Genre subversion and absurd humor in Ali Atay’s cinema

This study investigates the function of absurd humor in relation to genre structure in Ali Atay’s films Limonata (Lemonade) (2015), Ölümlü Dünya (Mortal World) (2018), Cinayet Süsü (You've Got Murder) (2019), and Ölümlü Dünya 2 (Mortal World 2) (2023). The study argues that humor in Atay’s cinema is produced not only through unusual events and comic dialogue but also through formal narrative mechanisms that disrupt conventions associated with melodrama, the road movie, action cinema, crime film, and black comedy. The research employs a theory-driven thematic analysis alongside close film analysis, focusing on the disruption of genre expectations, narrative delay, the erosion of authority and professionalism, and affective ambivalence within specific scenes and sequences. The findings suggest that the narrative functions associated with these genres are destabilized by characters’ inability to fulfill generic roles, dialogue that postpones action, the normalization of violence and the erosion of authority through everyday behavior, and the coexistence of comedy, sadness, and tension within individual scenes. Thus, genre subversion in Ali Atay’s cinema emerges not from the outright rejection of genre conventions but from their preservation in recognizable forms rendered dysfunctional through humor. Conceptually, the study distinguishes among three related terms: genre hybridity refers to the interaction of multiple genre codes within a film; a hybrid genre is a relatively stable generic category produced through such interaction; and hybrid narrative refers to a broader combination of narrative or media forms.