Author
Günay-Erkol, Çimen
Publication Date
2011
Publication Place
-
Istanbul University
Subject
Novel, Woman, Modernization, Tanzimat literature, Ottoman, Republican literature, Novel, Woman, Modernization, Literature of the reform period, Ottoman, Literature of the republican period
Type
Periodical
Language
Turkish
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Özyeğin University
Library Asset ID
0085-7432
Record ID
a606d2be-3c94-403a-84b3-95ad0259e4b7
Library Location
Humanities and Social Sciences
Date
2011
Sample Text
In Turkish literature, femininity is the most important component of a self-questioning in which concerns and expectations regarding modernization are revealed. What is said about both femininity and women's freedom does not appear as a polemic issue isolated from the sociopolitical chaos in the country; Both issues are shaped by the dominant ideologies of the period and are mixed with different problems of politics. A phallocentric (male-centered) language becomes evident when discussing these issues due to the dominance of male writers in the literary world. Although the motifs related to femininity change over time, the continuity in the processes that form the basis for the establishment of the phallocentric language creates a continuity that needs to be examined among the texts. The aim of this article is to take a closer look at the mentioned phallocentric language, starting from the canonical (considered competent) texts of the Ottoman-Turkish novel, moving towards examples from Contemporary Turkish Literature, and to discuss the authors' approaches to the concept of femininity and the issue of women's freedom. For this purpose, Felatun Bey and Rakım Efendi (1875), İntibah (1876), which are among the Tanzimat novels in which the criticism of Turkishness is evident, and Seviyye Talip (1910) and Kiralık Konak (1922), which were published in the period that connected the Ottoman Empire to Republican Turkey, after Araba Sevdası (1896) and Aşk-ı Memnu (1900), which belong to the periods when Europeanness was accepted by the society to some extent. and novels such as Fatih-Harbiye (1931), Huzur (1949), Tutunamayanlar (1972), Ölmeye Yatmak (1975), which are important works of contemporary Turkish Literature, will also be discussed. Womanhood in Turkish literature is the key component of a selfquestioning which reveals anxieties and expectations about modernization. Opinions on womanhood and freedom of women do not manifest themselves as polemics isolated from socio-political turmoils in the country. Both issues are shaped and influenced by the dominant ideologies of the time and different problems of politics. Since men constitute the majority in literary circles, the way this component is
handled crystallizes phallocentric discourses. Although the motifs related to womanhood change in time, the basis for the formation of phallocentric discourses stands and this creates a continuity in texts of different periods,
which needs to be examined. The aim of this article is to explore the phallocentric discourses and elaborate on writers' approach to the concepts of womanhood and women's emancipation, setting out from canonical
Texts of Ottoman-Turkish novel and moving towards contemporary examples of Turkish literature. The analyzes of Felatun Bey ile Rakım Efendi (1875) and İntibâh (1876), novels highly critical of the imitation of
the European ways, and Araba Sevdası (1896) and Aşk-ı Memnu (1900), novels in which imitation of European ways were somewhat accepted by the public, will be followed by readings of Seviyye Talip (1910) and Kiralık Konak (1922), which were both published during the transition from Ottoman Empire to the Republic of Turkey, and Fatih-Harbiye (1931), Huzur (1949), Tutunamayanlar (1972) and Ölmeye Yatmak (1975), some key novels of contemporary Turkish literature.
Cilt
21
