New Language, Old Form: Ziya Gokalp’s Epics And Koshmas

The movements for Turkism and purification in tongue (the ideology that aims at purifying the language from foreigner words), caused the emerging of the idea of creating a national literature in the end of nineteenth century. The movement of New Language is systematized and addressed by The Magazine of Young Pens. In the beginnings, this magazine had been published by Ali Canip Yontem and Omer Seyfettin. Afterwards, the workings for a new literature were accelerated by Ziya Gokalp once he became one of the co-editor of the magazine where the idea of Turkism was developed by the Young Pens on the grounds of the concepts such nationality and ethnicity. For, Folk literature that bears more national and ethic elements coincide in great extent with the movement of New Language. The pro-reform writers and poets of that period, they believe in requirements rescue and nationalization Turkish language from the influence of foreign elements. In this regard they interested in folk language (Istanbul Turkish). Ziya Gokalp drew attention to the relationship between the language, literature and identity. He interested in not only folk language but also literary data which was performed by folk for ages. In this study, “New Language” movement will be discussed around the epics and koshmas of Ziya Gokalp, these texts will be examined in terms of genres and forms and it will be discussed the contribution of Gokalp to “National Literature” in the context of “Turanism” and “Turkism”.

Keywords

New Language, Ziya Gokalp, Folk Language and Literature, Epic, Koshma.