Author(s): Alkan YILMAZ
Kemal Tahir, in his novels, has a look at society from the perspective of a sociologist and created a solid connection between the society and the tragedy that the individuals live. The author who meticulously interrogates how much his heroes are related to real life while determining the cast, dramatize the incidents with a serious observation and reality. A long term, from the beginning years of Ottoman to the first years of the young Turkish Republic, is scrutinized in the light of social, political and historical events. Especially, in his urban novels, he explains a troublesome process in which Turkish society saw the fastest changes. In the novel Esir ?ehrin ?nsanlar? the most tragic drama of Turkish people who were intended to be enslaved in the regions over which they had reigned for centuries, is displayed. According to the author, for a handful of hopeless intellectual, the solution to this tragedy is only possible by embracing the national identity; that’s to say, by supporting Kuvay?milliye (national forces). In the novel of Esir ?ehrin Mahpusu political, religious and economical exploitation continues. Yol Ayr?m? is the novel of revenge. The ones possessing the authority are taking along the society with them to a dilemma in which the society will see new dramas. The main drama that individuals are facing is the disappointment that heroes experience after a victory just like Kamil Bey who supports the struggle for salvation with anything he has.In the novel Bir Mülkiyet Kalesi, To look after the last regions from Ottoman in ?stanbul and Anatolia, turns into a life and death struggle. In this novel, Mahir Efendi represents a devoted Turkish man who is faithful to his national and moral values. In Hür ?ehrin ?nsanlar? the motherland becomes free from the invasion. However, both the individuals and the society in the middle of a deadend in their own inner worlds as the national dynamics which hold the people in Anatolia together, aren’t durable that much. In another novel Yorgun Sava?ç? tragic conditions of the military officers of ?ttihat ve Terakki Partisi (the Party of Union and Progress), who are in two minds among pleasure, fear and expectation after a long tiresome years, is explained. By sight, the fatigue felt by these military officers reflect on the Anatolian people in many ways, as well. In Kurt Kanunu internal conflicts of the protagonist Kara Kemal turns into a “responsibility” idea in the person of Emin Bey, the other man in the novel. Teetering and chaos Kara Kemal’s facing in his world; corruption in politics, work ethic, justice, family, female-male relations and religious manners are the basic reasons of the drama that both society and the individuals are experiencing
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