A Millennium of Turkish Literature: A Concise History

185 Pages·2010·1.169 MB·English

by  Talat S. Halman, Jayne L. Warner

A Millennium of Turkish Literature
A Brave New Quest: 100 Modern Turkish Poems
Talat S. Halman, trans. and ed.; Jayne L. Warner, assoc. ed.
I, Anatolia and Other Plays: An Anthology of Modern
Turkish Drama, Volume Two
Talat S. Halman and Jayne L. Warner, eds.
İbrahim the Mad and Other Plays: An Anthology of Modern
Turkish Drama, Volume One
Talat S. Halman and Jayne L. Warner, eds.
Nightingales and Pleasure Gardens: Turkish Love Poems
Talat S. Halman, trans. and ed.; Jayne L. Warner, assoc. ed.
Popular Turkish Love Lyrics and Folk Legends
Talat S. Halman; Jayne L. Warner, ed.
Rapture and Revolution: Essays on Turkish Literature
Talat S. Halman; Jayne L. Warner, ed.
Sleeping in the Forest: Stories and Poems
Sait Faik; Talat S. Halman, ed.; Jayne L. Warner, assoc. ed.
Th e Turkish Muse: Views and Reviews, 1960s–1990s
Talat S. Halman; Jayne L. Warner, ed.
A Millennium
of
Turkish Literature
a c o n c i s e h i s t o r y
Talat S. Halman
Edited by
Jayne L. Warner
Syracuse University Press
Copyright © 2011 by Syracuse University Press
Syracuse, New York 13244-5290
All Rights Reserved
First Edition, Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism 2008
Revised Edition, Syracuse University Press 2011
11 12 13 14 15 16 6 5 4 3 2 1
∞ Th e paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press,
visit our Web site at SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu.
ISBN: 978-0-8156-0958-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Halman, Talât Sait.
A millennium of Turkish literature : a concise history / Talat S. Halman ;
edited by Jayne L. Warner. — Rev. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8156-0958-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Turkish literature—History and criticism. I. Warner, Jayne L. II. Title.
PL205.H345 2010
894'.35—dc22 2010038681
Manufactured in the United States of America
contents

