Paris and the intellectual: Reflections from a historical décor into an aeshetic décor

Abstract

This study entails the investigation of the importance of Paris in contemporary Turkish literature through Ahmet Altan’s works ‘Kılıç Yarası Gibi’ and ‘İsyan Günlerinde Aşk’. In the novels in question Paris is portrayed as a place of refuge, a center for learning, a place to make merry, the city in which Ottoman elite gathered and learned of enlightenment and overthrow of tyranny and organized for such a contingency. In these works based on historical realities Paris affects Istanbul and Ottoman intellectuals politically and culturally and appears as a sanctuary. For those French speaking Ottoman intellectuals cognizant of French culture, and who are the main source of renovation, this effect causes a movement of the core, the individual who initiates change. This movement spreads from emotional and daily life to political life. When viewed from this perspective the ‘city of sanctuary, of refuge’ is not an expression of the wish for protection, but an expression of the wish to develop and live freely.