A protagonıst between fıctıon and realıty: felâtun bey

Ahmet Midhat Efendi ,

Felâtun Bey ,

modernleşme ,

Ahmet Midhat Efendi ,

Felâtun Bey ,

In terms of reflecting the period when Ahmet Midhat Efendi lived and penned his works, the novel Felâtun Beyle Rakım Efendi is the most important work of him, the one that set off the highest reaction and was mentioned most often later on. Through two characters opposite to each other in his novel, Ahmet Midhat Efendi presented to the public opinion the troubles in the early periods of the Ottoman modernization and also solutions to those troubles. The character Felâtun Bey who was introduced as a negative model created by modernization was criticized ruthlessly by the author to give a message to the society and define that particular period. However, Felâtun Bey and the understanding of “European manners” he represented were not confined to the civil sphere or space. Besides, the environment of but appeared as a reflection of the life style of the courtiers and high rank-officials upon society, who personally considered modernization as the sole way of salvation. Hence, in 1875, a short while after the novel was written, the state which had focused on the image of modernization and got into huge debts for this cause would gobankrupt just like Felâtun Bey. In this paper, correspondences between the modernization experiences of Felâtun Bey and of the Ottoman State will be discussed with reference to the events and people in history. 

modernization ,