foreword A Time-Honored Literature vii

note on turkish spelling and names xi

The Dawn in Asia
1

Selçuk Sufism
11

Ottoman Glories
25

Timeless Tales
55

Occidental Orientation
63

Republic and Renascence
81

afterword The Future of Turkish Literature 133

suggested reading 139

index 155

biographical notes 169

foreword
A Time-Honored Literature
Talat S. Halman
rom Orhon inscriptions to Orhan Pamuk: that could
serve as a defi nition of the life story of Turkish literature from the eighth
century a.d. to the present day. A geographic span from Outer Mongolia and
the environs of China through Inner Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East
and North Africa, the Balkans and Europe all the way to North America. An
amalgam of cultural and literary orientations that has embraced such tradi-
tions and infl uences as Chinese, Indian, Turkic, Mongolian, Uyghur, Rus-
sian, Arabo-Persian, Islamic, Sufi , Judaeo-Christian, Greek, Mesopotamian,
Roman, Byzantine, European and Mediterranean, Scandinavian, Germanic
and British, French and Spanish, North American, and Latin American.
Always receptive to the nurturing values, aesthetic tastes, and literary
penchants from diverse civilizations, Turkish culture succeeded in evolv-
ing a sui generis personality. It clung to its own established traits, yet it was
fl exible enough to welcome innovations—or even revolutionary change.
Among living literatures that preceded Turkish literature, one can cite
the Hebrew, Chinese, Greek, Arabic, Persian, German, Indian, Irish, Span-
ish, and perhaps two or three others.
Literature, the premier genre of Turkish culture, had its dawn in Mon-
golia’s Orhon Valley, where in the 720s and 730s the Köktürks erected ste-
lae featuring their historical narratives. Th ese inscriptions still stand in
situ. Th ey relate the Köktürk experiences of confl ict, defeat, and regained
sovereignty. In moving terms, they emphasize the importance of cultural
authenticity and of a quasi-national consciousness.
Turkic poetry made its debut in the Uyghur dialect presumably in the
sixth century, although it is diffi cult to ascertain the exact date. By the
tenth century, it had become a living tradition.
vii
Th e Dede Korkut tales (Th e Book of Dede Korkut), oft en characterized
as “the Turkish national epic,” probably had their origins in the tenth cen-
tury, although the epic took about another fi ve centuries to make its transi-
tion from the oral tradition to its fi rst written version.
It was in the second half of the eleventh century that two early major
literary works, Kutadgu Bilig (Wisdom of Royal Glory) and Divanü Lügâti’t
Türk (Compendium and Lexicon of Turkish), made their advent. If one
disregards all the preceding works (inscriptions, lyric poetry, myths, tales,
etc.), these two substantial books mark the outset of Turkish literature.
Th e story of Turkish literature from the eleventh century to the
twenty-fi rst is rich and complex, full of fi rm traditions and daring trans-
formations. It straddles the creative endeavors of small states, tribal com-
munities, and principalities; a major state such as the Selçuk, the expansive
and enduring Ottoman Empire, the modern Turkish Republic, and the
newly independent Cypriot Turkish and Central Asian Turkic republics.
Th is literature achieved an impressive élan with the work of the
humanistic mystic folk poet Yunus Emre, who lived in the late thirteenth
and early fourteenth centuries. Ottoman literary creativity matured in the
fi ft eenth century and produced its best works until the end of the eigh-
teenth century. In the classical age of Ottoman culture, the urban elite
distinguished itself with its prolifi c corpus of formal lyrics that dealt
with empyreal themes but without ignoring real life. Although verse was
regarded as intrinsically superior to prose, numerous prose works, princi-
pally the ten-volume Seyahatname (Book of Travels) by Evliya Çelebi in the
seventeenth century, achieved an enduring place of pride.
As the power of the Ottoman Empire waned, intellectuals and writ-
ers engaged in a dynamic search for Western aesthetics, genres, and
techniques. In the second half of the nineteenth century, European-type
fi ction, drama, criticism, and newspaper writing gained popularity. As a
consequence, Turkish literature embraced Europeanization.
With the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, modern liter-
ature gained ascendancy. Th e left ist poet-playwright Nazım Hikmet revo-
lutionized Turkish poetry and attained to world-class stature. Th e female
novelist Halide Edib (Adıvar) made an impact with her works, some of
which she wrote in English and published in England and the United
States. Th e genre of fi ction was dominated in the second half of the twenti-
eth century by Yaşar Kemal, whose prolifi c output came close to securing
viii (cid:27) Foreword
a Nobel Prize for him. Th at honor ultimately was won by a stimulating
younger novelist, Orhan Pamuk, in 2006, the fi rst Nobel ever for a Turk
in any fi eld. It stands as the culmination of a nation’s passion for literature
through many centuries and heralds future triumphs for Turkish poets,
playwrights, essayists, and critics as well as for fi ction writers.
Th is book tells the story of how those genres evolved and grew in stat-
ure on the Turkish mainland in the course of a thousand years. It stands
as the fi rst short history of that literature. It ineluctably glosses over many
themes and leaves out innumerable authors and titles but strives to provide
a balanced view, if not a comprehensive panorama, of a literature that has
always served as a faithful mirror of a time-honored nation’s culture.
(cid:27) (cid:27) (cid:27)
Th e poems and excerpts have been translated by Talat S. Halman unless
otherwise indicated. Portions of the author’s earlier publications have been
incorporated in this volume.
(cid:27) (cid:27) (cid:27)
Th e author is grateful to Dr. Jayne L. Warner, a longtime colleague and
collaborator, for her excellent editing. Th anks also go to Demet Güzelsoy
Chafra, Öykü Terzioğlu, and Ceyda Akpolat for their help.
Foreword (cid:27) ix