Mystic Narrative And Perception Through Contemporary Novels: The Example of Hacı Bayrām-ı Velī

Abstract

Biographical novels about Sufī elders have gained wide currency nowadays. In the novels that bring the exemplary personalities of the Sufīs to the present by blending fiction and reality, life stories within the framework of historical data turn into a format that is thought to attract more attention of the reader with their unique narratives of authors. These works, in which the reader has the opportunity to develop their Sufī knowledge and culture on one hand and to learn the biography of the Sufī on the other hand, are the best examples of the integration of Sufīsm with life. The novels written on Sufīs who have left unique traces in Turkish Sufī thought play an important role in transferring the Sufī culture from generation to generation. In this study, biographical novels written about Hacı Bayrām-ı Velī are discussed in terms of Sufīsm and Sufī history. In this context, topics such as the compatibility of the novels with the historical narratives, to what extent they represent the mystic they are dealing with, the place of extraordinary elements in novels, the harmony of the fictions in the works with the dignity of the relevant mystic, the function of novels in conveying the Sufī culture to the reader, processing of the concepts of mysticism, the reflections of the writers’ religious and mystical knowledge and perceptions on the novels and the nature of the works that are the source of the novels were emphasized. Although from time to time there are situations where fictions override historical narratives or ideologies are reflected in the works, the fact that the basis of the novels is based on historical data has enabled them to have an important function in explaining the historical personality and philosophy of Hacı Bayrām.