New novel, old village: The history, origin and end of the village novel (1950-1980)

Abstract

This study examines the generic, cultural, historical and political determinants of village novels written roughly between 1950 and 1980. In the history of Turkish literature, every text on the village was included in the village novel genre without any criteria other than the place where the novel passed. In most cases, a similar reductionist approach has been exhibited in world literatures, and village novels have been classified only by looking at the scene where the events take place. In order to show the problems of this point of view, the novel has been analyzed in a conceptual way as a genre. Another issue addressed in the study is the question of how village novels should be defined in Turkish literature. With this intention, the Village Institutes that played a dominant role in the emergence of village novelists were examined and Mahmut Makal’s Bizim Köy, which could be considered as the first important representative of the graduates, was also interpreted historically and generically. In addition to literary theories, the historical, cultural and political conditions that set the stage for the emergence of these texts were taken into account and the question of how village novelists and their works were received in literary debates was questioned. Finally, focusing on Fakir Baykurt's novels, common features encountered in almost all village novels have been interpreted with close reading method. In conclusion, this study seeks to provide a new perspective to village novels, and to build a foundation to help future researches.