The Story of Turkish Science Fiction Literature

What comes to mind when you think of Turkish science fiction literature? If you don’t have a special interest in this topic, it’s probably on your mind. even the number of works that will exceed five fingers of a hand will not come. But don’t worry, this is the case for most of the people.

In this content, it will focus on some of the reasons for this situation, and in fact, it has made a great progress over the years. The history of Turkish science fiction literature We’ll take a quick look.

When do you think the traces of science fiction first appeared in Turkish literature?

The foundations of the expression, which is widely used in our language in the form of science fiction, were first established in the world. In the first science fiction magazine published in 1926 being thrown. Amazing Stories The term ‘Science Fiction’ is used for the first time by Hugo Gernsback in this magazine. This expression and genre, which attracts attention and is loved, spreads in a short time and begins to be used frequently.

In Turkish, for this genre, which has been included in our lives as a translation for many years, some expressions such as fiction, imaginative work used. Science fiction for the first time It was published in the Turkish Language Magazine in 1973 by the writer Orhan Duru. used. The expression of Duru, who included this expression in the science fiction file he prepared and suggested that it be used in this way, is accepted and thus the expression of science fiction is brought into our language.

Orhan Duru also includes science fiction elements in Turkish literature, working for the development of the species one of the key figures. In fact, he is known as the first writer to write original science fiction stories in the history of literature, but this is the first time he used the word “science fiction” and “he was one of the first names who tried to explain and develop this genre”.

But in fact, traces of science fiction can be found in Turkish literature since much earlier times. Even some sources Some of the narratives in Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatnâme draws attention to the traces of science fiction.

For example, in a story told by Evliya Çelebi from Vienna, there are Turks who beat coffee in front of a coffee shop without even moving their heads. Evliya Çelebi wants to react to this situation because according to him, these Turks work like slaves. Çelebi, who went away during the day ‘in order not to cause an incident’, goes there again in the evening. At that moment, the man leaving the shop suddenly takes off the ‘Turkish slaves’ turbans and strips them of their clothes. Evliya Çelebi said that the slaves who beat coffee were not Turkish people; sees it’s a machine. These machines, which we can now call ‘robots’, draw the attention of Çelebi and he describes his surprise about this machine by describing it at length.

Likewise, in another part of the Seyahatname, Evliya Çelebi addressed an event in Istanbul:flying manned missileHe talks about… Evliya Çelebi’s Travel Book is partly fictional and partly true, because of this kind of story found in his stories. the first science fiction traces of some elements in our literature is said to be.

But of course It is obvious that they cannot be considered as a literary work in the genre of science fiction.. However, they can be considered good references for using such expressions in a written text. If we accept it as such, it would not be wrong to say that the traces of science fiction in Turkish literature go back to the 17th century.

So when did the first ‘real science fiction works’ begin to be issued?

When we look away from the science fiction elements included in the works and when we look at the first time a Turkish science fiction work was created by whom, we come across many names.

By Molla Davudzade Mustafa Nazim Erzurumi Dream Progress and Medeniyet-i Islamiyeyi Rüyet, written in 1913 and Refik Halit Karay’s work named Ago Pasha’s Memoir. His story, Hülya Bu Ya, dated 1921known as the first Turkish science fiction works.

After these two works, when we look at the Republican period, we see Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı’s ‘The Great Kukuriko’, published in 1948 story and Dr. By Vedii Bilgin Hataylı 1943 Dream or Reality? story comes out.

What were these works about that were considered science fiction?

We can say that the work named Rüya Terakki ve Medeniyet-i İslamiyeyi Rüyet, written by Molla Davudzâde Mustafa Nazım Erzurumi, is a utopian science fiction. In this work, the character goes to Istanbul 400 years later in his dreams and meets his grandfather there. The two of them travel to Istanbul of the future together and start to be surprised because many things have changed. The details that draw attention as science fiction in the work are: flying machines that can be moved and raised by hand after being put on as clothesInexpensive engines, constantly advancing with water and air pressure, are described as taking images from space. ‘everything tool’We can say details such as the announcement machine, the sleep machine, which resembles today’s satellites.

In the work named Hülya Bu Ya, Ankara of the period is told through the eyes of a tourist coming to Ankara from America. In the work, which can also be referred to as a kind of satire, ”There is no season in Ankara,’ he said, ‘thanks to some scientific methods, we were able to maintain a constant supply of warmth in the atmosphere, underground heaters heat the ground and electric machines give warmth to the sky, even here there is no rain and snow, no day or night! The nights have turned into days since independence was declared!An imaginary Ankara is described with countless expressions such as ”. Again in the same work,man machines‘, a machine system in which babies are born without the need for a mother’s womb is described. These machines enable the completion of 9 months and 10 days in a week, then in another machine, the baby is made as advanced as a 10-year-old child in a short time…

When we look at Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı’s story called Büyük Kukuriko, it is almost similar to what we saw in 1984, the story of a dystopian and spooky society We see it described. The elements that make the story into the genre of science fiction are that there are many absurd ‘inventions’ for society to function in this dystopian society. For example, in the story ‘ pistons of motorized grief and motorized joyThere are many elements from tools that control people’s emotions like ‘ to inventions like ‘philosophy device’.

Dr. Vedii Bilgin Hataylı’s 1943 Dream or Truth? His work named is the first work that we started to travel in space. He suddenly finds himself floating in space, and then character going to mars, There he meets the Martians. After discussing inventions and philosophy with the highly advanced Martians, the character then returns to Earth.

The history of science fiction in Turkish literature is somewhat controversial and quite complex.

Apart from the ones I listed above, there are also different works produced in similar date ranges. However, at this pointshould this work be included in the science fiction genre?’ ‘What makes a work of science fiction genre?’ It is not possible to make a clear positioning due to the ongoing debates in our literature, such as

For example, utopian or dystopian universes established by journeys in dreams are abundant in our literature. However, literary circles do not consider many works of this type to belong to the science fiction genre. Even the works I mentioned above are actually a selection, While almost each of them is listed in different sources, it may not even be mentioned in another source.…

Unfortunately, one of the biggest reasons for this situation is that the value given to the science fiction genre in our literature is quite low. Especially 1950 generation and later Although it is slowly starting to enter our science fiction literature with stories, magazines and books with firmer steps, writers who produce science fictionWriters who are afraid to cover real issues and write superstitions‘ is one of these factors. At the same time publishers do not give a chance to science fiction worksproof that the genre has not been valued for many years.

Fortunately, our science fiction literature has also been active since the 1970s.

After the steps of Orhan Duru, the father of science fiction, which we mentioned at the beginning of the article, and the steps he took to bring science fiction into our literature, many important developments took place in the name of Turkish science fiction in the 70s.

In these years, while the publication of translated science fiction works increased, on the other hand, the first Turkish science fiction magazine, Antares began broadcasting in 1971. Immediately after Antares, many magazines began to publish. Thus, the science fiction period, which is known and evaluated as a genre and the number of works in Turkish literature is constantly increasing, begins.

Among these magazines, one of the names that makes important contributions to the science fiction genre in our country. X-Unknown magazine published by Selma Mine is coming. X-Unknown, after its establishment, provides important steps such as organizing science fiction story competitions. Selma Mine, on the other hand, writes the first female science fiction writer in our literature and the first children’s science fiction novel, Star Trek, and then many other science fiction works.

The science fiction narrative, which developed with the magazines, has been crowned with many works over the years. Many writers today continues to produce works in the genre of science fiction for our literature. In another content on this subject, I will talk about Turkish science fiction works that are approaching today and suggestions you can read. If you have any suggestions, you can share them with us in the comments.