Typologies and Semantic Universes of Resentment Metaphors as Substitutes for Justice in Ahmet Altan’s Novels

Abstract

The question of whether an individual may seek justice by their own means when institutional mechanisms fail has long been a central issue in philosophical, legal, and literary debates. Under despotic regimes, where law loses its legitimacy, justice mechanisms are stripped of their independence, and the individual can no longer protect their rights, alternative forms of justice grounded in personal conscience emerge. Literature often conveys these struggles through metaphor. Ahmet Altan’s novels Like a Sword Wound , Love in the Da ys of Rebellion , and Dying Is Easier than Loving vividly portray, through striking metaphors, the moral dilemmas individuals face, as well as the psychological and social consequences of resentment justice, in contexts where institutional justice cannot be realized. This study, drawing on George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory, examines the metaphors in these novels that reveal the interrelation between justice, resentment, and despotism. It discusses how the metaphors employed in the texts, at structural, ontological, and orientational levels, articulate multiple layers of meaning and represent the tension between individual reckoning and collective justice. The findings demonstrate that justice is not merely a legal principle but also a multidimensional concept shaped by individual conscience, collective memory, and cultural narratives.