The periphery of national literature from the second constitution to the Turkish national movement: The case of the Kastamonu province

Abstract

This thesis examines the period known as national literature in Turkish literary studies by focusing on the literal, cultural, intellectual products published in the Kastamonu province of the Ottoman Empire between 1911 and 1923. The literary figures of Turkish national literature, such as Süleyman Nazif, Mehmet Akif and Yakup Kadri, lived in this province and actively produced works in the press of Kastamonu during these years. The literary products published in Kastamonu during this period, on the one hand, allies itself with the discourse of national literature, while on the other, it displays discursive differences. Accordingly, the thesis first shows how the texts produced by these leading figures played a significant role in incorporating the Kastamonu province to the discourse of national literature. Second, the thesis argues the articles and poems especially those published after the end the First World War with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire began to criticize the central state administration and the policies of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). This was a result of the diminishing power of the central government in the province from the end of the First World War to the victory of Turkish National Movement. All this shows that during this period, the literary and intellectual products in Kastamonu are more complex process than they initially appears.