Theses - Department of Turkish Literature

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Faculty of Humanities And Letters

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15 yüzyıldan 18 yüzyıla kasidelerde ideal hükümdar portresi ve hükümdarın metaforik sunumu
(Bilkent University, 2013) Onay, Ebru
Originated from the question how the sovereignty of sultan affected and shaped the mind of “Homo-Ottomanicus”, this project focuses on the portrayal of the Ottoman sultans in qasidas in general and the metaphorical presentation of them in particular. With a specific emphasis on the importance of the perspectives qasidas can provide for the research, a number of qasidas written for the reigning sultan by Ahmad Pasha, Bâkî, Nef’î, and Nedîm in their Turkish divans have been examined in the thesis. It is observed that in qasidas the sultan is generally depicted as fair, generous, benign, and good warrior and this feature was a result of the circle of equity inherited from Persian- Arabic- Indian ruling tradition -or rather an idiosyncratic amalgamation of them. With a specific eye to the functions of the comparisons and analogies between the Ottoman sultans and heroes from Persian and Islamic mythologies, the importance of comparisons and analogies in strengthen of the power of the sultans is discussed. This being done, I attempt to examine the metaphorical presentation and representation of the Ottoman sultans in selected qasida examples from aforementioned poets. In this main part, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s influential work on metaphor, Metaphors We Live By, is applied as theoretical frame. Lakoff and Johnson assert that metaphors are not merely simple linguistic devices to add some aesthetic value to our statements and literary expressions but rather an intrinsic component of our cognitive process, hereby, could provide us an elusive resource to get a better understanding of mind, and the ways it functions. On the bases of this argument, the metaphorical employment of the language in selected qasidas are examined to get the climate of mind in terms of the relationship between sultans and their subjects in the Ottoman Empire. It has been observed that in concerning qasidas from four divans, the sultan is generally portrayed as “aloft” and “ahead” while the subject is portrayed as “beneath” and “behind”. Furthermore, the sultan is depicted in these poems as a “shadow” offers protecting, “a sanctuary” to take refuge in, and an “aesthetic creature” or an “ornament” with the power to embellish its surroundings. The frequency of using these metaphors is changing over the concerning periods whereas in Nedîm’s Divân the number of the “ornament metaphors” for the sultan increases significantly compared to the other three divans. After discussing the possible reasons and meaning of this turn in metaphorical employment, the project compares its findings with the conventional arguments regarding the Ottoman sultans in European centred readings. It is claimed that as the representative of authority and power, the Ottoman sultan is depicted contradistinctively as “protector-shelter” in qasidas rather than as “the despotic father” that the European centred readings have claimed him to be so far.
Open Access
19 yüzyıl Osmanlı basınındaki belagat tartışmaları ışığında edebiyatın dönüşümü
(Bilkent University, 2013) Dilek, Esra Derya
This study is an attempt to analyse the rhetorical argumentation style in the last quarter of the 19th century with consideration to influences on the literary style of the period. Studies on rhetoric more often than not have focused on langauge-related aspects, while the link between rhetoric and literature has been disregarded. Consequently, rhetoric as a literary discourse has been limited to discussions on language and alphabet. The formation of an authentic national rhetoric is influenced by both old and new literary traditions. The encounter with the West from the 18th century not only caused social change but also brought changes to the literary tradition. One such change was the idea of separating Ottoman rhetoric from its Arabic counterpart. In this manner, rhetoric came to embody a new literary style by eliminating previous lingual and literary discourses. Thus, the significance of discussions on rhetoric in literary circles is the main focus of this study. In the first section of this study, the history of Ottoman rhetoric, the relationship between rhetoric and literature, and finally, the rhetoric of Ottoman literature are examined. The second chapter focuses on particular periodicals, namely Tercümân-i Hakîkat, Cerîde-i Havâdis, Vakit and Tarîk. An analysis is undertaken of certain literary stylistic changes featured in these periodicals. The last section of this study examines the reformation period and its impact on Ottoman literature and literary discussions.
