Prose of the Republic of Turkey
Encyclopedia
For the history/introduction of Turkish Prose covering all eras see: Turkish literature
Turkish literature
Turkish literature comprises both oral compositions and written texts in the Turkish language, either in its Ottoman form or in less exclusively literary forms, such as that spoken in the Republic of Turkey today...

.

Prose of the Republic of Turkey covers the "Turkish Prose" beginning with 1911 with the national literature movement.

Stylistically, the prose of the early years of the Republic of Turkey was essentially a continuation of the National Literature movement, with Realism and Naturalism predominating. This trend culminated in the 1932 novel Yaban ("The Wilds"), by Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu. This novel can be seen as the precursor to two trends that would soon develop: social realism
Social realism
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic...

, and the "village novel" (köy romanı). Çalıkuşu
Çalikusu
Çalıkuşu, or The Wren, is a novel by Reşat Nuri Güntekin written in 1922, about the destiny of a young Turkish female teacher named Feride in Anatolia.-Plot summary:...

("The Wren") by Reşat Nuri Güntekin
Resat Nuri Güntekin
Reşat Nuri Güntekin was a Turkish novelist, storywriter and playwright. His most known novel, Çalıkuşu is about the destiny of a young Turkish female teacher in Anatolia; a movie was filmed on this book in 1966, and a TV series were produced in 1986...

 addresses a similar theme with the works of Karaosmanoğlu. Güntekin's narrative has a detailed and precise style, with a realistic tone.

The social realist movement is perhaps best represented by the short-story writer Sait Faik Abasıyanık
Sait Faik Abasiyanik
Sait Faik Abasıyanık was one of the greatest Turkish writers of short stories and poetry. Born in Adapazarı, he was educated at the Bursa Erkek Lisesi. He enrolled in the Turcology Department of Istanbul University in 1928, but under pressure from his father went to Switzerland to study economics...

 (1906–1954), whose work sensitively and realistically treats the lives of cosmopolitan Istanbul's lower classes
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

 and ethnic minorities, subjects which led to some criticism in the contemporary nationalistic atmosphere. The tradition of the "village novel", on the other hand, arose somewhat later. As its name suggests, the "village novel" deals, in a generally realistic manner, with life in the villages and small towns of Turkey. The major writers in this tradition are Kemal Tahir (1910–1973), Orhan Kemal (1914–1970), and Yaşar Kemal (1923– ). Yaşar Kemal, in particular, has earned fame outside of Turkey not only for his novels; many of which, such as 1955's İnce Memed ("Memed, My Hawk"), elevate local tales to the level of epic; but also for his firmly leftist political stance. In a very different tradition, but evincing a similar strong political viewpoint, was the satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 short-story writer Aziz Nesin
Aziz Nesin
Aziz Nesin was a famous Turkish writer and humorist of Crimean Tatar origin and author of more than 100 books.-Pseudonyms:...

 (1915–1995) and Rıfat Ilgaz
Rifat Ilgaz
Rıfat Ilgaz was a poet who was born in Cide, Kastamonu, Turkey. He was a teacher, poet, and writer. Ilgaz was one of Turkey’s best-known and most prolific poets and writers, having authored over sixty works.-Biography:...

 (1911–1993).

Another novelist contemporary to, but outside of, the social realist and "village novel" traditions is Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar
Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar
Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar was one of the most important modern novelists and essayists of Turkish literature. He was also a member of the Turkish parliament between 1942 and 1946.-Biography:...

 (1901–1962). In addition to being an important essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...

ist and poet, Tanpınar wrote a number of novels; such as Huzur ("Tranquillity", 1949) and Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü ("The Time Regulation Institute", 1961); which dramatize the clash between East and West in modern Turkish culture and society. Similar problems are explored by the novelist and short-story writer Oğuz Atay
Oguz Atay
Oğuz Atay was a pioneer of the modern novel in Turkey. His first novel, Tutunamayanlar , appeared 1971-72. Never reprinted in his lifetime and controversial among critics, it has become a best-seller since a new edition came out in 1984...

 (1934–1977). Unlike Tanpınar, however, Atay—in such works as his long novel Tutunamayanlar
Tutunamayanlar
Tutunamayanlar is the first novel of Oguz Atay, one of the most prominent Turkish authors. It was written in 1970-71 and published in 1972. Although it was never reprinted in his lifetime and was controversial among critics, it has become a best-seller since a new edition came out in 1984...

("The Disconnected", 1971–1972) and his short story "Beyaz Mantolu Adam" ("Man in a White Coat", 1975)—wrote in a more modernist
Modernist literature
Modernist literature is sub-genre of Modernism, a predominantly European movement beginning in the early 20th century that was characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional aesthetic forms...

 and existentialist
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...

 vein. On the other hand, Onat Kutlar's İshak ("Isaac", 1959), composed of nine short stories which are written mainly from a child's point of view
Point of view (literature)
The narrative mode is the set of methods the author of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical story uses to convey the plot to the audience. Narration, the process of presenting the narrative, occurs because of the narrative mode...

 and are often surrealistic and mystical, represent a very early example of magic realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...

