Turkish Novelism in the Parenthesis of Social Change
Conversation with My Son Can About Novels:
While chatting with my 9th grade student at Haydarpaşa High School, Can, about my previous article, Russian literature and music, Can made an interesting observation. He reproached that the other day, they asked one of the Tanzimat Literature writers, Namık Kemal's novel Cezmi, which was published in 1880, in the exam, and that it is very important to know this.
Cezmi, as you know, is the first historical novel of Turkish literature. The conversation expanded. I mentioned that rote knowledge is sometimes necessary for reasoning. In this context, I explained that we should know some things even by heart. I asked him what kind of reasoning he could draw from Cezmi's novel. Can is a smart boy, he got the link. He said that Turkish novelism had just begun at that time, Namık Kemal and Tevfik Fikret lived in those times and they opposed the sultan. Yes, go ahead, I asked how the Turkish people met the novel, that is, how the novel came to Turkey. He replied that they translated it first and then wrote it themselves. When I asked if there was a need to write a novel, he said no, but the environment of the period was suitable for this. In other words, after the Tanzimat, he continued, "Can we say that there was an intense Westernization process in every field in the Ottoman Empire," he replied, "Yes, the Ottoman Empire experienced a great change at that time."
We arrived at the place we wanted to reach. Based on the history of Turkish literature, we could see the cultural and sociological change experienced by the Turkish society. Of course, we can talk about the deficiencies of our education system here, but it would be a very optimistic approach to expect such an analysis from a 9th grade high school student.
First Examples of Turkish Novelism:
Our subject is Turkish novelism in a historical perspective, in this article, we will analyze Turkish novelism in sections and analyze how it is positioned in social change.
Turkish literature is weak in prose at first. During the imperial period, divan literature, which had been in verse for centuries, was stuck between folk literature. Apart from Evliya Çelebi, we can say that no one has been able to produce literary works with prose. The lack of institutionalized education similar to the universities in the West, the bourgeoisie, which the economic system could not reveal, and the closed society structure that met even the printing press 250 years after the West had an effect on this.
The first Ottoman novels were those translated from the West in the 19th century. Although verbal genres such as epics, heroism and love stories that have been told for centuries have novel-like features, they are in the form of a story rather than a novel. The novel developed as a literary form with the emergence of the bourgeois lifestyle in the West in the 18th and 19th centuries. The bourgeois society, which was based on the individual, also triggered intellectual productivity, whereas a similar productivity could not be expected since the economic order in the Ottoman Empire was a military and agricultural society based on the servant rather than the individual.
Our first local novel, Taaşuk-u Talat ve Fıtnat, by the linguist Şemsettin Sami, was published in 1872. It is followed by Namık Kemal's İntibah, Sami Paşazade Sezai's Küçük Şeyler and Ahmet Mithat Efendi's works, which are a successful example. These works often resembled stories that were elongated and tried to be brought into novel form. We can talk about the historical value of almost all of them rather than their literary value. It is worth emphasizing that the work on writing novels started with the Tanzimat. The Tanzimat was the first step taken by the Ottoman society towards westernization. The process of change in Ottoman society in law, politics and military service had begun. It was a natural and expected sociological change that this process had an impact on the intellectual field and lifestyle, thus on culture and art.
Turkish novelism, which started with novels with heroes and resembling long stories influenced by folk literature and fairy tales, began to describe ordinary people and their surroundings with Ahmet Mithat Efendi and Sami Paşazade Sezai. In the period leading up to the Republic, he went down to the slums with the Turkish novel Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar. Even though Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil, the author of Aşk-ı Memnu, wrote his novels on the intellectual layer, he made important contributions to the Turkish novel in the transition from romanticism to realism. A separate parenthesis can be opened for Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar in Turkish novel writing. Hüseyin Rahmi is the most important representative of the realist movement in Turkish novels. Every segment, from palace rooms to slums, found a place in his novels. He said that art is for society by giving his messages directly to the public.