Open Access
19 yüzyıl Osmanlı-Türk edebiyatında öykü
(Bilkent University, 2008) Aydın, Hilal
In this study, the works Letaif-i Rivayat by Ahmet Mithat (1844-1912), Müsameretname by Emin Nihat (?), Küçük Şeyler by Samipaşazade Sezai (1860- 1936), and Karabibik by Nabizâde Nazım (1862-1893), which all have a number of aspects in common and are considered by Ottoman-Turkish short story critics to be among the first examples of the genre, will be examined by means of close reading, by interpretation of the effects of extra-literary conditions, and in comparison with Eurocentric approaches to the short story. In the critical writings on the above short stories that were produced in the post-Tanzimat era, allegations of imitation similar to those directed at the novels of the same era were put forward. A short story standard defined by Western literatures has been introduced into Ottoman-Turkish literature as the ideal formula. As a result of this approach, when the works in question are found to contain any aspects that do not fit such criteria, they are harshly denounced for their lack of skill, of competence, and of sense. However, as will be demonstrated in the second chapter of the study, there is in fact little agreement about the criteria themselves, as they continue to be debated and criticized from a variety of perspectives even within the context of Western literature. Nonetheless, quite dramatically, such criteria have been established as an unshakable foundation in Turkish short story criticism. A number of problems, particularly the classification of the genre, arise within this Eurocentricoriented critical approach insofar as such an approach neglects these works’ local background and the unique circumstances under which they were produced. In addition to the above considerations, this study aims to point out certain basic deficiencies detectable in previous criticism, such as the insufficient emphasis on the difference between the short story as a genre and narration as a means of expression. The study will also attempt to emphasize, in regard to the writing of the literary history of the Ottoman-Turkish era, the importance of defining these preliminary examples of the genre as well as their interactions and changes, and thus aims to underline the significance of these works’ local background as against the Western criteria forced upon them in previous criticism. Bearing in mind all of the above considerations concerning the Eurocentric critical approach and its deficiencies, the last chapter of the study will focus on the short stories themselves, and the data collected from these works will be interpreted inductively in an attempt to emphasize the idea of the locality and originality of Ottoman-Turkish literature. Ultimately, it will be shown that, unlike the general suppositions made in previous criticism, the aim of the writers of these short stories was not mere imitation, and that even the alleged Western influences on these works were reshaped and transformed in accordance with the uniqueness of the texts. Consequently, the study aims to contradict previous approaches, which support the idea that the short story, as a genre, originated wholly in Western literature.
Open Access
19 yüzyıl Osmanlı-Türk romanında gayrimüslim imgeleri
(Bilkent University, 2007) Uyanık, Seda
This thesis aims at exploring the changing images of non-Muslim characters in five novels written in the last quarter of the 19th century, namely Karabibik (1891) by Nabizade Nazım; Turfanda mı Yoksa Turfa mı? (1892) by Mizancı Mehmet Murat, Araba Sevdası (1896) by Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem, Mes‚il-i Muğl‚ka (1898) by Ahmet Mithat Efendi and Aím‚k-ı Hayal (1910) by Şehbenderz‚de Filibeli Ahmet Hilmi. The novels are discussed taking the historical background and the authorsí ideological positioning into consideration. Reviews and critical essays focusing on non-Muslim characters in novels during the post-Tanzimat period are limited in number and scope and are based on generalizations that do not recognize the various authorsí intellectual and ideological particularities and differences. The study of the five novels examined in this thesis shows that there are several differing images of non-Muslim characters. The image and role of nonMuslim characters in the works depend on the authors approach to religion, ethnical identity and his understanding of civilization. The highlighting of differences between European and Muslim cultures in those novels leads to the positioning of the non-Muslim image in a circle of ìidentity and differencesî. The focus on nonMuslim characters in those novels, shows that the concepts of religion, nation and culture have close links to typological structures such as modernity and tradition, centre and periphery and ìIî and the other. In the light of this study, it is concluded that it is not possible to talk about only one single non-Muslim concept in the postTanzimat novels
Open Access
19 yüzyılda Osmanlı toplumu ve basılı Türkçe edebiyat : etkileşimler, değişimler, çeşitlilik
(Bilkent University, 2009) Ayaydın Cebe, Günil Özlem
This dissertation is built on the proposition that the majority of literary histories hitherto written on 19th century Ottoman Turkish literature reflects a very limited part of the object of investigation, selected generally according to non-literary criteria. Consequently, it is asserted that most of the research and examination relying on these sources is inadequate in comprehending the true nature of Ottoman literary universe. In this study, in order to overcome this problem of short-sightedness about the object of investigation, it is deemed necessary to depict an accurate map of printed literary texts in Turkish and focus on the medium that creates literature. To achieve this, a database is formed comprising bibliographic data on texts printed in Turkish in Arabic, Armenian and Greek letters between the years 1800-1900, and a new method of classification and counting is developed according to the specific needs of the material collected. Afterwards, the chronological trends of literary genres and their production in ratios are revealed. Through this, various tools are created for questioning set periodizations and fixed judgements about the field. By interpreting these tools in tandem with the historical, political and socio-cultural developments of the era, and in comparison to literature in manuscript form, the following main observations and conclusions, among others, are made: First, it is demonstrated that literature is the key field to understanding the modernization venture of the Ottoman Empire. Secondly, it is observed that there had been a closer literary interaction and exchange among the Muslim and nonMuslim communities of the Empire than that is supposed in contemporary assumption. Thirdly, it is found out that the advancements in printing and publishing caused a dramatic shift from oral and written culture to print culture that gave rise to social and literary transformations. Lastly, the effects of this transformation on classical, traditional and modern literary forms are discussed, and fresh areas of research are presented.