.

The tradition of literary modernism also informs the work of novelist Adalet Ağaoğlu
Adalet Ağaoğlu
Adalet Ağaoğlu is a Turkish novelist and playwright.-Publishing career:As an author, a playwright and a human rights activist, she became one of the most prized novelists of Turkey...

 (1929– ). Her trilogy of novels collectively entitled Dar Zamanlar ("Tight Times", 1973–1987), for instance, examines the changes that occurred in Turkish society between the 1930s and the 1980s in a formally and technically innovative style. Orhan Pamuk
Orhan Pamuk
Ferit Orhan Pamuk , generally known simply as Orhan Pamuk, is a Turkish novelist. He is also the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches comparative literature and writing....

 (1952– ), winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...

, is another such innovative novelist, though his works—such as 1990's Beyaz Kale ("The White Castle
The White Castle
The White Castle is a novel by Turkish author Orhan Pamuk.-Plot introduction:The story is about a young Italian scholar sailing from Venice to Naples who is taken prisoner by the Ottoman Empire...

") and Kara Kitap ("The Black Book
The Black Book (Orhan Pamuk novel)
The Black Book is a novel by Turkish author Orhan Pamuk. It was published in Turkish in 1990 and first translated and published in English in 1994...

") and 1998's Benim Adım Kırmızı ("My Name is Red
My Name is Red
My Name Is Red is a 1998 Turkish novel by Nobel laureate author Orhan Pamuk. The English translation won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 2003,. The French version won the French Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger and the Italian version the Premio Grinzane Cavour in 2002...

")—are influenced more by postmodernism
Postmodern literature
The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain characteristics of post–World War II literature and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature.Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is hard to define and there is little agreement on the exact...

 than by modernism. This is true also of Latife Tekin
Latife Tekin
Latife Tekin is one of the most influential Turkish female authors. She was born in 1957 in Kayseri, Turkey. She continued her education in Istanbul. In 1983, her famous novel Sevgili Arsız Ölüm was published. The magic realism in the book was drawn from the Anatolian folklore and traditions...

 (1957– ), whose first novel Sevgili Arsız Ölüm ("Dear Shameless Death", 1983) shows the influence not only of postmodernism, but also of magic realism.

National Literature (1911-1923)

  • Ömer Seyfettin
    Ömer Seyfettin
    Ömer Seyfettin, also Omer Seyfeddin, was a Turkish nationalist writer from late 19th to early 20th century, considered to be one of the greatest modern Turkish authors...

    , short story author (1884–1920)
  • Halide Edip Adıvar
    Halide Edip Adivar
    Halide Edip Adıvar or Halide Edib Adivar was a Turkish novelist and feminist political leader...

    , novelist (1884–1964)
  • Reşat Nuri Güntekin
    Resat Nuri Güntekin
    Reşat Nuri Güntekin was a Turkish novelist, storywriter and playwright. His most known novel, Çalıkuşu is about the destiny of a young Turkish female teacher in Anatolia; a movie was filmed on this book in 1966, and a TV series were produced in 1986...

    , novelist (1889–1956)
  • Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu
    Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu
    Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu was a Turkish novelist, journalist, diplomat, and senator.-Early life:...

    , novelist, poet, short story author (1889–1974)
  • Fuat Köprülü, writer (1890–1966)

Novel

  • Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı
    Cevat Sakir Kabaagaçli
    Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı was a Turkish writer of novels, short-stories and essays, as well as being a keen ethnographer and travelogue.-Biography:He is deeply associated with Bodrum where...

    , novelist (1890–1973)
  • Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar
    Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar
    Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar was one of the most important modern novelists and essayists of Turkish literature. He was also a member of the Turkish parliament between 1942 and 1946.-Biography:...

    , novelist and essayist (1901–1962)
  • Sabahattin Ali
    Sabahattin Ali
    Sabahattin Ali was a Turkish novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist.-Early life:He was born in 1907 in Eğridere township in Gümülcine sanjak , in the Ottoman Empire. He lived in Istanbul, Çanakkale and Edremit before he entered the school of education in Balıkesir...

    , novelist, poet, essayist (1907–1948)
  • Kemal Tahir
    Kemal Tahir
    Kemal Tahir was a prominent Turkish novelist and intellectual. Tahir spent 13 years of his life imprisoned due to political reasons and wrote some of his most important novels during this time...

    , novelist (1910–1973)
  • Orhan Kemal
    Orhan Kemal
    Orhan Kemal is the pen name of Turkish novelist Mehmet Raşit Öğütçü. He is known for his realist novels that tells the stories of the poor in Turkey....

    , novelist (1914–1970)
  • Orhan Hançerlioğlu novelist (1916–1991)
  • Samim Kocagöz, novelist (1916–1993)
  • Semiha Ayverdi
    Semiha Ayverdi
    Samiha Ayverdi was a Turkish writer and Sufi mystic. She is the sister of architect and historian Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi....

