Readings/Discussion and Traditional Music Performance on the Turkish Literature:
Wednesday 23rd January 6.00pm
Trinity Long Room Hub
(to be followed by a reception)
NOVELISTS, POETS AND A CITY:
İSTANBUL IN THE EYES OF HİSAR, BEYATLI AND TANPINAR
In Pelin Batu’s words, Tanpınar's obsession with the subject of music is telling when read in
the light of Turkey's Westernization projects. Writing in the heyday of the newly born republic, his
work is symptomatic of the dichotomic discourse of his times; the qualms and preoccupations of a
nation as a new identity is being superimposed over that which is not yet dead and gone.
This is where his relationship to music comes to the forefront. He has laced music into many
of his poems and novels, both as a subject to be addressed and as a technique to be utilized in the
construction of his novels. While hailing certain forms of Ottoman court music (that were banned by
the Republic in favour of Western Classical music) he also expresses his love for Beethoven and his
likes. His ingenious works of irony do not pit one school over the other however. Music becomes an
important leitmotif that is instrumental in describing the purgatorial, in-between state of a land at
war with its past and not very comfortable with its present.
In many of his poems and novels, Tanpınar brings into question the concept of change,
oftentimes ridiculing certain modernizing policies. Yet, he does not rave about the good old days
either. Tanpınar’s relationship with the past is problematic. Yahya Kemal and Tanpınar both believe
that the past needs to be reinterpreted, not rejected or marred. In analyzing Tanpinar’s usage of
music in a number of his works, Batu shall try to problematize Tanpınar’s dualistic understanding of
civilization and culture in a country in the brink of great change. Something that remains an issue to
this day…
Pelin Batu (Speaker),
Pelin Batu was born in 1978. After graduating from Marymount School, she studied drama and
literature at New York University. She received her B.A in history and M.A and PHD in Western
Languages and Literature from Bosphorus University. She has had a number of notable
performances in theatre and film. She has starred in films such as Ferzan Özpetek’s Harem Suare and
Yavuz Özkan’s Hayal Kurma Oyunları. She has published two works of poetry. Her first book
“Glass” was published by Yapı Kredi in 2003 and her second book “The Book of Winds” by Artshop
in 2009. She has published her work in the leading literary journals and magazines in Turkey. Her
book of paintings and verse is due to be published in February 2013. She has hosted a live history
commentary program, has worked on a number of documentaries and is currently hosting a television
program on literature and philosophy. She recently started writing a column in Milliyet, one of the
leading newspapers in Turkey. Pelin Batu is an active environmental activist. She has lectured
extensively throughout rural Anatolia with several NGOs.
Aslı Perker (Speaker)
Aslı Perker was born in Izmir and moved all around the country due to her parents' job throughout
her school years. She graduated from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, American Studies
Department at Dokuz Eylul University. She started her writing career right after she graduated at an
ad agency as a copy writer and then turned to journalism. She worked at Aktuel News Magazine and
Radikal, Yeni Binyil and Sabah Newspapers. After relocating to New York in 2001, she worked as a
translator/interpreter and started focusing on her literature career. She wrote a column titled “From
New York” both for a daily national newspaper and a monthly women's magazine. Her first novel,
Başkalarının Kokusu (The Scent of the Others) was published in 2005. Her second novel Cellat
Mezarlığı (Executioner's Graveyard) followed in 2009. Her latest novel Sufle (Souffle) came out in
February 2011 and is translated into 15 languages, including English. Perker still continues to write
cover stories for Milliyet Book Review, has a two page contribution every month to an arts magazine
and a column in Milliyet Newspaper. The stories of her fictional character, a literature dedective,
appears weekly on www.milliyetsanat.com. She resides in Istanbul now.
Tahir Aydoğdu (Musician, Kanun Master)
Born in İstanbul in 1959 , Tahir Aydoğdu graduated from the Physics Department of the Middle East
Technical University,Ankara. He began his music studies in high school and attended various chorus
activities. He received his first instruction from his father Gültekin Aydoğdu who is a kanun player at
TRT Ankara Radio and conductor of the Turkish Fasıl Ensemble. He was also trained by various
Turkish music authorities. Following his graduation from the Physics department of the M.E.T.U.
(Ankara 1983), he was appointed to the TRT Ankara Radio Turkish Music Ensemble as a kanun
player.