Open Access
19. yüzyıl cep romanlarının beden-zihin denetimi ve romantik ilişkilenme biçimleri açısından modernleşmedeki yeri
(Bilkent University, 2019-09) Sezen, Güneş
Bu tez, 19. yüzyıl sonunda yeni bir format olarak ortaya çıkan cep romanlarının, Arakel ve Şems kitapçıları tarafından basılan örneklerinde iktidar söylemleri ile kurmaca arasındaki ilişkileri incelemektedir. Yeni Tarihselci perspektifin benimsendiği bu çalışma, 19. yüzyılın modern ailesini oluşturan “yeni insanının,” kadınlık ve erkekliklerinin nasıl inşa edildiğine odaklanmıştır. Osmanlı’nın özellikle son yüzyılında artan modernleşme endişesi, hukukî ve toplumsal açıdan bazı düzenlemelerin önünü açarken, sağlık ve nüfus politikalarını da şekillendirmiştir. Asrın sonunda Arakel öncülüğünde yeni bir türsel format olarak ortaya çıkan cep romanları, bu tarihsel seyrin izlenebildiği, önemli kurmaca örnekleridir. Cep romanları, çoğunlukla döneminin en velûd ve talep gören yazarları tarafından yazılmalarına rağmen edebiyat eleştirisi ve tarihlerinde yer bulamamıştır. Bu çalışmada romantik ilişkilere odaklanan cep romanları, olumlu ve olumsuz beden temsilleri bakımından mercek altına alınmaktadır. Satış stratejileri ve eğlendirerek okutma gayreti, cep romanlarının hem biçimine hem de içeriğine etki etmiştir. Bu romanlar, asır sonunda görünürlüğü artan gayrimeşru ilişkiler, frengi, kürtaj, histeri, obsesyon, cinnet, intihar, alkol kullanımı gibi zihinsel ve bedensel “bozulmaların” kontrolü ve disiplini için birer araç olarak konumlandırılmıştır. Bu nedenle, bu “toplum mühendisliği metinleri,” her an her yerde okunabilme pratikliklerine dayanarak, modern Osmanlı ailesinin imkânlarını ve farklı kadınlık ve erkekliklerin kamusal alanda nasıl kurulduğunun tartışılabilmesine olanak sağlamaktadırlar.
Open Access
1950'ler Türkiye'sinde edebiyat dergiciliği : poetikalar ve politikalar
(Bilkent University, 2007) Uçar, Aslı
This study sought to answer the question of how Turkish literary journalism affected the conditions of literary production and consumption in the 1950s. The first chapter is devoted to the survey of literature and methodological issues. According to the method specified in the first chapter, the second chapter gives comparative analysis of the poetics of five different literary magazines, namely Hisar, Mavi, Pazar Postası, Varlık and Yeditepe published in the 1950s, in order to demonstrate their specific contributions to the protection and tranformation of literary values. Since inter-journalistic relations was one of the main characteristics of the period, the third chapter deals with the relations between the magazines and literary debates on which they focused. Two conceptual frameworks indirectly related to the study of literary magazines—Jürgen Habermas’ and Hannah Arendt’s notion of “public sphere” and Bourdieu’s “field of cultural production”—have been discussed and criticized according to the empirical evidence that has been drawn from the 1950’s literary journalism. In conclusion, it is asserted that inter-journalistic relations in the 1950s—ranging from consensus to conflicts—helped literary magazines to define poetics that enabled them to fuel literary production and consumption.
