Reşat Nuri Güntekin’in duygusal romanlarında anadolu

Abstract

Millî Edebiyat'ın kurucularından biri olarak kabul edilen Reşat Nuri Güntekin , şöhretini borçlu olduğu Çalıkuşu'nun 1922 yılında yayımlanmasının ardından kaleme aldığı kurmaca ve kurmaca dışı pek çok yapıtıyla Türk edebiyatına önemli katkılarda bulunmuş bir sanatçıdır. Yazarın edebiyat kanonundaki yeri, Millî Edebiyat Hareketi'ne değin çoğu zaman göz ardı edilen Anadolu'yu yapıtlarında temel sorunsallardan biri olarak çeşitli yönleriyle ele almasıyla belirlenmiştir. Güntekin, toplumsal sorunlara eğilen bir yazar olarak Anadolu'nun geri kalmışlığına, bakımsızlığına, eğitimle ilgili sorunlara, halkın cehalet ve yoksulluğuna, adaletsizliklere dikkat çekmiş ve söz konusu sorunların giderilmesi için çözüm önerileri getirmiştir. Reşat Nuri hakkında kaleme alınan eleştiri metinleri de, çoğu zaman yazarın eserlerinin bu cephesine odaklanmış ve yazarın özellikle Acımak (1928), Yeşil Gece (1928), Miskinler Tekkesi (1946), Kavak Yelleri (1961), Kan Davası (1962) gibi, Cevdet Kudret'in yerinde ifadesiyle, "toplumsal sorunsallaştırmıştır. Bu incelemede ise Güntekin'in Harabelerin Çiçeği (1918), Gizli El (1920), Çalıkuşu (1922), Damga (1924), Dudaktan Kalbe (1925), Akşam Güneşi (1926), Bir Kadın Düşmanı (1927), Eski Hastalık (1938) ve Ateş Gecesi (1942) başlıklı, yine Cevdet Kudret'in ifadesiyle, dokuz "duygusal romanı"nda Anadolu imgesinin roman anlatıcıları tarafından nasıl kurgulandığı irdelenmiştir. Romanlardaki benmerkezci, bencil ve sürekli olarak hayran olunma ihtiyacı duyan anlatıcıların kibir, empati eksikliği gibi kişilik özelliklerinin Anadolu deneyiminin doğasını belirleyen temel unsur olduğu gözlemlenmiştir. Anadolu da, bu çerçevede bir yandan "merkez" İstanbul'un karşıtı "bir sürgün mekânı" olarak deneyimlenmekle birlikte, anlatıcıların hayran olunma ihtiyacının tatminine yönelik ilişkiler üretmeye uygun toplumsal yapılanmasıyla yer yer olumlanan "çevre" olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır

Narrator as a Viewer of Anatolia” discusses from which point of view Anatolia and Anatolians are represented. The novels of Güntekin analyzed in this study are centered around protagonists who are either exiled to Anatolia from Istanbul or who feel themselves as “exiles” in Anatolia, and the representation of Anatolia is determined by their character traits. Broken hearted Feride (Çalıkuşu), who flees to Anatolia in order to find consolation; Şeref (Gizli El), who has to work as a treasury clerk in Gemlik since he cannot find a job in Istanbul; İffet (Damga), who has no choice other than working in Anatolia because he has a bad reputation as a burglar in Istanbul; Süleyman (Harabelerin Çiçeği), who avoids society because of his fire-deformed face; composer Hüseyin Kenan (Dudaktan Kalbe), who begins to miss his birthplace when he loses his popularity in Istanbul; Züleyha (Eski Hastalık), who is forced to live in Anatolia by her father; Nazmi (Akşam Güneşi), who takes refuge in the country because of his illness; Jülide (Akşam Güneşi), who has to live with Nazmi and his wife because of the loss of her mother and father; Sâra (Bir Kadın Düşmanı), who prefers to attend the marriage ceremony of her cousin in a village nearby Istanbul instead of spending her vacation with her father in Erzurum; and Kemal Murat (Ateş Gecesi), who is exiled to Milas are all outsiders in Anatolia. The protagonists of the novels, some of whom have been to Europe, are generally Istanbulites, who have knowledge of one or two foreign languages; and they are forced to live in Anatolia. Therefore, Anatolia and Anatolians are represented from the point of view of Istanbulites. It is recognized as a place of exile by the majority of Reşat Nuri Güntekin’s characters, and thus implies a place of temporary residence which is not adopted. In short, “periphery” is depicted by the ones from the “center”. The character representing Anatolia is viewing it as an “outsider”. The second section of the article entitled as “Country Experiences of the Characters” discusses how Şeref of Gizli El, Kenan of Dudaktan Kalbe, and Nazmi of Akşam Güneşi share common experiences of Anatolia. Anatolia, for the male protagonists, is a place of exile where the “self” is experienced as entrapped and dreams about future are withered. It is pointed out in the third section of the article entitled as “To be Happy in Exile: The Promise of the Country” that the country can be a source of pleasure as in the case of Kemal Murat of Ateş Gecesi and Sâra of Bir Kadın Düşmanı. Kemal Murat becomes the center of attention in the small Anatolian town he is exiled to, and Sâra, who attracts curious eyes full of admiration, has a similar experience. Anatolia is a place where the two characters are provided with emotional satisfaction. The fourth section of the article entitled as “Züleyha’s Country Experiences: The Criticism of the Arrogant Urbanite” discusses the nature of Züleyha’s Anatolian experience. Züleyha, who is forced to leave Istanbul by her father, sees Anatolia as an authentic place, a faraway “country” to be visited such as China or the Hawaiian Islands. At the beginning she, just like Sâra, visits Anatolia as a place of summer vacation as if she were a foreign traveler. In Anatolia her beauty is approved by everyone, and this provides her with emotional satisfaction. However, after her graduation from the college, Anatolia becomes her permanent place of residence according to her father’s will, and her Anatolian experience is reshaped because of this enforcement. When her experiences in the country are compared to her life in Istanbul which is full of activity, it is observed that she recognizes Anatolia as a place of boredom. It seems almost impossible for her to adapt physically to the life cycle of the country, and she fears bearing any resemblance to Anatolian women in the long run. It is pointed out in the fifth section of the article entitled as “Çalıkuşu: Feride’s Trial with Anatolia” that Feride perceives Anatolia almost as Züleyha does. It is a place that she is forced to take refuge in and she envisages it as a “Swiss village” with sunlit pathways, gardens in bloom, springs, and green forests. However, what she comes across in Zeyniler is a black village in ruins. The discrepancy between the “envisaged” and the “real” unfolds the fact that Feride is an “outsider” unaware of the “Anatolian reality”. Another important aspect that determines the nature of her Anatolian experience is her beauty. She becomes the center of attention wherever she goes, and unfortunately becomes a subject of much local gossip. Thus, despite her innocence she has to flee from B. and Ç. Güntekin draws attention to the fact that gossip acts as a social control mechanism in the case of women.As a result it can be stated that the arrogant Istanbulite narrators of the discussed novels, most of whom are in need of constant admiration determine the nature of the Anatolian experience and the representation of the Anatolians. Thus, although Anatolia (the periphery), as opposed to Istanbul (the center), is encoded as a “place of exile”, it also provides emotional satisfaction for the admiration seeking protagonists.