URBANIZATION AND PERCEPTION OF RECREATION IN YAKUP KADRI KARAOSMANOGLU’S ANKARA NOVEL

YAKUP KADRİ KARAOSMANOĞLU’NUN ANKARA ROMANINDA KENTLEŞME VE REKREASYON ALGISI

Abstract

Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu’s famous novel called Ankara has a significant place in Turkish literature. The book discusses the transformation of the city of Ankara from the period of pre-Sakarya War, through the declaration of Turkish Republic to the early Republican era with regard to socio-cultural relations and spatial concerns. The novel is structured in three parts. The first part starts with picturing the preSakarya War (pre-1922) period and tells about Nazif Bey and his spouse Selma Hanim’s arrival to and settlement in Ankara. The second part emphasizes the changes and reforms experienced between the years 1922 and 1926. The last part portrays social change, social relations and spatial transformation in the aftermath of the declaration of the Republic. This article mainly examines public spaces and activities taking place therein which are crucial for the formation of socio-cultural relations within the context of the book. In particular, it discusses what recreational activities that shape social life are, how they are shaped, in what way they are perceived by the people of the novel and their impacts on their lifestyles. The article examines the creation of a capital city in the early Republican era and the urbanization dimension of this process. In this regard, problems and difficulties associated with living in a newlyestablished and underdeveloped city and their impacts on the heroes’ daily lives are analyzed. The originality of this article lies in its ability to discuss the development and transformation process of the city by focusing on the lives of the characters. Inferences regarding urban development, recreational areas and recreational facilities are made through the examination of quotations from the novel and an overall comprehensive evaluation is provided Urbanization and recreation are two concepts that have been in interaction with each other since ancient times. As settlements develop and begin to grow resting and socialization understandings of individuals change in parallel with this process, and their leisure time activities start to vary. In this article, Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu’s Ankara Novel, in which this processes and changes are experienced, is examined. The novel is a significant work where the urbanization process, the social and cultural changes individuals experienced and the development of urban life and recreational opportunities came along with these changes during the foundation of the Republic and the proclamation of Ankara as the capital city in the aftermath can be traced. Having this in mind, the relationship between urbanization and recreation and the perception of recreation in the Republican period are examined in the first chapter. In the second chapter, urbanization process and changing recreation concerns are tried to be analyzed through the periods covered by the novel and experiences of the characters of the novel. In the last chapter, based on the inferences made from the novel, the necessity of having a holistic perception of the relationship between development and urbanization is emphasized together with the impact of constituents and socio-cultural reflections of this process. Recreation is a concept which has developed and changed since primitive societies and it has been transformed with the current living conditions and technologies. While being effected by the spatial set-up and socio-cultural structuring of the city, recreation also shapes the individuals in terms of their personal development. When recreational activities first started to develop, they were shaped by the individuals’ daily life activities rather than spatial impacts and they were mostly celebration occasions. Nevertheless, in time, these activities transformed into time-demanding activities, particularly when spatial set-ups started to affect the process. Development level of the societies became a determining factor in terms of recreation - as the welfare of the individual increased, ordered lifestyles started to shape recreational preferences. In the establishment period of the Republic, various changes and innovations can be observed in urbanization and recreation as well as in many other subjects in Turkey. The revolutions carried out under the leadership of Atatürk also influenced the traditional life styles (Zorba, 2007) and individuals entered a new transition process from a traditional life style to the one that was designed for them. In this period, construction of Ankara, which had been a town-like settlement, as a modern capital city was taken on the agenda and the city reconstruction and planning processes accelerated. With the effect of the period and as a result of the “westernization and modernization” efforts, the European capitals were taken as examples and a new development period was initiated. However, when the economic and social situation of Turkey in that period is evaluated, it is seen that the famine and economic distress experienced in the country were reflected on the urban life and that there were no infrastructure networks such as electricity, water, etc. and transportation facilities were very limited in many cities in the 1930s (Uludağ, 1998). It is anticipated that the recreation opportunities were very limited during such a transition period. While there were only vineyard houses, gardens, and highlands as recreation areas in Ankara before the Republic (Uludağ, 1998), the definition of recreation began to change with the transformation in the social structure after it became the capital city (with the migration of diplomats, bureaucrats, and high-ranking members to Ankara), and new places and facilities emerged according to the needs of the new social classes (Tiken, 2013). Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu’s Ankara Novel examines the social and spatial reflections of this change in terms of different groups living in the city and refers to the expectations, disappointments, and unhappiness of those who migrated from Istanbul (a r

Özet

Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu'nun ünlü romanı Ankara'nın Türk edebiyatında önemli bir yeri vardır. Kitap Ankara'nın Sakarya Savaşı öncesi tarihinden başlayıp, Cumhuriyetin ilan edildiği dönemde ve bu dönemden sonraki yıllarda geçirmiş olduğu dönüşümü sosyo-kültürel ilişkiler ve mekânlar üzerinden tartışmaktadır. Roman temelde üç bölüm şeklinde kurgulanmıştır. Birinci bölüm, 1922 Sakarya savaşı öncesi dönem ile başlamakta, Nazif Beyin ve eşi Selma Hanım'ın Ankara'ya gelişleri ve yerleşmelerini konu almaktadır. İkinci bölüm Cumhuriyetin ilan edildiği 1922- 1926 yılları arasında yaşanan değişim ve yenilikçi döneme vurgu yapmaktadır. Son bölümde ise Cumhuriyetin ilanından sonraki yıllarda yaşanan toplumsal değişim, sosyal ilişkiler ve mekânsal dönüşüme değinilmektedir. Bu makale temelde, sosyo kültürel ilişkilerin kurulmasında önemli bir rol oynayan kamusal mekânlar ve bu mekânlarda yer alan aktiviteleri kitaba referansla incelemektedir. Özelde ise bu makale, sosyal yaşamı da biçimlendiren rekreasyonel faaliyetlerin neler olduğu ve nasıl şekillendiği, romanın geçtiği dönemde kişiler tarafından ne şekilde algılandığı ve kişilerin yaşam biçimlerine etkini tartışmaktadır. Makale, Cumhuriyetin ilan edildiği dönemde sıfırdan bir "Başkent"in yaratılması süreci ve bu sürecin kentleşme boyutunu incelemektedir. Bu bağlamda yeni kurulmakta olan, gelişmemiş bir kentte yaşamanın getirdiği sorunlar ve sıkıntılar ile bunların roman kahramanlarının edilmektedir. Bu makalenin özgünlüğü, bir kentin gelişimini ve dönüşümünü roman karakterlerinin yaşamlarını temel alarak tartışabilmesidir. Kentsel dönüşüm, rekreasyon alanları ve rekreasyon olanaklarına dair çıkarımlar, romandan yapılan alıntılar üzerinden tartışılmış ve bütünsel bir kurgu içerisinde aktarılmaya çalışılmıştır