Open Access
Abdülhak Şinasi Hisar`ın söyleminde gelenek
(Bilkent University, 2002) Ramiç, Alena
Abdülhak Şinasi Hisar was one of the rare writers of Republican period who kept alive the old sense of literature and traditional esthetics in his literary works. He become recognized in the 1930s which was a period of rapid development for modern Turkish literature. Hisar, whose works show characteristics of resistance towards modernity, was known as a “writer” in books on the history of Turkish literature. However, the kind of resistance that he displays in his writings is in harmony with his traditional sense of literature and art, which was not an object of critical interest in his time. These writings, which can be closely identified with literary criticism, are full of subjective and poetic expressions. Although these prevent him from being called a “critic” in the modern sense of the word, they give important information about his system of values and his view of literature. Hisar does not pay attention to differences among literary genres and praises all kinds of writing with a refined sense of taste, defining them as works of literature. Because Hisar had not accepted the novelties of modernism in Turkish literature, his esthetics remained within the frames of tradition. When we analyze his literary works, we can see that Hisar’s critical views are in accordance with the attitude he expresses in his literary works. The most important elements that capture our attention at first in his works are his elaborate style and ambiguity of literary genre. These characteristics of Hisar’s literary works do not fit the parameters of modern literature and generate negative evaluations of contemporary Turkish critics who adopt the modern perspective. In spite of this, it cannot be said that his works are disordered, “chaotic”, and without literary value. These elements of his work are based on “pre-modern” values and originate from his sense of literature, which, derives from traditional oral culture that Hisar had cultivated since his childhood. That is why the characteristics of discourse and style that Hisar displays in his literary works during the period of modernization in Turkish literature must be defined within the frames of tradition. Hisar has a unique place in Turkish literature as an authentic writer who conveys the refined taste of Turkish civilization and literary tradition in his works.
Open Access
Adalet Ağaoğlu`nun Dar zamanlar üçlemesinde "kimlik" sorunsalı
(Bilkent University, 2005) Akkıyal, Berna
Adalet Ağaoğlu, since she published her first novel Lying Down to Die in 1973, has been one of the leading names of Turkish Literature thanks to her approach to the social developments and the narrative features she has applied (to her novels?). The author principally based all her works of different genres-play, story and novel-upon the social experiences. Besides, she has not limited her works in a classical/convenient frame; she has been an explorer in the effect of employing fictional attributions and narration elements, and reflecting the time. She has preferred selecting characters inside (of) the social frame in all her novels, in which the identity questionings of characters who sort out with the society that call them into being and who tend to a new existential stage are well to the fore. In this thesis, the author’s Dar Zamanlar trilogy consisting of Lying Down to Die, A Wedding Party (1979) and No (1987) has been examined in the light of identity problematic. In the first chapter of the thesis named “Instant Reflecting History – Individual Experiencing (the) Instant”, narrative techniques and fictional attributions that are used in Dar Zamanlar trilogy are studied under different titles for each novel. In this chapter, it is concluded that identity problematic reveals per se while explaining the technical poperties, the author aimed at introducing characters and theme in a particular narrative feature, and the author ascertained the best technique to convey her material in the most suitable manner. The second chapter named “The Multilayer Structure of The Identity, The Multivocal Narrative Interpreting Society” is detached/reserved for the identity problematic. In this chapter, Ağaoğlu’s questioning of the concept of identity and her approach to the social evolution of the period are considered at length under the titles “citizen”, “intellectual”, “revolutionist” and “others”. In this chapter, the relation between the techniques Ağaoğlu made use of and the presentation of the characters are depicted from another aspect while the transformations of the characters pursued throughout three novels are examined. In Dar Zamanlar trilogy, Adalet Ağaoğlu wished/favoured to portray the social and political evolution of the period between 1938 and 1980s in view of the selfquestioning of the characters she chose among the intellectuals. Besides, it is observed that the diverse narrative features of the novels were derived from her quest for the most proper techniques to present her theme.
