Kemal Tahir (March 13, 1910 – April 21, 1973) was a prominent Turkish

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

. Tahir spent 13 years of his life imprisoned for political reasons and wrote some of his best known novels during this time. His most important novels include ''Esir Şehrin İnsanları'' (1956), ''Devlet Ana'' (1967) and ''Yorgun Savaşçı'' (1965), in all of which Tahir uses historical background to support his characters and settings. Some of his novels were adapted into popular films. Tahir also wrote

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...

under

pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...

for financial reasons.

Biography

Kemal Tahir was born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

on March 13, 1910. His father Tahir Bey was a captain of the

Ottoman Navy The Ottoman Navy () or the Imperial Navy (), also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea in 1323 by capturing Praenetos (later called Karamürsel ...

and an adviser to Sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

. After graduating from Hasan Paşa Rüşdiyesi (secondary school), Kemal Tahir enrolled at

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School (, ), established in Istanbul in 1481, is the oldest and Selective school, highly selective high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational institution after Istanbul University, which was establi ...

. But after his mother's death, he dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and began working as a lawyer's clerk. Later, he worked as a journalist, editor and translator at ''Vakit'', ''Haber'' and ''Son Posta'' newspapers in İstanbul as well as a page editor at ''Karikatür'' and ''Yeni Gün'' newspapers. He became lead writer for the newspaper ''Karagöz'' and later worked as the editor-in-chief at ''Tan''. In 1938, Kemal Tahir and

Nazım Hikmet A nazim is the coordinator of a city or town in Pakistan. Nazim or variant spellings may also refer to: * Nazim (given name), including a list of people with the given name ** Nirmala Devi, born Nazim, Indian actress and singer * Nazim (surname), ...

were accused of "spreading sedition" amongst the armed forces by the Navy Command Court Martial. Tahir was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He served time in

Çankırı Çankırı, historically known as Gangra (Greek language, Greek: Γάγγρα), is a city in Turkey, about northeast of Ankara. It is situated about 800 m (2500 ft) above sea level. It is the seat of Çankırı Province and of Çankır ...

Malatya Malatya (; ; Syriac language, Syriac ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city has been a human settlement for thousands of y ...

Çorum Çorum () is a northern Anatolian city in Turkey. Çorum is located inland in the central Black Sea Region of Turkey and is approximately from Ankara and from Istanbul. It is the seat of Çorum Province and of Çorum District.< ...

Nevşehir Nevşehir (; from 'new' and 'city') is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Nevşehir Province and Nevşehir District.Kırşehir Kırşehir, historically known as Mocissus or Mokissos () and Justinianopolis () in ancient times, is a city in Turkey. It is the seat of Kırşehir Province and Kırşehir District.6–7 September incidents in 1955 and served six months in the Harbiye military prison. Following his release, he ran Düşün Publishing which he co-founded with the writer

Aziz Nesin Aziz Nesin (; born Mehmet Nusret, 20 December 1915, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire – 6 July 1995, Izmir , Turkey) was a Turkish writer, humorist and the author of more than 100 books. Born in a time when Turks did not have official surnames, ...

. He worked on film scripts with directors such as Metin Erksan,

Halit Refiğ Halit Refiğ (5 March 1934 – 11 October 2009) was a Turkish film director, film producer, screenwriter and writer. He made around sixty films, including feature films, documentaries and TV serials. He is considered to be the pioneer of th ...

and Atıf Yılmaz. He travelled to the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1968. After a lung operation in 1970, Tahir worked on vernacularising Marxist terminology and creating a national left ideology to suit a Turkish-Anatolian socio-cultural identity even though he was criticised for doing this by many left-wing intellectuals. During a particularly heated debate, he suffered a heart attack and died on April 21, 1973. Kemal Tahir was married twice, first to Fatma İrfan in 1937 and then to Semiha Sıdıka in 1950.

Ideology

The foundation of Kemal Tahir's ideology can be broadly described as

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

. As a writer and a political activist, he saw a contradiction between the socio-cultural and political structure of Turkey and the solutions that Marxism offered. Believing that Westernisation did not quite suit Turkish society, he found Marxism somewhat lacking. Marxist historical theory is based on the existence of a bourgeois class, something that did not develop in the Ottoman Empire (as in many other 'peripheral countries'). He also didn't believe that feodalism never happened in the Ottoman Empire as it happened in the West. Perhaps the greatest intellectual struggle of Tahir's life was to reshape Marxist historical theory to fit the reality of Turkish history. After studying

Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''

Ömer Lütfi Barkan, Mustafa Akdağ,

Halil İnalcık Halil İnalcık (7 September 1916 – 25 July 2016) was a Turkish historian. His highly influential research centered on social and economic approaches to the Ottoman Empire. His academic career started at Ankara University, where he completed h ...