    , novelist (1916–1993)
  • Tarık Buğra, novelist (1918–1994)
  • Yusuf Atılgan
    Yusuf Atilgan
    Yusuf Atılgan was a Turkish novelist and dramatist, who is best known for his novels Aylak Adam and Anayurt Oteli . He is one of the pioneers of the modern Turkish novel.Atılgan is considered as one of the pioneers of the modern Turkish novel...

    , novelist (1921–1989)
  • Yasar Kemal
    Yasar Kemal
    Yaşar Kemal, is a Turkish writer. He is one of Turkey's leading writers. He has long been a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, on the strength of Memed, My Hawk....

    , novelist (1923- )
  • Fakir Baykurt, novelist (1929–1999)
  • Bilge Karasu, novelist (1930–1995)
  • Oğuz Atay
    Oguz Atay
    Oğuz Atay was a pioneer of the modern novel in Turkey. His first novel, Tutunamayanlar , appeared 1971-72. Never reprinted in his lifetime and controversial among critics, it has become a best-seller since a new edition came out in 1984...

    , novelist (1934–1977)
  • Tomris Uyar, novelist (1941–2003)
  • Ahmet Altan
    Ahmet Altan
    -Biography:He was born 1950 in Ankara, Turkey to the writer Çetin Altan. A working journalist for more than twenty years, he has served in all stages of the profession, from being a night shift reporter to editor in chief in various newspapers....

    , novelist (1950-)
  • Orhan Pamuk
    Orhan Pamuk
    Ferit Orhan Pamuk , generally known simply as Orhan Pamuk, is a Turkish novelist. He is also the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches comparative literature and writing....

    , novelist, Nobel laureate (1952- )
  • Murathan Mungan
    Murathan Mungan
    Murathan Mungan is a Turkish author, short story writer, playwright and poet.- Biography :His family originates from Mardin. After receiving his BA degree from the Faculty of Letters and Drama department at Ankara University, he worked as a dramaturg before devoting all his time to write poetry,...

    , novelist, poet, playwright (1955-)
  • Elif Şafak
    Elif Safak
    Elif Şafak , is a Turkish writer who writes in both Turkish and English. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages.-Fiction:...

    , novelist (1971- )

Short story

  • Memduh Şevket Esendal, short story author (1883–1952)
  • Kenan Hulusi Koray, short story author (1906–1943)
  • Sait Faik Abasıyanık
    Sait Faik Abasiyanik
    Sait Faik Abasıyanık was one of the greatest Turkish writers of short stories and poetry. Born in Adapazarı, he was educated at the Bursa Erkek Lisesi. He enrolled in the Turcology Department of Istanbul University in 1928, but under pressure from his father went to Switzerland to study economics...

    , short story author (1906–1954)
  • Haldun Taner
    Haldun Taner
    Haldun Taner is a well-known Turkish playwright and short story writer. He was born on March 16, 1915 in Istanbul...

    , short story author and dramatist (1915–1986)
  • Aziz Nesin
    Aziz Nesin
    Aziz Nesin was a famous Turkish writer and humorist of Crimean Tatar origin and author of more than 100 books.-Pseudonyms:...

    , humorist (1915–1995)
  • Vüs`at O. Bener, short story author and novelist (1922-2005)

Journalism

  • Falih Rıfkı Atay, journalist (1894–1971)
  • Peyami Safa, journalist and novelist (1899–1961)

Essay

  • Suut Kemal Yetkin, essayist (1903–1980)
  • Kemal Bilbaşar, essayist (1910–1983)
  • Cemil Meriç, essayist (1916–1987)
  • Ruşen Eşref Ünaydın, essayist (1892–1959)
  • Nurullah Ataç, essayist (1898–1957)

Needs new section

  • Behçet Necatigil
    Behçet Necatigil
    Behçet Necatigil was a leading Turkish author, poet and translator.-Biography:Behçet was born in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, in 1916. He graduated from the Teachers' High School in Istanbul in 1940, and served as a teacher of literature until the year 1972...

    , dramatist (1916–1979)
  • Necati Cumalı
    Necati Cumali
    Necati Cumalı was a Turkish writer of novels, short-stories, essays and poetry. He was born in Florina, Greece, and his family had settled in Urla near İzmir in the framework of the 1923 agreement for the population exchange between Greece and Turkey.-Biography:He grew up in Urla and did his...

    , dramatist (1921- )
  • Ahmet Kutsi Tecer
    Ahmet Kutsi Tecer
    Ahmet Kutsi Tecer was a Turkish poet and politician.-Biography:Born in Jerusalem, Tecer studied philosophy and started his career as a philosophy teacher. Then, he worked in the Education Ministry and was a member of parliament from 1942 to 1946...

    , dramatist (1901–1967)
  • Şevket Süreyya Aydemir
    Sevket Süreyya Aydemir
    Sevket Surreya Aydemir was a Turkish intellectual, and was one of the founders and a key theorist of Kadro, an influential policy journal published in Turkey from 1932-1934. He was educated and became familiar with Marxism at Moscow University where he studied economics, and worked as a teacher...

    , biographer (1897–1974)
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