Open Access
Adnan Benk ve Türkiye'de modern edebiyat eleştirisi
(Bilkent University, 2003) Aksu, Nuri
Adnan Benk (1922-1998), a famous critic in modern Turkish literature, started writing reviews in 1947, after graduating from the Department of Roman Languages and Literatures at İstanbul University in 1946. He published his articles mostly between 1950-1960 in various newspapers and literary magazines. Having a very lively writing style and a deep knowledge of various arts, Benk’s writings focused on literature, fine arts, music, cinema, and theatre. Benk engaged in discussions with famous names of the Turkish literary world in some of his writings. Since a wide range of subjects and a vivid style characterize his writings, he has been considered a highly original writer both by the writers of his time and of today. In this work, the continuity and change in Adnan Benk’s career as a literary critic are discussed in the context of the main trends in Turkish literary criticism, namely, subjective and objective criticisms. In the first chapter of the thesis, Benk’s style, his view of criticism, art, and culture, and the sources of his critical approach are discussed. Benk’s view of criticism, which favors objectivity, suggests that literary works must be analyzed as a unity in themselves and primarily by literary terms. Benk was also a good polemicist and used successfully an original sense of humor in his critical texts. In the second chapter of the thesis Benk’s critical outlook is compared and contrasted first with that of Nurullah Ataç, who favors the subjective method, and then with Berna Moran who represents the objective method. As a result of these comparisons, it is concluded that Benk stands closer to Nurullah Ataç in terms of his sense of humor and sharp irony although his view of objective criticism is closer to that of Berna Moran. Thus, it can be said that Adnan Benk’s idea of objective criticism sometimes contradicts his critical practice, which embodies a personal style and subjective judgements.
Open Access
Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar`ın şiir eleştirisinde Avrupa merkezlilik
(Bilkent University, 2006) Pelvanoğlu, Emrah
Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar (1901-62), who was one of the most original writers of modern Turkish literature, especially with his novels and poems, had also contributed to Turkish literary studies by various articles, essays, and his well-known history of the nineteenth-century Turkish literature. In his articles and essays, Tanpınar placed special emphasis on the genre of poetry and interpreted the development of Turkish literature by putting poetry in the center. This thesis aims to analyze Tanpınar’s writings about poetry in general, and Ottoman poetry and Yahya Kemal Beyatlı (1884-1958) in particular, and to explore his conception of fine arts and his Eurocentric approach. In the first part, entitled “An Overview of Tanpınar’s Criticism of Poetry”, a brief chronological outline of the body of his writings about “Criticism”, “Poetry”, “Ottoman poetry”, and “Yahya Kemal” is provided. The second part of the thesis, entitled “Elements of Tanpınar’s Criticism of Poetry”, consists of two subsections: “Critical Interpretation According to Fine Arts” and “Constructing Continuity in Poetic Language: Selectivity”. The first subsection explores Tanpınar’s understanding of poetry as a fine art and his definition of it in terms of the characteristics of the fine arts. The second subsection discusses Tanpınar’s re-construction of a “classical” tradition by an intentional selection of poets from Yunus Emre to Yahya Kemal in the context of poetic language and his Eurocentric perspective. Tanpınar re-constructs this line of continuity by selecting verses, couplets, and poems according to European literatures, especially French literary norms, while valuing them with the conceptions of European arts, and finally making the mentioned line “Europeanized”. At the same time, he “orientalizes” the Ottoman poetic tradition and makes modern Turkish poetry subordinate to it, with the exception of Yahya Kemal.
Open Access
Ahmet Hâşim şiirlerinde zaman
(Bilkent University, 2010) Kocabay, Hatice
Poet and prose writer Ahmet Hâşim (1884-1933), a unique contributor to Modern Turkish Literature, penned down various great works. Although significant amount of scholarly research in the form of memoir and survey has been conducted on his life and unconventional individuality, little work has been done on his poetry. The works of Hâşim are usually associated with symbolism and impressionism. Indeed, most of the work done on his poetry also limit themselves with a similar deduction that his poems are either “symbolist” or “impressionist”. The lack of any profound analysis on how these two movements affected Hâşim’s poetry in the realm of language or what were their contributions to the content in terms of themes has led to a critical blockage. Although in his works he explains his poetics as “poems composed not to be understood but to be heard”, he has still succeeded to preserve his place in the realm of literary criticism as the composer of inconceivable poems. This work aims at analysing the matter of Time in Hâşim’s poetry and attempts to argue what has not been argued so far. It can be considered as a new step in the context of the interpretation of Hâşim’s poetry. Depending on the effects of symbolism and impressionism, two distinct concepts of time prevail in the poetry of Ahmet Hâşim. In symbolist poems the understanding of time is subjective, synchronic and immeasurable whereas in impressionist poems it is objective, measurable and progressive. In symbolist poems, through uncompleted meanings and a wide range of connotations of symbols, “Cyclical Time” is referred. Thus, the theoretical background of the thesis entails some explanation on the key concepts of Bergson’s philosophy of time such as “Durée” and “Memory”. In impressionist poems it can be observed that there are certain sections in which linear time is attempted to be frozen in one frame through the depiction of images and a cinematographic narration. Image as a visual element is a component in these poems with the notion of linear time. The place of image in language plane and its effect on the composition of themes will be analyzed in the context of time.