Social Change and Its Reflections on Novels:
Our main topic was social change and its reflections on the Turkish novel genre. The periods we are talking about were difficult years full of political turmoil for the empire. After the novel genre entered our literature, it was directly affected by political movements and thoughts. There are periods when intense nationalist discourses dominate in war environments. Likewise, there was a silence during the periods when Abdulhamid II practiced tyranny.
National Literary Movement:
After the Second Constitutional Monarchy, the National Literature movement emerged. Halide Edip Adıvar, Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu and Çalıkuşu and Reşat Nuri Güntekin are the representatives of this movement. National Authors of Literature focused on social problems, but they suggested formal reforms as a solution rather than socio-economic realities, which were the main cause of the troubles. In this respect, plots in which a military/civil bureaucratic and elite staff can solve all kinds of problems have taken place in the novels. From time to time, writers like Peyami Safa who work on psychological analyzes are also encountered.
Republican Period Novelism:
The style in question evolved over time and extended to the Republic. Even in the early periods of the Republic, we can see the effects of the National Literature movement. With the Republic, the subject of the novel was Turkey and its characters were Turkish people. Of course, this expansion has led to the creation of a wider range of works. The early period bourgeoisie, which developed in parallel with the economic developments, valued the novelists among the intellectual class of the Republic.
In the 1930s, the socialist and realistic novel movement, which was compatible with the changing social structure, started. In this period, a village novel trend started. Yaşar Kemal, Orhan Kemal, Necati Cumalı and Fakir Baykurt conveyed the voice of Anatolia to the readers with their regional rural/village novels. In this context, İnce Memed has a special place in Turkish novel writing. We should also mention Sabahattin Ali, who is actually a storyteller, but wrote works that can be considered classic Turkish novels with successful psychological analyzes such as Madonna in a Fur Coat, The Devil in Us, and Kuyucaklı Yusuf.
Coups and Novels:
The Turkey of the 60s had an environment of endless political debates. Turkish novelism was also affected by the debates. After the May 27 coup, Kemal Tahir became the most important representative of the leftist novel movement.
In the 70s, the Turkish novel was enriched by ambitious names such as Adalet Ağaoğlu, Pınar Kür, Oğuz Atay, Selim İleri, Vedat Türkali. Oğuz Atay's Tutunamayanlar can be considered as a touchstone in Turkish novel, especially with its psychological analysis. This period is productive. The left winds blowing in the world and the desire for freedom are also reflected in Turkish novels.
With the 1980 coup, the period of book collection and censorship began in the country, writers were arrested and some of them fled abroad. Not only in the field of novels, but also in all branches of art, the 1980s were "forbidden" years.
Orhan Pamuk and the Nobel Prize in Literature:
After a long silence, the Turkish novel achieved an unexpected individual success and Orhan Pamuk was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006. Each of Pamuk's novels Snow, Silent House, Cevdet Bey and Sons, Istanbul: Memories and the City, White Castle, Black Book, A Strangeness in My Mind, and finally Plague Nights created public debate when they were published. These discussions are, of course, important developments for the novel genre. In the 2000s, the political environment that did not tolerate polyphony in the country and the industrialization of book printing prevented the Turkish novel from making the expected leap. Nevertheless, Ahmet Ümit, Ahmet Altan, Elif Şafak, Zülfi Livaneli with his detective style and İhsan Oktay Anar with the fairy tales he used in his novels are today's widely read novelists.
Our storytellers:
In this article, we did not mention the type of story. In my opinion, Turkish storytelling is a source that gives life to Turkish novel writing, it is assertive and successful. Reşat Nuri Güntekin, Sabahattin Ali, Sait Faik Abasıyanık and Bekir Yıldız, Bilge Karasu, Demir Özlü, Oktay Akbal, Muzaffer İzgü, Aziz Nesin have pioneered Turkish novelism with their stories and have been a source of inspiration. In this respect, I can easily say that even if we are left without a novel, we will not be without a story. In another article, we will discuss Turkish storytelling.
Conclusion:
According to our analysis; We can say that the changing social structure and socio-political and economic events in Turkey and even in the world have deeply affected Turkish novel writing in every aspect, from its style, subject, characters and productivity.
