Tanzimat romanında kamusal alan ve serbest zaman etkinlikleri

Abstract

The Tanzimat period overtly accelareted the Westernization process and as such, it brought about various socio-cultural changes, and these changes are distinctly observed in the realms of public sphere and leisure activities which represent social vivacity to the greatest degree. Hence, the focus of this thesis is the detailed study of the reflection of this social transformation in the Tanzimat novel with reference to the theories of public sphere and leisure. To this end, five Tanzimat novels, which stand out among others on the grounds of their emphasis on public sphere and leisure, constitute this thesis’s object of study. These novels, written in the second half of the nineteenth century, in order of their year of publication are: Akabi Hikyayesi (1851) by Vartan Paşa, Esrâr-ı Cinayât (1884) by Ahmet Mithat Efendi, Araba Sevdası (1889-Year of publication: 1896) by Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem, Udî (1899) by Fatma Aliye Hanım and Bir Kadının Hayatı (1890) by Mehmet Celâl. In the discussion of public sphere and leisure activities presented in these novels, the status of men and women are analyzed in their particular contexts and also from a comparative view-point. A primary conclusion drawn from this comparative analysis is that, in these novels, the changes in people’s everyday lives, induced by the Westernization process, are made manifest mainly through the integration of certain symbols of Western society into the new life styles and through the reformation of the public sphere. It is also worthy of attention that although the reshaping of the public sphere is chiefly determined by secularisation and the promotion of a new conception of entertainment, the public sphere still serves, above all, the socialization of men, especially those from the elite class; it is evident in these novels that the factor of social class is the dominant factor in the reformation of public sphere and leisure. Consquent to the discussion of how men’s and women’s leisure activities differ from one another and how these activities bring forth masculine and feminine discourses, it has become apparent, contrary to the general assumption, that the extent to which these activities are indicators of social status vary greatly. This thesis aims, accordingly, to account for and interpret the connections between the formation of public sphere, leisure and gender as well as different social statuses in the Tanzimat novel.