Open Access
Ahmet Mithat Efendi romanlarında metinsel kararsızlık
(Bilkent University, 2009) Aksoy Sheridan, Rukiye Aslıhan
Bu tezde Ahmet Mithat Efendi’nin Felâtun Bey ile Râkım Efendi, Dürdâne Hanım, Taaffüf, Mesâil-i Muğlâka ve Jön Türk romanlarının incelenmesi sonucunda, söz konusu metinlerde, kadının toplumsal konumu, kölelik, ahlak, adalet, din ve toplumsal düzen bağlamlarında ortaya çıkan metinsel boşluk, çelişki ve “kararsızlık”lar açımlanmıştır. Bu amaçla, Gérard Genette’in çalışması uyarınca “anlatıcı” odaklı bir yaklaşım da gözetilerek ele alınan metinlerin, Pierre Macherey’in önerdiği üzere, “birincil sorular”la eşzamanlı olarak “ikincil sorular”a da tabi tutulması yoluyla barındırdıkları “metinsel kararsızlık” somutlanarak bu anlatılarda açığa çıkan ideolojik arka plan serimlenmiştir. Sonuçta, tezde, ele alınan metinlerdeki “anlatıcı”nın daha önceki Ahmet Mithat Efendi incelemelerinde varsayıldığı üzere baştan “tekil,” “egemen” ve “yazara ait” biçiminde yorumlanamayacağı ve Ahmet Mithat Efendi anlatılarında bu bağlamlarda ortaya çıkan ve şimdiye dek yapılan incelemelerde üzerinde hiç durulmamış olan “metinsel kararsızlık”ların, metinlerin ideolojik arka planında Tanzimat dönemini belirleyen etik ve epistemolojik çelişkiyi açığa vurduğu kanıtlanmıştır.
Open Access
Ahmet Mithat Efendi ve Beşir Fuat'a göre gerçekçilik
(Bilkent University, 2004) Cankara, Murat
Mithat Efendi (1844-1912) and Beşir Fuat (1852-1887) by focusing on their articles and letters on the subject. It is usual to study the development of realism in Turkish literature by only taking the novels into account. However, articles are a valuable source of information in order to understand how realism was interpreted by Ottoman writers. The texts focused on in this thesis are the newspaper articles and letters of Ahmet Mithat Efendi and Beşir Fuat, who developed opposing views on realism. These articles and letters were mostly published during the 1880s and 1890s. Ahmet Mithat Efendi rejected realism both on aesthetic and non-aesthetic grounds. Yet, it has also been noted that he used the concept of “verisimilitude” and asserted that a novel should seem to be true even if it was imaginary. One other important aspect of Ahmet Mithat’s interpretation of realism is his effort to appropriate and adapt it to the Ottoman context. On the other hand, it has been indicated that Beşir Fuat’s approach to literary realism is just the opposite of Ahmet Mithat’s. Beşir Fuat, who criticizes romanticism, classical Ottoman poetry and the role of imagination in literature underlines the necessity that a writer should work like a historian or a sociologist. He is also against elaborate language and states that the primary aim of the literary language is to transmit ideas to the reader in a clear and exact way. It has been concluded that there is not only one interpretation of realism in Ottoman literature at the end of the nineteenth century. The fact that the writers of the period did not simply imitate their French contemporaries and tried to transform their conception of realism is also within the conclusions that have been reached.
