Turkish Literature

Blog 6 von Ömer 

Turkey is generally known for its beautiful nature, magnificent beaches, and quite delicious food. However, I think the other important thing to know about Turkey is literature.

Turkish literature is unlucky. Because, like the novels written in other languages, it has not been translated into foreign languages ​​enough. If we can read Borges, Honore de Balzac, Dostoevsky, Dante, Umberto Eco, Goethe, Murakami today, it is thanks to the fact that their books have been widely translated into foreign languages, especially English.

However, writers in Turkish literature have not been as lucky as their counterparts. However, if enough translations are made, Turkish Literature will be able to get the attention it deserves. Here I would like to talk about the limited number of translated books.

The Time Regulation Institute

The first book I want to talk about is Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s “The Time Regulation Institute”. This novel is very successful in the field of dark humor.

He humorously describes the bureaucracy problem in Turkey in the 1950s. When you read the book and see that similar problems are experienced even today, you can understand how predictive the author is and how successful his observation skills are. Also, it’s hard not to smile while reading the book. The book has been translated into German under the name “Das Uhrenstellinstitut”.

Madonna in a Fur Coat

The second work I want to talk about is the novel “Madonna in a Fur Coat” by the author Sabahattin Ali. This book, like the other, has been translated into German.

The German name of the book is “Die Madonna im Pelzmantel”. This novel, on the other hand, tells the grief experienced by an officer who was sent to Germany for a short time, falling in love with a woman and then having to return to Istanbul. In fact, the novel is built on the following question; Do we fall in love with a person or the impression that person creates on us? I recommend this short novel, which cannot be considered a classic romance novel, to anyone who has fallen in love at least once in their life.

These two books can be a good start to getting acquainted with Turkish literature.

Bye for now,

Ömer