Turkish literature

Abstract

My basic thesis about the cultural and epistemological significance of the theme of the fathers and sons has not changed over the years. The quest for a father as absolute authority continued to inform Turkish thought and literature, with only a few exceptional interludes as with the novels of the 1970s. It is, I feel, a mind-numbingly uninteresting phenomenon. Why? Because it has been the same for centuries-the quest for a father, the readiness to escape from freedom, the insecurity when faced with the possibility of a fatherless vacuum, and the need to fill it at all costs. In my subsequent work, I rethought and revisited the Tanzimat (Reorganization) period of 1839-1876, and I came to realize that certain themes that persist in the literary and cultural spheres-modernization, Westernization, issues concerning language reform-were taken up and debated much more judiciously and liberally back then, particularly when compared to the sectarian, prejudiced, and hostile debates of later periods. In this respect, I draw the line with the Servet-i Fünun (Wealth of Knowledge) period of 1891-1901, during which cultural and literary quarrels became harsher and were carried into the partisan disputes of the Republican era.