Open Access
Ahmet Mithat Efendi'de mizahın toplumsal cinsiyeti
(Bilkent University, 2014) Kekeç, Nuran
Ahmet Mithat Efendi, one of the most prolific writers of the establishment phase of modern literature, depicts an age of political and social transformation, while also producing the first examples of novels and stories. In reflection of his social responsibility consciousness, this writer discusses in his texts the necessity of building a society according to neo-traditional forms, without departing from the principle of “useful information”. Acknowledging the advantages of popularization Ahmet Mithat Efendi takes advantage of opportunities provided by the media, in his production of series of novels and stories which depict his view of ideal social order and his conceptualization of modern identities for both men and women. Through such works, and by using media as a channel, he aims to be accessible to all sectors of society and share his views on ideal traditional-modern femininity – masculinity forms. In other words, while reproducing tradition according to Western criteria, his primary goal is to reorganize gender relations. Features of traditional narration function as a vehicle for the author, onto which he transposes the images of men and women who will lead society. Thus, Ahmet Mithat Efendi, aware of the limitations of his contemporary readership and of traditional forms of narrative, inserted his view of ideal gender roles into fictional texts. The writer employs humor for the purpose of combining his view of a new social order with gender identity in his literary texts. Humorous elements contribute both to constructing the text and to determining an ideal gender perception; people and phenomena, though depicted in humorous ways, display a social acceptance of gender roles. In this context, during the Tanzimat period the behavior of the Ottoman citizen and readers’ perceptions of gender identities are shaped according to Western norms Ahmet Mithat Efendi promotes such influences within his fictional works of and he uses humor as a tool to help convince his readership of his ideas.
Open Access
Ahmet Vefik Paşa'nın çevirilerinde Osmanlılaşan Moliere
(Bilkent University, 2004) Uluğtekin, Melahat Gül
This study aimed to deal with five translations-adaptations of Molière by Ahmet Vefik Pasha, using the theory of polysystem. In this context, the plays written by Ahmet Vefik between the years 1879-1882, titled as Zor Nikâhı, Don Civani, Dudu Kuşları, Tartüf and Adamcıl were compared to the original works of Molière that were written between the years 1659-1666 and titled as Le Mariage Forcé, Dom Juan ou Le Festin de Pierre, Les Précieuses Ridicules, Le Tartuffe ou L’Imposteur and Le Misanthrope. Considering these plays, it was claimed that either Ahmet Vefik did not transfer some scenes, paragraphs, sentences and words having some implications of political, religious and moral aspects, or he changed the meaning while transferring. Coming to points that have indirect or relatively less “dangerous”political implications, he used some “local shifts” by being closer to the “acceptable” translation norms of the target culture. It was concluded that as a “culture planner”, Ahmet Vefik, aimed to introduce a new branch to the “repertoire” and create new works as well, in the context of appropriation of the theatre by the target culture.
Open Access
Ali Şîr Nevâî'nin Osmanlı edebiyatı üzerine etkisi ve bu etkiye bir örnek olarak Ferhâd u Şîrîn mesnevîsi
(Bilkent University, 2015) Önal, Pınar Çelik
As an example of the influence of ‘Ali Shîr Navâ’î (d.1501), who is the most renowned poet of Chagatai literature and whom the era during which he lived is named after, on Ottoman literature, the masnavi of Ferhâd u Şîrîn “translated” from Chagatai language to Ottoman Turkish by Lami’i Chelebi (d.1532) is at the center of this thesis. Firstly, the perception of Navâ’î in Ottoman literature is explored through collection of poet biographies and certain literary genres by relating them with Navâ’î’s profile, which is thoroughly explained in the “Introduction” part. After that, the reason why Lami’i Çelebi chose Ferhad as the “main character” and wrote Ferhâd u Şîrîn differently from Navâ’î’s Husrev u Şîrîn and why he translated Navâ’î’s masnavi is examined, with references from the “reason to write” part of two masnavis. Lastly, to find concrete examples of how Navâ’î’s masnavi was regarded in the scope of “expanded translation” in Ottoman literature, three sections from Lami’i’s masnavi were chosen and compared to the parallel sections from Navâ’î’s work. As a result of this comparison, it is seen that there are certain lines “directly taken” and “translated” by Lami’i; moreover, Lami’i’s choices and the techniques he employed while translating Navâ’î’s masnavi according to the traditions of “telling in the Turkish language” and “enrobing in an Anatolian gown” are presented. It is also noted that Lami’i included the transliteration of words from Chagatai language according to their pronunciation in Anatolian Turkish or he used the Arabic-Persian equivalent of them instead, and as for Arabic-Persian words he used their Turkish equivalents or certain ArabicPersian words of the same meaning. In addition, Lami’i reorganized the order of certain lines, expanded or summarized certain parts, and transformed the text into a “more literary” one with figures of speech, such as similes and metaphors, yet exactly followed Navâ’î’s text in terms of the “subject”. The high number of couplets directly taken and translated indicates that Lami’i’s masnavi is a translation of Navâ’î’s work.
