A General Overview Of The Novel “Sergüzeşt” From A Traditional And Modernist Perspective

Abstract

This study examines the formal and content-related changes in Turkish novels from the Tanzimat period to the Republic. The modernisation movement that began in Ottoman society with the Tanzimat period also manifested itself in literature; the novel, in particular, became one of the narrative genres that best reflected this transformation. Tanzimat novels emerged from the fusion of the Western novel genre with local culture and mostly contained educational and moral messages. During this period, the novel was positioned as a tool for governing society rather than questioning the relationship between the individual and society. In the Servet-i Fünun and Constitutional Monarchy periods, the novel focused on more specific themes such as the inner world of characters, psychological questioning, and aesthetic issues. Novels of this period dealt more comprehensively with themes such as Westernisation, love, family and the individual, and there was a significant change in narrative methods. With the proclamation of the Republic, the novel acquired a more innovative style in terms of both form and content as a result of the changes taking place in society and new ideological orientations. In novels of the Republican era, the conflict between the individual and society, class struggle, the search for identity, and ideological questioning have come to the fore; the novel is no longer just a narrative genre, but also a space for intellectual debate. Berna Moran's literary theories and Sabri Eyigün's assessments of political novels examine the formal structure and intellectual dimension of the novel in this study. The moral approach views the novel not merely as a fiction composed of plot and characters, but also as an intellectual space that articulates the existential problems of the individual and carries social memory. Politically driven novels, which show how ideological orientation is reflected in literary narrative, occupy a new place in today's novels.

In conclusion, this study comprehensively analyses the historical development of the Turkish novel within its literary, social, and intellectual contexts, examining its period-specific characteristics and theoretical approaches.