A poem, a novel:The dream of queen Victoria - The novel of Fatih Sultan Mehmet

Abstract

The author of this study attempts a comparison of ‘time, setting and characters’ in Nedim Gürsel’s novel Boğazkesen and Şavkar Altınel’s poem Kraliçe Viktoria’nın Düşü. Nedim Gürsel tells of Fatih Sultan Mehmet (Mehmet the Conqueror) through the voice of a fictional novel writer Fatih Haznedar and the city of Istanbul; whereas Altinel portrays Queen Victoria through the dream of a girl sleeping on the subway and the city of Glasgow. The poem is integrated with history through a dream; the novel takes history as its starting point and is formulated through the authors’ passion for writing and his imagination. In reference to the two cities captivating the authors; for Nedim Gürsel, Istanbul is forever being conquered and the conqueror, a city he continually discovers the depths, wealth and soul of. Altınel depicts Glasgow where he lived for a certain period of time as representative of who he is.