Abdülhak Şinasi Hisar`ın söyleminde gelenek

Abstract

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.