Turgut Uyar’s poem Acının Coğrafyası (The Geography of Pain) presents a structure enriched with linguistic elements and multiple layers of meaning, allowing for interpretations from various perspectives. The poem highlights themes such as the image of a city withdrawn under the influence of oppressive and restrictive authoritarian policies, the struggles brought about by the closed urban life within a vast geography dominated by pain, emotional and psychological dilemmas, the quest for freedom and inner balance, as well as hope and rebellion. The primary aim of this study is not to reduce the poem to a single meaning or to uncover its definitive interpretation. Since literature is fundamentally rooted in language, the initial step in analyzing any text must focus on language itself and its structures. Therefore, this study closely examines the literal meanings of words, their connotations, and metaphorical implications; the intra-textual context (relations among words) and extra-textual references; syntactic functions, connections, and implications. Through this approach, it seeks to unravel the dominant poetic language within the text and reveal its polysemy, thereby providing readers with new perspectives.
Turgut Uyar, image, symbol, relation, implication, association, semantics.