Aydoğdu attended various work-shops and festivals abroad i.e. ten years of touring extensively
throughout Europe and America. As a member of AsiaMinor he released several CD’s,namely,
“Along the Street” (Vienna,1991), “Longanova” (1997) and “Cat’s Dream” (Ankara ,1998).Other
CD’s include “Yahya Kemal in the music of Cinuçen Tanrıkorur” with the composer on Ud ;
“Balkanatolia”with Jazz singer Yıldız İbrahimova; “from Sufi Music to Flamenco” with Dutch
Guitarist Eric Vaarzon Morel; “Afife” Turkish Ballet composed by Turgay Erdener with
Tschaikovksy Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rengim Gökmen in Moscow ( June 2000),
“Ferid Alnar” produced by Ş.Kahramankaptan, sponsored by TCMB with the Anatolian String
Quartet in December 2000. He also released 5 CD’s abroad i.e. “Sufi Music from Turkey” (Great
Britain,2002) produced by ARC Music with the catalog number EUCD 1741,and “The International
Simbalom Festival” produced by Frea Records.
With his kanun, Aydoğdu accompanied the orchestra and dancers in ballet performances of Selman
Ada’s “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” with Ankara State Ballet & Opera Orchestra conducted by
B. Hoinic; Turgay Erdener’s ballet “Afife” conducted by R.Gökmen with the Presidential Symphony
Orchestra, and Aydoğdu arranged the music for the ballet “Harem” . He has produced 27 CDs with
different musicians and groups in home and abroad.
Beşir Ayvazoğlu, Writer, Columnist, Founder of the Society of Turkish Writers and Fatma Cihan
Akkartal, Member of “Kalem” Literary Agency, İstanbul, will also be present to make contributions
to discussion.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON THE AUTHORS AND POETS
ABDÜLHAK ŞİNASI HİSAR (1883-1963)
Abdülhak Sinasi Hisar spent his childhood at first-rate waterside residences and mansions on the
Istanbul Bosphorus and on Büyükada. Throughout his childhood, Abdülhak Şinasi took private
lessons from the famous writer of the period, Tevfik Fikret. In 1888, Hisar was admitted to
Galatasaray High School and this is where his interest in literature took hold. Among his classmates
were prominent names of the future, like Ahmet Haşim, Hamdullah Suphi, Refik Halit, Ruşen Eşref
and İzzet Melih. In 1905 he was admitted to École Libres des Sciences Politiques in Paris, France. At
this school, he took classes from Yahya Kemal, one of the renowned Turkish writers of the period.
He returned to Istanbul in 1908. He started writing reviews for various newspapers and for the
periodicals “Dergâh” and “Yarın.” Many of his works and literary notes were lost in fires that
occurred in 1918 and 1922. In 1936, he started working as an Advisor for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, and settled in Ankara. After his novel Fahim Bey ve Biz (Fahim Bey and Us) he started
being recognized as a novelist. In 1948, due to ailments, had to return to Istanbul, where he was
appointed as the “chief translator” for the Central Bank of Turkey.
In his novels, he depicted detailed portraits of well – educated, elite, introverted, erratic, dreamy
individuals who were prone to strange fantasies, and who were unsuccessful in real life. Hisar
narrated his novels as himself. Hence, it is difficult to pin down where his plots begin or where he
relates actual fragments of his own life. The total of Abdülhak Şinasi Hisar’s novels and chronicles
take place on and around the Istanbul Bosphorus. Rather than dealing with the political realities of
his time, Hisar preferred to detach himself from all reality, and produced works though the superior
viewpoint provided by this aloofness. However, Hisar’s novels or his approach to his characters are
not arrogant.
Hisar’s novels are generally accepted as chronicle novels, as he expressed himself by stating “no
memoir, no novel.” It is said that Marcel Proust, Paul Bourget and Pierre Loti influenced Abdülhak
Şinasi Hisar’s works. Another important attribute of Hisar is that he has produced biographies and
anthologies which are rare genres in Turkish literature.
Hisar’s some of novels are Fahim Bey ve Biz (Fahim Bey and Us, 1941), Çamlıca’daki Eniştemiz
(Our Uncle in Çamlica, 1944), and Ali Nizami Bey’in Alafrangalığı ve Şeyhliği (Ali Nizami Bey’s
Occidentalism and Sheikdom, 1952). His chronicle – essays are, Bogaziçi Mehtaplari (Moonlights in
the Bosphorus, 1943), Bogaziçi Yalıları (Waterside Residences of the Bosphorus, 1954), and Geçmis
Zaman Köşkleri (Mansions of Olden Times, 1956). Is chronicle / biographical works are, Istanbul ve
Pierre Loti (Istanbul and Pierre Loti, 1958), Yahya Kemal’e Veda (A Farewell to Yahya Kemal,
1959), and Ahmet Hasim: Şiiri ve Hayatı (Ahmet Haşim’s Poetry and Life, 1963).
