IN THE EARLY REPUBLICAN NOVEL BUILDING IDENTITY OF CONSEVATIVE MEN: IN THE SAMPLE OF PEYAMİ SAFA’S NOVELS

ERKEN CUMHURİYET ROMANINDA MUHAFAZAKÂR ERKEK KİMLİĞİNİN İNŞASI: PEYAMİ SAFA’NIN ROMANLARI ÖRNEĞİNDE

Abstract

The first period of Republican novel, beyond aesthetic intentions, contains the reflections of young nation state ideology and the reflections of formalization. In this era novel, nationalistic approachment which has shown itself from national literature, unites with state’s ideology and is used in building identity. Aforementioned identities are mainly men identities, fundamentally, with these qualities, have already been parts of state ideology. The main purpose of this research is that supposing by novels, were written in the early years of National Struggle and Republic, used as a tool in which forming nation state and national identity, to analyze the years of National Struggle and the first period of Republic’s role of literated novelists, nation state, nation individual, nation society and building to semtinize identity of conservative men which were fictionalized from the narrator to the character. Building national identity, on one hand, idealizes men identities which were made by new system of value, on the other hand, prefers a man’s identity which was not marginalized and protected his self. In this respect, the identity of conservative men take place in novels as the keepers of custom and self and partners of religious and national responsibilities. In the research, as centre texts, Peyami Safa’s novels were preferred with his certain distinctions about this subject, with his fiction men identities, providing opportunities to the contexts of researches in ideology and conservatism. Because of the fact that research involves in early years of the Republic, like Yalniziz, Biz Insanlar, Matmazel Manolya’nin Koltugu were not included in the research as they were published after 1940. On the other hand, because of the purpose is to analyze the identity of conservative men via Peyami Safa’s novels, instead of analyzing the novels with chronological fiction. It was suitable for he purpose of the research that thematic findings being analyzed and commented. Besides building identity of conservative men in his novels, it was also included in analyzing narrator’s consevative and masculine character because this masculine type of narrator was the identity of the author in which including his own voice. These men identities’ connection with ideology and were taken in paralel with political history chronology, identities of conservative men in his novels and his masculine point of view were searched what were their function of building those identities from the National Struggle to quarter-century of Republic. The reason why Peyami Safa was chosen both his novels’ literaray qualities and the identity of consevative men as an ideologist forming and exemplifying in his novels, therefore, seperating from dominant mentality of that period and were determinative by building different men identities from monolithic man identitiy. As a result, it can be said that the identities of conservative men in Peyami Safa’s novels are not challenging types. They are, as long as they resist against European style and carry on thinking that their women will stil belong to them, at the point of not giving the women of the same world to the other, succesful. Mentioned identities of conservative men in none of the works, do not unite with heroic men who form monomyth of the period, but they always support the ideology of early Republic from its essential points. In consequence, ideal men and women of the conservative masculine imagination do not conflict with dominant ideological statement due to none of their characteristics. Although it seems that there is a difference between in the perception of women and in the way how conservative opinion idealize women with religious references and this idea is very common. Peyami Safa’s identity of conservative is in compliance with Kemalist ideology at the point of positioning women. We can say that there is a fear of colonization of mentality which marked in the early period reformisim of Ottoman-Turk modernization. The feminine imagination of the concept of homeland and state, explains the passion of keeping women with which ideological point that is created with hegemonic masculinity. In this regard, as the attitude of modernization of new new ideology’s nation state imagination as in view not dominate but always well accepted conservative masculine identity, idealize conceptional reality associaye w,th appearance level, modern conservative masculinity and from this identified women. In other words, the monomyth of gallant soldier in Anatolia and founding representation of patriatic masculine identity, accompanying women their representatives and their naive attitudes complete with continuous characters who assume identity roles at the point of protecting capital city cultures from Anatolia. From this aspect, Peyami Safa’s novels in which he exemplifies conservative men and his suggestions to the identity of conservative men and reflecting his novel’s urban identity, can be read as symbolic addition of urbanism which lasting from the first examples of Turkish literature. With his novel techniques, the narrator whom he tittivates as a fictional identity, is always conservative and a man. Even if he is conservative or not, it shows the effect of classical patriarchal view on the whole modernization process. The most important link between conservative men identity and Kemalist ideology is this patriarchal discourse and masculinity which shows itself. Both of the conservative thoughts and national modernization, which searches a traditional self base, cultivate a main patriarchal imagination. The clearest examples of classical patriarchy are found in northern Africa, muslim Middle East, south and east Asia. In this sense, it can be said that classical patriarchy is reproduced and at the stage of this, as the representative of extended family and authority, old man envolves in elementary family, connection with relatives and state connection. In this regard, especiall

