Atatürk poems and anthologies of Atatürk poems: genre, content, imagery

Abstract

Starting with “Ordunun Destanı” written by Mehmet Emin Yurdakul in 1915, till these days, Atatürk poems have been written for exactly hundred years. Throughout this time, thousands of poems have been written and tens of anthologies have been compiled. This thesis analyses Atatürk poems focusing on their genre, content and imagery by means of anthologies of Atatürk Poems. It tries to give some answers to the primary questions that come to mind about this field and these poems. The thesis traces the historical progress of Atatürk Poems in order to explain how they emerged, what they mean, when they were published, why they have changed through time and how they have been perceived. In addition, putting forward that Atatürk poems were written about particular topics using common generic features, this thesis proposes a poem periodization and a categorization of content different from the studies conducted before. It also questions that Atatürk poems were written or encouraged to be written according to Kemalist ideology considering the poems and secondary sources about poems. The thesis claims that Atatürk Poems were produced within the thematic boundaries of the official ideology of the Turkish Republic by intending to propagandize and they were written as a subgenre settled through time.