KÜÇÜK BURJUVALAR VE AYAŞLI İLE KİRACILARI ADLI ESERLER ÜZERİNE BİR İNCELEME

Bürokrasi ve politikadaki üst düzey kariyerinin yanı sıra Cumhuriyet dönemi Türk edebiyatında özellikle öykü türündeki eserleriyle ön plana çıkmış bir yazar olan Memduh Şevket Esendal, Bakü Mümessilliği görevinde bulunduğu dönemde Rusça öğrenerek Rus edebiyatını ve bilhassa Anton Çehov'un eserlerini tanımış ve ondan etkilenmiştir. Türk edebiyatında Çehov tarzı öykünün ilk ve en önemli temsilcisi olan Esendal'ın edebî kişiliğinin bir diğer yönü ise romancılığıdır ve Miras, Vassaf Bey ve Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları adlarını taşıyan üç roman kaleme almıştır. Esendal bunlardan yalnız Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları'nı sağlığında kitaplaştırabilmiştir. Diğer iki romanı sonraki yıllarda kitap halinde yayımlanmıştır. Esendal bu eserde 1930'lu yılların Ankara'sında belirli bir mekânda yolları kesişen toplumun çeşitli kesimlerine mensup kişilerin arasındaki ilişkileri ve bu bağlamda gelişen olayları anlatarak, onların yeni siyasî ve toplumsal düzene intibakta yaşadıkları sancıları ve buldukları çıkış yollarını dikkatlere sunmuştur. Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları romanı, gerek mekân, gerek kişiler ve gerekse tematik yönden, Sovyet edebiyatının ve Toplumcu Gerçekçi edebiyatın en önemli yazarlarından biri ve kuramcısı olan Maksim Gorki'nin, yine belirli bir mekânda bir araya gelen çeşitli kesimlere mensup kişiler üzerinden Rus toplumunun değişim sancılarını ele aldığı ve Küçük Burjuvalar adıyla dilimize çevrilen oyunuyla benzerlikler taşımaktadır. Bu da ister istemez Gorki'nin Küçük Burjuvalar adlı oyununun Esendal'ın Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları adlı romanı üzerinde tesiri olduğu görüşünü doğurmaktadır. İki eserin karşılaştırmalı bir şekilde ele alındığı bu makalede, Rus edebiyatını yakından tanıyan Esendal'ın bu edebiyattan etkilenmesinin yalnızca Çehov ile sınırlı olmadığı, Küçük Burjuvalar adlı oyunu dolayısıyla Gorki'nin de tesirinde kaldığı gösterilmektedir

A SURVEY ON THE WORKS NAMED THE PETTY BUORGEOIS AND AYAŞLI İLE KİRACILARI

Besides his career as a bureaucrat and a politician, Memduh Şevket Esendal is a well-known writer in narrative particularly. In the period that served as the ambassador in Baku, he learned Russian language, recognized Russian Literature and impressed by Anton Chekhov and his works. At the being the pioneer and the most important representative of Chekhovian short story in Turkish literature, he was also a novelist. He wrote three novels named Miras, Vassaf Bey and Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları. Only one of them, Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları, was collected in a book in his lifetime. The other two novels were published as books in following years. The second work that examined the article is a play, The Petty Bourgeois wrote by Maxim Gorky who is one of the most important writers of Soviet literature. In the point of place, characters and theme, Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları represents similarities with The Petty Buorgeois. Therefore, it occurs our minds that Gorky’s The Petty Buorgeois may have an impact on Esendal’s Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları. In this article, the two works are compared and it is demonstrated that the influence of Russian literature on Esendal is not only by Chekhov, but also by Gorky due to his play The Petty Buorgeois The comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the examination and analysis of the similarities and relationships different nations and people. It has to be stated that Turkish literature which impressed from literatures of other nations through its history, has notable materials for the comparative literature studies. Since the second part of the 19th century, Turkish literature has impressed from Western literatures, especially French Literature. So, it is a necessity to examine Western literatures for the specialists of Turkish literature that studying Turkish literature of this period. In this context, the importance of the comparative literature studies and the approaches about intertextuality are increasing more from day to day. The article gives an example comparing to Memduh Şevket Esendal’s novel named Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları and Maxim Gorky’s play named The Petty Bourgeois. Memduh Şevket Esendal was born into a rich farmer family, on March 29, 1883, in Çorlu, The Ottoman Empire. Because of wars and immigrations, he did not receive a regular education and improved himself. He became an active member of the Party of Union and Progress in 1906. He served as party inspector in 1908. Afterwards, he served as an ambassador of Turkish Republic in Teheran, Baku, Kabul, and worked as a deputy in Grand National Assembly of Turkey and as general secretary of Republican People’s Party (1941-1945). He gave up the politics, after applying of multiparty system. Besides his career as a diplomat, a bureaucrat and a politician, he is a well-known writer in narrative particularly. In the period that served as the ambassador in Baku, he learned Russian language, recognized Russian literature and impressed by Anton Chekhov and his works. At the being the pioneer and the most important representative of Chekhovian short story in Turkish literature, he was also a novelist. He wrote three novels named Miras, Vassaf Bey and Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları. Only one of them, Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları, was collected in a book in his lifetime. The other two novels were published as books in following years. Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları is his most famous work. The novel is focused on the events and relations in the flat hired by Ayaşlı İbrahim Efendi who is an old peasant, a former thug and a former officer. There are many people who are living in it. The protagonist of the novel is a young banker who is also narrator of it. Through his observations and evaluations on events, peoples and relations around him, Esendal exhibits a panaroma of Ankara, young Turkish Rebuplic’s capital, in the 1930’s. Especially, the relations between men and women, new values and ethics of the republican regime are the main themes in the novel. The second work that examined in the article is a play, The Petty Bourgeois wrote by Maxim Gorky. Gorky was born into a cabinet maker family, on 28 March 1868, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. He is one of the most important writers of Soviet literature, a founder of socialist realism literary method and a political activist. His novel named The Mother is one of classics of socialist literature. The Petty Bourgeois, alternately known The Smug Citizen and The Philistines, is the first play wrote by Maxim Gorky who did not receive a regular education and improved himself like Memduh Şevket Esendal. It is set a lodging house that belongs to Vasily Bessemyonov who is a successful house painter. He has some lodgers like Yelena – a widow-, Teterev – a priest-, Perchihin – a birdman-, Shiskin – a student-, along with members of his family, Akulina İvanovna –his wife-, Pyotr -his son-, Tatyana –his daughterand Nil -his adopted son-. The main theme in the play is the conflict of values: The conservatism that Bessemyonov and his wife represent and the new values that Nil, who is an engine driver, and Polya, his fiancée, represent challenge older people and their world view. Nil like young banker in Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları is a pioneer of new generation and social structure that is changing. He has also very important because of the dramatic creation of poreterian heroism in Russian and socialist literature. The play exhibites pains and troubles of changing of Russian society on the road to the October Revolution. In the point of place, characters and theme, Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları represents similarities with The Petty Bourgeois. Therefore, it occurs our minds that Gorky’s The Petty Bourgeois may have an impact on Esendal’s Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları. In this article, the two works are compared and it is demonstrated that the influence of Russian literature on Esendal is not only by Chekhov, but also by Gorky due to his play The Petty Bourgeois

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