Supporters of objective criticism in Turkish literature

Abstract

The development of literary criticism in Turkey has gone through various stages since the Tanzimat period – 1866 until the present day. Among them, researchers distinguish two stages in particular. The period, which was pioneered by intellectuals such as Namik Kemal (1840-1888), Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem (1847-1914), Nurullah Atac (1898-1957) and lasted until the 1960s, is generally considered the period of subjective criticism (impressionist/subjective criticism). One of the characteristic features of this stage is the spreading of the idea that traditional classical poetry cannot led to the emerging modern poetry in discussions about poetry and that criticism is conducted more on the level of debate and insult, based on subjective approaches.
The second stage is the period of objective criticism (scientific criticism), which was led by Asım Bezirci (1927-1993), Tahir Alangu (1915-1973), and Hüseyin Contürk (1918-2003), covering the years 1980-1980, and ended the period of subjective criticism and is often called Marxist criticism. Among the factors influencing this stage, the strengthening of leftist thought in the world undoubtedly comes to the fore.
In the second stage, the article discusses the activities of authors who have been searching for the optimal application of objective criticism for many years, advocating that artists should give priority to scientific analysis in criticism, and also opposing the reflection of the critic's feelings in the work, and rejecting criticism made through friendship and camaraderie. In addition to the authors mentioned here, attention is also paid to the ideas of Cevdet Küdret (1907-1992), Vedat Günyol (1911-2004), and Turgut Uyar (1927-1985), who have made great contributions to the development of Turkish objective literary criticism.