Özet

Cumhuriyet romanının ilk devresi, estetik gayelerin ötesinde, yeni kurulan ulus devletin ideolojisini yansıtmanın ve biçimlendirmenin yansımalarını barındırır. Bu dönem romanında, Milli Edebiyattan itibaren kendini gösteren ulusçu yaklaşımlar devletin ideolojisi ile birleşir ve kimlik inşasının biçimlendirilmesinde kullanılır. Bahsi geçen kimlikler, ağırlıklı olarak erkek kimlikleridir ve zaten esasen bu nitelikleri ile devlet ideolojisinin parçalarıdır. Milli Mücadele ve Cumhuriyet'in ilk yıllarında kaleme alınan romanların, ulus devlet ve milli kimlik oluşturmada bir araç olarak kullanıldıkları varsayımından ortaya çıkan bu çalışmanın temel amacı, Milli Mücadele yıllarının ve Cumhuriyetin ilk evresinin "aydın-romancı "sının, "ulus-devlet", "ulus-birey", "ulustoplum" inşasındaki rolünü incelemek ve anlatıcı/yazardan karakter ve tiplere uzanan çizgide bu bağlamda kurgulanmış muhafazakâr erkek kimliklerini irdelemektir. Milli kimliğin inşası, bir yandan yeni değerler sistemine göre üretilmiş bir erkek tipini idealize ederken diğer yandan ve baskın şekilde "öz"üne sahip çıkan ve "öteki"leşmeyen bir erkek kimliğini tercih eder. Bu bakımdan muhafazakâr erkek kimlikleri geleneğin ve özün bekçileri sıfatıyla toplumsal, dini ve milli bir sorumluluğun paydaşları olarak romana girerler. İncelemede merkez metinler olarak, bu konuda en keskin ayrımları yapan; kurguladığı erkek kimlikleri ile ideoloji ve muhafazakârlık bağlamındaki incelemelere olanak sağlayan Peyami Safa'nın romanları tercih edilmiştir. İnceleme dönem olarak erken cumhuriyet yıllarını kapsadığından 1940'tan sonra yayımlanan Yalnızız, Biz İnsanlar, Matmazel Noralya'nın Koltuğu gibi romanlar çalışmaya dahil edilmemiştir. Öte yandan amaç Peyami Safa'nın romanlarından hareketle dönemin muhafazakâr erkek kimliğini incelemek olduğundan kronolojik bir kurgu ile romanların incelenmesi yerine çalışmanın amacına uygun şekilde tematik olarak bulguların incelenmesi ve yorumlanması tercih edilmiştir. Yazarın romanlarındaki muhafazakâr erkek kimliklerinin inşasının yanında yazar/anlatıcının muhafazakâr ve eril karakteri de incelemeye dâhil edilmiştir zira bu eril anlatıcı tipi ideolojik temsili içeren yazarın sesini duyurduğu kimliktir. Bu erkek kimliklerinin ideoloji ile bağları siyasi tarihin kronolojisi ile koşut olarak ele alınmış, yazarın romanlarındaki muhafazakâr erkek kimlikleri ve anlatıcının eril bakış açısının bu kimliklerin inşasındaki işlevi Milli Mücadeleden Cumhuriyetin ilanının çeyrek asır sonrasına kadar, ideoloji ile ilişkileri kurularak incelenmiştir. Peyami Safa'nın tercih edilmesinde hem yayımladığı romanların edebi nitelikleri hem de bir ideolog olarak muhafazakâr erkek kimliğini romanlarında biçimlendirdiği ve örneklediği, bu bakımdan devrin hâkim zihniyetinden ayrıldığı, idealize fakat monomitik erkek kimliğinden farklı erkek kimlikleri inşa ettiği kabulleri belirleyici olmuştur