YAHYA KEMAL BEYATLI (1884 – 1958)
The poet Yahya Kemal Beyatlı was born on December 2nd, 1884 in Skopje. His real name is Ahmet
Âgâh, but he wrote under pseudonyms such as Agâh Kemal, Esrar, Mehmet Agâh, and Süleyman
Sadi. He came from a prominent family whose roots could be traced back to the Ottoman court, and
he was educated at various private schools. As he was about to start his higher education, severe
disagreements between his parents kept him away from school for some time. When he tried to
return to school, he was turned away because it was too late into the semester. Little did he know that
this intermission was to become a major turning point in his life. This time coincided with the regime
of Abdülhamit II, and Beyatlı got involved with various anti-regime movements. To avoid arrest, he
escaped to Paris in 1903. During his time abroad, he met important Turkish intellectuals, politicians
and writers who were also exiles. He traveled extensively in Europe and was exposed to various
cultures. He developed a fondness for literature and influenced by the French romantic movement.
Beyatlı eventually decided that he wanted to write poetry, and he first studied the historical works of
French Parnassus poets. Consequently, he sought out a way to revitalize Turkish Divan poetry, in
order to create smooth and pure poetic lines.
Beyatlı’s poetry is influenced by music, because he composed with concepts borrowed from Turkish
music. While explaining the inner rhythm of the poetic language, he used musical terms such as
Tınnet, which denoted the musical value of the sounds or words that pace a line of poetry. For
Beyatlı this was the only method for creating internal harmony. He states, “Poetry is akin to music.
Poetry is not made of couplets, but poetry is melody.” For the most part, Beyatlı was consistent and
practiced what he preached; in his poetry, music and meaning go hand-in-hand.
The central thought that runs through Beyatlı’s poems and prose is that the Turkish nation is
fashioned with the sweat and tears of the heartland. Even his love poems featured stylized historical
and cultural values. Another peculiarity that can be perceived in Beyatlı’s poetry is the almost
feminine sensibility that he displayed towards Islam. His explanation for this is that his father spent
very little time with him, and that his first lessons in religion came from long hours spent talking
with his mother. Beyatlı grew up in a household where religious hymns and chants were sung, where
values of the past were kept alive, hence in his poems he used religion and esthetics together.
When he returned to Istanbul in 1912, Yahya Kemal Beyatlı was already known as a master poet,
and the change of regime in the country provided him with opportunities in various high level
governmental positions. Beyatlı became a parliamentarian for the Tekirdağ and Istanbul provinces,
and in 1947 he was appointed as the first Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan. But after this assignment,
his health got worse, and he returned to Turkey in 1949. His medical condition was never properly
diagnosed and his health was never fully restored. He died on November 1, 1958 in Istanbul.
Yahya Kemal Beyatlı's Works include, (Poetry) Kendi Gök Kubbemiz (Our Own Sky, 1961), Eski
Şiirin Rüzgârıyle (With the Wind of the Old Poetry, 1962), Rubailer ve Hayyam Rubailerini Türkçe
Söyleyiş (The Rubai’s and Rubai’s of Ömer Hayyam in Turkish, 1963), Bitmemiş Şiirler
(Incomplete Poems, 1976), and (Essay-Article-Memoir) Aziz İstanbul (Great İstanbul, 1964), Eğil
Dağlar (Bow Down Oh Mountains, essays on the National Independence War, 1966), Siyasî
Hikâyeler (Political Stories, 1968), Siyasî ve Edebî Portreler (Political and Literary Portraits, 1968),
Edebiyata Dair (On Literature, Essays, 1971), Çocukluğum, Gençliğim, Siyasî ve Edebî Hatıralarım
(My Childhood, Youth, and Political and Literary Memories, 1973), Tarih Muhasebeleri
(Evaluations of History, 1975), Mektuplar-Makaleler (Letters-Essays, 1977).
AHMET HAMDİ TANPINAR (1901-1962)
Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar spent his childhood in various towns and cities of Anatolia, and he returned
to İstanbul in 1918 to pursue his higher education. He first attended the Faculty of Veterinarian
Science for a year and transferred to the Darülfunun Faculty of Letters, where he studied history and
then philosophy. Later, he transferred to the Department of Literature, because he wanted to take
classes from Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, whose work had great influence on him. During his university
life, he studied western as well as Divan literature. He had the opportunity to learn the works of
Divan poets Baki, Nefî, Naili, Nedim and Şeyh Galip. In 1923, he graduated from the Faculty of
Letters and was appointed to Erzurum as a schoolteacher. He worked as a teacher of literature at
various secondary schools in Konya, Ankara and İstanbul. In 1933, Tanpınar was appointed to the
Academy of Fine Arts as lecturer of art history. In 1939, he started working at Istanbul University as
a professor of contemporary Turkish Literature. From 1942 to 1946, he worked as a representative of
the province of Maras. From 1946 to 1948, he worked as an inspector for the Turkish Ministry of
National Education. Afterward, he returned to his academic position at Istanbul University and
taught fine arts and literature until the end of his life. The gravestone of the poet features his most
famous verses: “I am neither inside time / Nor am I completely outside of it.”