Open Access
Anlatı bilimi açısından roman-sinema etkileşimi ve bir uygulama : Anayurt Oteli
(Bilkent University, 2002) Tutumlu, Reyhan
From the very beginning, the art of film making has been influenced by other forms of art, particularly literature. Many novels, stories and plays have been adapted for movies both in the world cinema and in the Turkish cinema. With the development of the art of cinema the relationship between cinema and literature has been transformed into one of mutual interaction. Particularly the New Novel movement that emerged in French literature in the 1950s, represents a peak point in the close encounter between the novel and the film. Yusuf Atılgan (1921-1989), a prominent figure in Turkish literature, wrote few but remarkable works. In his novels he focused on the problems of modern individuals such as lack of communication, solitude, alienation, and their psychological effects. Anayurt Oteli (Motherland Hotel), a novel woven by the modern techniques of narrative, is appropriate for visualisation as film. Moreover, the novel proves to be a good case of both how cinema influences the novel and how a novel is transformed into a film. The interaction between the novel and the film, how the novel approximates the cinematic narrative, and the way the novel is transformed into a film are among the topics covered in this thesis. In this thesis, the theoretical framework proposed by narratology was used in order to analyze the techniques of narrative, the order of narrative, the speed of the narrative, the iterative in narrative, focalization, alteration of narrators both in the novel and the film. In this effect, Narrative Discourse by Gérard Genette has been used as a key source. The subdivisions of the thesis (“Order”, “Duration”, “Frequency”, “Mood” and “Voice”) have been adapted from the same book. In this thesis it was concluded that Yusuf Atılgan’s novel Anayurt Oteli (Motherland Hotel), which was adapted for cinema by Ömer Kavur in 1986, is a novel which uses cinematic techniques.
Open Access
Arketip bir yolculuk içinde, narsistik bir kitap biçiminde : Beyaz Kale
(Bilkent University, 2011) Yıldırım (Mirol), Çiğdem
Orhan Pamuk’s third novel The White Castle (1985) is also his first novel referred to as “hard to read” and “incomprehensible”. These two pieces of feedback from conventional readers looking for a fixed meaning in the text has been given precedence in reception of The White Castle, on the plane of plain readers within and outside Turkey. This book, however, is not a literary work aiming to transmit a fixed meaning but wishing to be received and signified in different ways by displaying its structure with its ecriture. This thesis, which scrutinizes The White Castle less from the perspective of “what to tell” than that of “how to tell” and “what to create” by an active reading, consists of three chapters. The first chapter depicts that in The White Castle the structure encompasses the ecriture and that the reader is a part of this structure. The second chapter reveals the narcissistic dynamics of The White Castle and thereby focuses on how the book “gives awareness” to its reader about its structure and ecriture. The third chapter investigates how the reader joins the archetypal journey of The White Castle. Finally, this thesis attests that The White Castle is a self-reflexive structure, and that the “beloved reader” who becomes aware of its essence activates it into a being.
Open Access
Asaf Hâlet Çelebi şiirlerinde ara konumda fantastik
(Bilkent University, 2010) Akdeniz, Sıla
Asaf Hâlet Çelebi, not being involved in any poetic movement, was considered to be “odd” or “extraordinary” in his time, and is still widely seen as such today. Due to the difference and peculiarity of his poetry, he was widely criticized and little appreciated. Studies of Asaf Hâlet Çelebi have mostly concentrated on the mystic elements used in his poetry. Elements that have been particularly focused upon have been the elements he acquired from Eastern culture and Islamic mysticism, the expressions from older civilizations that are commonly seen in his poetry, his direct use of phrases in diverse languages, and his allusions and references to a multiplicity of different texts. More recent studies of Asaf Hâlet Çelebi have pointed out his frequent use of fable, yet have done no more than point out his use of fable motifs and move on; no extensive research on the subject has been done thus far. In this study, however, it is the relationship between Asaf Hâlet Çelebi’s poetry and the fantastic that will be examined. “Abstraction”, the guiding principle of Çelebi’s poetry, will be examined in terms of its effect on “liminality”. Ultimately, it is the fantastic which emerges from or is approached in Çelebi’s poetry that is examined.