Literature and Cultural Life in the Mirror of the “Zaman”


Zaman is a daily national newspaper published in Istanbul between 22 Cemaziyelahir 1336, according to lunar calendar, (4 April 1918 according to the solar calendar) and14 Zilhicce 1337 (10 September 1919). The newspaper was able to reach a total of four hundred and eighty issues at a time when the Turkish press had a hard time. The first owner of the newspaper was the Şükrü Bey from the Committee of İttihat ve Terakki (Union and Progress) who was later executed as the accused of the İzmir Assassination. Şükrü Bey, who manages the newspaper without revealing himself, aims to have an opposition newspaper within the party. Because in the days when Zaman started broadcasting, the end of the First World War was reached. The war ended with the signing of the Armistice of Mondros on October 30, 1918. Zaman met with the reader about seven months before the signing of the Armistice which will begin a new era in recent Turkish history. After the cease-fire was signed, it was able to continue publication for another year. The staff of the Zaman, which pursues a publication policy that can qualify as a Turkist, is composed of the most famous writers of the period such as Ahmet Rasim, Cenap Şahabettin, Rıza Tevfik, Ömer Seyfettin, Yahya Kemal, Refik Halit, Hüseyin Rahmi, Reşat Nuri, Ali Canip. In fact, some of the most famous works of these writers are published for the first time in the pages of Zaman. Zaman newspaper is a very rich publication in terms of reflecting social, political, literary and cultural life of one of the most turbulent time intervals in the recent Turkish history such as Armistice Period. Zaman is also the primary source for understanding the attitudes and psychology of the intellectuals in the face of the trauma experienced. Especially, having a wide range of writers with different opinions in terms of world view increases its value on this subject. In this study, all the aspects of the newspaper have been elaborated in detail, taking into consideration of all the available issues.


Keywords


Modern Turkish Literature, Zaman, Armistice Period, First World War, Mondros Armistice, Periodical Newspaper, Press Life.

Author : Tayfun HAYKIR
Number of pages: 173-205
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.29228/TurkishStudies.40362
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Turkish Studies - Language and Literature
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