Tanpınar took his first steps into the literary world in 1920, with his poem “Musul Akşamlari”
(“Mousul Evenings”). His poetry carries influences of Ahmet Haşim rather than that of Yahya Kemal
Beyatlı, whom he admired. His interest in philosophy surfaced in his novels in the form of his
characters settling accounts with their inner realities. His essays, on the other hand, dealt with daily
social problems related to Eastern and Western lifestyles.
While Tanpınar wrote his poems in the style known as “Beş Hececiler” (“Followers of the Five
Syllable”), in his novels he has dwelled on the inner human truth, and as a thinker he wrote about the
challenges of internalizing Eastern and Western lifestyles and values. Tanpinar stated that “Western
civilization develops constantly, however it does so without severing ties with its history and
renaissance. Furthermore, it safeguards its material and spiritual values. Just like they have done, we
need to change the “old,” and to strive to become a better society; however while doing this, we need
to make use of our own values rather than blindly imitating the West. We need to protect our own
values.”
Time is one of the prominent themes that appear in Tanpınar’s stories and novels. The commonly
accepted opinion is that Tanpinar has been influenced by Marcel Proust. Both Tanpınar himself and
his characters are longing for times past. The past is both individually perceived time and the past of
the nation. In Tanpınar’s novels time is prominent as an aesthetic element, and a literary device.
Huzur, which appeared as a daily series in the Milliyet newspaper between February 22nd and June
2nd 1948, and which was later published in 1949 in book form, is one of his most important works.
The most significant feature of the novel is that it adheres to the principle of unity of time, as its
action takes place in a 24-hour timeframe. In the novel, time has been established through the
characters conveying their memories into the present. In the other novels, it is possible to see a
spiraling plot of the same type that goes back and forth between past and present. As far as the
subject matter goes, Huzur (A Mind at Peace) ,deals with the search for peace that the intellectual of
the Republican period undertakes.
Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü (Institute for Setting Watches, 1962) deals with the relationship between
the individual and society. It relates the problems and challenges that Turkey encountered in the
process of internalizing Western civilization. Tanpınar’s another novel Sahnenin Dışındakiler (Those
Outside the Scene, 1973) relates the years of national struggle. The novel deals with the experience
of people who remained uninvolved with the war of independence. His characters sometimes plunge
into the past to remember the changes that took place and are left lonely in their yearnings. Mahur
Beste (Mahur Tune) narrates the story of an unhappy love.
Just like his poetry Tanpınar’s novels and stories are also dominated by dream sequences. Tanpınar
describes this as “establishing the state of dream in language.” Dreams mentioned here are also a
form of creativity. Hence, while dreams take on a psychological function in Tanpınar`s works, at the
same time they form the aesthetic basis of the work. Hence, the subconscious of Tanpınar’s novel
and story characters are conveyed with clues. Thus a journey to the inner world of the character is
achieved, and this mystical adventure is conveyed through a complex, dream-like plot.
It would appear that through his character and his works Tanpınar believes in the necessity of
embracing the new, and in fact he elevated novelty. However his works do feature a sense of
emotional pain related to the slow disappearance of Ottoman civilization and culture, and of values
that created them. All these novels, stories and poems carry traces of folk and divan literature and are
enriched through repetition of the feeling of nostalgia.
Tanpınar’s stories include, Abdullah Efendi’nin Rüyaları (Abdullah Efendi’s Dreams, 1943), Yaz
Yağmuru (Summer Rain, 1955), and Hikayeler (Stories, 1983). His essays are Beş Şehir (Five Cities,
1967), Yahya Kemal (1967), Edebiyat Üzerine Makaleler (Articles on Literature, 1969), and
Yaşadığım Gibi (As I live it, 1970). His monographies are XIX. Asır Türk Edebiyatı Tarihi (The
History of 19th Century Turkish Literature, 1942), Tevfik Fikret (1937), and Namık Kemal (1942).
He also has the following translations: Alkestes (Original by Euripides 1974), Medea (Original by
Euridipes 1943), Yunan Heykeli (The Greek Statue), Original by Henri Lechat, 1945.
(Reference: Yeşim Gökçe (Bilkent University)/Turkish Cultural Foundation)