Alternative Approaches to Terrorism in the Context of Art
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamile AKGÜL

Abstract
The ease of motivation has always been alluring within existential efforts of the individual who has been cut off from his/her history and cultural life, and lost in his/her solitude. This fact is grounded on the preconditions eliminating the social and cultural identity data of the individual, and by no means providing the choice of cognitive competence in the societies/communities aimed to be motivated. Desiring to cut off the links between social life and the individual, who is first alienated with himself/herself, later with the society, leads the individual to postpone social responsibilities and creates the context only convenient for codification. The preemptive precautions against terror, as a support for security measures, have to be conducted simultaneously in the economic, political, social, cultural, spiritual spheres. The prescription for a solution to this violence-centered tendency targeting innocent people is possible only through such precautions supporting each other. Otherwise, the darkness of terror will inevitably overshadow the inner dynamics of the individual as well as the social dynamics in which the individual is involved. The function of art as a whole of emotional expressions during the process of creating emotional makeup of the society stands out with its society-shaping role. Thus, the individual’s emotions are fed through art and his/her opposition against violence is naturally restructured. Art, supporting the individual’s process of emotional development, also sets the setting for the individual’s emancipation and investigation into events through the privilege of free expression it provides. This transformation poses an opposition to the unquestioned state of submission. Artistic sensitivity acquired by the individual liberated through art and emotionally nurtured will enable him/her to isolate terror- and violence-related phenomena from his/her life to be constructed in a more harmonious and balanced way. Education is the most basic human right to avoid the risk of motivation in today’s world, but the low chances of academic education for an individual deprived of education opportunities put forward the idea of education through art. Emotional and cognitive richness acquired throughout the efficient process of artistic education could contribute to the process of self-development by improving the individual’s ability to perceive abstract concepts and developing the skills to associate objects with each other. However, during the process of restructuring through social consciousness raising, selecting the artistic activities which are familiar to the society, in compliance with cultural makeup and social identity will provide an efficient and effective use of the process within organisations involved in art and education through art. Underlining the potential in the effective power of art on human life which could create a well-qualified social life, the present study will question the function of art, an phenomenon existing with its ability to strengthen social relations, in dealing with a structure like terror, completely opposite in content, drawing upon the privilege of cognitive consciousness in art.

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