiences of immigrant children and youth but also participate in the dissemination of ideologies surrounding migration and belonging. Using document analysis, the research employs descriptive coding to identify subcategories, categories, and themes, analyzing how authors address diaspora in these works. The analysis identified several themes and their corresponding subcategories. The themes related to immigrants’ experiences include <em>Portraying Change</em>, with categories such as Language Barriers, Authenticity of Experiences, Emotional Representation, and Social Integration. Another experiencecentered theme, <em>Created Homelands</em>, consist of the subcategories Portrayal of the Homeland and Homeland vs. Host Country. The themes associated with ideologies about immigrants include <em>Otherness</em>, encompassing subcategories like Connecting with Others, Representation of Migrant Identities, and Isolation/Marginalization, as well as <em>Restricted Autonomy</em>, with subcategories Subdued Protagonists and Racism and Resistance.