EZRA POUND AND A. H. TANPINAR: TWO MODES OF AUTHENTICITY IN MODERNIST WORLD LITERATURE

Serhat Uyurkulak

Article Details

EZRA POUND AND A. H. TANPINAR: TWO MODES OF AUTHENTICITY IN MODERNIST WORLD LITERATURE

Authors:

Serhat Uyurkulak

Publisher:

Dokuz Eylul University

Journal:

Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi Vol.25 Issue 1, pp.134-150

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

3/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001285151

pISSN:

1308-0911

Keywords:

Abstract:

 This study is based on the premise that modernist literature, presented as an essentially Western current in the established narratives of literary history, is global in nature, and that there are works all around the world that fall within its scope. This premise rests on the fact that the condition called modernity itself is a global phenomenon. Not only colonialism and imperialism, but also the projects of modernization and Westernization witnessed in different geographies made modernity extend over the entire globe. This article argues that the formal and technical novelties distinguishing modernist literature from what preceded it intend to represent and respond to new subjective and social experiences caused by modernity. In this context, Ezra Pounds poem In a Station of the Metro and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınars novel A Mind at Peace Huzur are examined, and their formal and technical aspects are discussed with regard to a common experience of modernity. This experience bearing different forms and contents in different places is identified as fragmentation, loss of the sense of totality, alienation, and the ensuing desire for authenticity. It is demonstrated that the notion of the image in Pounds poem and the method of dream aesthetics in Tanpınars novel are two literary inventions addressing that common experience of fragmentation and the quest for authenticity. This study also identifies the distinct traits of the two modes of authenticity imagined by Pound and Tanpınar.

 This study is based on the premise that modernist literature, presented as an essentially Western current in the established narratives of literary history, is global in nature, and that there are works all around the world that fall within its scope. This premise rests on the fact that the condition called modernity itself is a global phenomenon. Not only colonialism and imperialism, but also the projects of modernization and Westernization witnessed in different geographies made modernity extend over the entire globe. This article argues that the formal and technical novelties distinguishing modernist literature from what preceded it intend to represent and respond to new subjective and social experiences caused by modernity. In this context, Ezra Pounds poem In a Station of the Metro and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınars novel A Mind at Peace Huzur are examined, and their formal and technical aspects are discussed with regard to a common experience of modernity. This experience bearing different forms and contents in different places is identified as fragmentation, loss of the sense of totality, alienation, and the ensuing desire for authenticity. It is demonstrated that the notion of the image in Pounds poem and the method of dream aesthetics in Tanpınars novel are two literary inventions addressing that common experience of fragmentation and the quest for authenticity. This study also identifies the distinct traits of the two modes of authenticity imagined by Pound and Tanpınar.

 This study is based on the premise that modernist literature, presented as an essentially Western current in the established narratives of literary history, is global in nature, and that there are works all around the world that fall within its scope. This premise rests on the fact that the condition called modernity itself is a global phenomenon. Not only colonialism and imperialism, but also the projects of modernization and Westernization witnessed in different geographies made modernity extend over the entire globe. This article argues that the formal and technical novelties distinguishing modernist literature from what preceded it intend to represent and respond to new subjective and social experiences caused by modernity. In this context, Ezra Pounds poem In a Station of the Metro and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınars novel A Mind at Peace Huzur are examined, and their formal and technical aspects are discussed with regard to a common experience of modernity. This experience bearing different forms and contents in different places is identified as fragmentation, loss of the sense of totality, alienation, and the ensuing desire for authenticity. It is demonstrated that the notion of the image in Pounds poem and the method of dream aesthetics in Tanpınars novel are two literary inventions addressing that common experience of fragmentation and the quest for authenticity. This study also identifies the distinct traits of the two modes of authenticity imagined by Pound and Tanpınar.

 Bu çalışma, yerleşik edebiyat tarihi anlatılarında Batıya özgü bir akım olarak değerlendirilen modernist edebiyatın küresel bir nitelik taşıdığı ve tüm dünyada bu edebiyatın kapsamına giren eserler üretildiği iddiasına dayanmaktadır. Bu iddianın temelinde bizzat modernlik olarak adlandırılan durumun dünyasal bir nitelik taşıması yatmaktadır. Modernlik, sömürgecilik ve emperyalizm yanında dünyanın çeşitli bölgelerinde görülen modernleşme ve Batılılaşma projeleriyle birlikte tüm dünyayı kapsayan bir olgu hâline gelmiştir. Bu makale, modernist edebiyatı kendinden önceki akımlardan ayıran biçimsel ve teknik yeniliklerin, modernlik durumunun ortaya çıkardığı yeni öznel ve toplumsal deneyimleri temsil etme ve bunlara karşılık verme çabasından kaynaklandığını öne sürmektedir. Bu bağlamda Ezra Poundun In a Station of the Metro adlı şiiriyle Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınarın Huzur A Mind at Peace başlıklı romanı incelenmekte, bu eserlerin taşıdıkları biçimsel ve teknik özellikler ortak bir modernlik deneyimi üzerinden tartışılmaktadır. Farklı coğrafyalarda değişik biçim ve içeriklerle yaşanan bu ortak deneyim parçalanma, bütünlük hissinin kaybı, yabancılaşma ve bunların doğurduğu otantiklik arzusu olarak tespit edilmiştir. Poundun şiirindeki imge anlayışıyla Tanpınarın romanındaki rüya estetiği yönteminin, ortak parçalanma deneyimine ve otantiklik arayışına bağlı geliştirilen iki edebi buluş olduğu gösterilmiştir. Ayrıca çalışmada Poundun ve Tanpınarın tahayyül ettiği iki ayrı otantiklik biçiminin özgün nitelikleri ele alınmıştır.

Article Details

EZRA POUND AND A. H. TANPINAR: TWO MODES OF AUTHENTICITY IN MODERNIST WORLD LITERATURE

Authors:

Serhat Uyurkulak

Publisher:

Dokuz Eylul University

Journal:

Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi Vol.25 Issue 1, pp.134-150

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

3/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001285151

pISSN:

1308-0911

Ezra Pound

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar

modernist poetry

modernist novel

authenticity

fragmentation

Ezra Pound

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar

Modernist şiir

Modernist roman

Otantiklik

Parçalanma

Issues

Article Details

Authors: Serhat Uyurkulak

Publisher: Dokuz Eylul University

Journal: Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi Vol.25 Issue 1, pp.134-150

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 3/2023

Document Language: English

Document ID (Org No.): 2001285151

pISSN: 1308-0911

Issues

Authors:

Serhat Uyurkulak

Publisher:

Dokuz Eylul University

Journal:

Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi Vol.25 Issue 1, pp.134-150

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

3/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001285151

pISSN:

1308-0911