, Niyazi Berkes and

Şerif Mardin Şerif Mardin (1927 – 6 September 2017) was a prominent Turkish sociologist, political scientist, academic and thinker. In a 2008 publication, he was referred to as the "doyen of Turkish sociology." Early life and education He was born in Ista ...

. His conclusion was that Ottoman-Turkish society did not follow the Eurocentric primitive/slavery/feodality/capitalism socio-historical model. Instead it had its own special evolution process, structural differences, dynamics and conditions based on its cultural and social structure. So Westernisation, whether in the form of capitalism or communism, was trying to bring an abstract and formal superstructure to a society which did not have the necessary substructure. Without a fundamental economic and social revolution he reasoned that this kind of exercise would be only an absurd mimicry. Within the framework of this ideology, Kemal Tahir aimed to describe Ottoman society in his works which were based on a humanist foundation very different from European feudal and later capitalist society. He tried to emphasise a "Turkish reality" in his novels. In a writing career based on socio-realist lines, he used simple language enriched with dialogue and charismatic characters. He was one of the most productive novelists of Turkish literature.

Works

Kemal Tahir started out writing poetry. His first poems were published in ''İçtihad'' magazine in 1931. Later, his poems were published in the ''Yeni Kültür'', ''Geçit'', ''Var'' and ''Ses'' magazines. His first major work was a four-part novella published in ''Tan'' newspaper and later published as ''Göl İnsanları'' (''People of The Lake'') in 1955. In 1955, he became well known for his novel ''Sağırdere'' (''Deaf River''). Published in 1956, ''Esir Şehrin İnsanları'' (People of the Captive City) was the first of his city novels in which he took İstanbul as a frame within which to observe the Turks' transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic. İn this novel, Tahir described İstanbul under occupation after the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. ''Esir Şehrin Mahpusu'' (''Prisoner of the Captive City''), published in 1961, and Yol Ayrımı (''Parting of the Ways''), published in 1971, were sequels to this novel. At first, Kemal Tahir focused on the problems of the peasantry. Then, he dealt with Turkish history, especially the events of recent history. In his novel ''Devlet Ana'' (''Mother State'') he described the governmental and social structure of Ottoman society in its beginnings; in ''Kurt Kanunu'' (''Law of the Wolf''), he narrated the İzmir assassination incident, a failed attempt to kill Atatürk; in ''Rahmet Yolları Kesti'' (''Rain Closed the Roads'') he analysed the banditry phenomenon; and in ''Yedi Çınar Yaylası'' (''Seven Plane Tree Plateau'')," he explored the

ağa Ağa is a Turkish surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Mustapha Aga, Ottoman Empire ambassador to the Swedish Court *Osman Aga of Temesvar, Ottoman army officer *Sedefkar Mehmed Agha, Ottoman architect of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque *Sul ...

" system. İn his historical novel ''Yorgun Savaşçı'' (''Tired Warrior''), Tahir described the period when the leaderless national resistance forces in Anatolia came together and started the Turkish Independence War. Due to financial difficulties, Kemal Tahir also wrote pulp fiction using pseudonyms. He also translated '' Mike Hammer'' novels and even wrote original new novels for that series. Some of his novels (like ''Karılar Koğuşu'', ''Haremde Dört Kadın'', ''Esir Şehrin İnsanları'' and ''Kurt Kanunu'') were later adapted into movies.

Complete list of fiction

* Göl İnsanları (stories) (1955) * Sağırdere (1955) * Esir Şehrin İnsanları (1956) * Körduman (1957) * Rahmet Yolları Kesti (1957) * Yedi Çınar Yaylası (1958) * Köyün Kamburu (1959) * Esir Şehrin Mahpusu (1961) * Bozkırdaki Çekirdek (1962) * Kelleci Memet (1962) * Yorgun Savaşçı (1965) * Devlet Ana (1967) * Kurt Kanunu (1969) * Büyük Mal (1970) * Yol Ayrımı (1971) * Namusçular (1974) * Karılar Koğuşu (1974) * Hür Şehrin İnsanları (1976) * Damağası (1977) * Bir Mülkiyet Kalesi (1977)

References

*
Kemal Tahir Kimdir
Hayatı Başarıları ve Eserleri, bkmkitap * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tahir, Kemal 1910 births 1973 deaths Writers from Istanbul People from Constantinople vilayet Turkish Marxists Marxist journalists Marxist writers Turkish journalists Turkish novelists 20th-century Turkish novelists Turkish male screenwriters 20th-century Turkish journalists 20th-century Turkish screenwriters Galatasaray High School alumni Turkish prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Turkey