How to Tell An Ottoman History ?: Narrative Characteristics of Karaçelebi-zade Abdülaziz Efendi's Suleimanname
Suleimannames, which are seen as the continuation of Selimnames, are works that include the life, wars and charitable acts of Suleiman the Magnificent. The Suleimanname of Karaçelebi-zâde Abdülaziz Efendi, who was a member of the Karaçelebi family, who had important influences in the Ottoman administration, is important in that it is the only Suleimanname written in the 17th century. However, the work was written after Kanuni's death and presented to Ibrahim I. There are general statements about the work, such as the heavy language and the use of an "ornate" language in the sources. Katip Çelebi, on the other hand, says that the work was prepared with a "nice composition". There are 25 titles in total in the work, in which what is told after the introduction is given as titles. In the work, in which the historical events from the enthronement of Suleiman the Magnificent until his death, a separate section was opened for the princes; In addition, the lives of viziers and scholars in the Kanuni period are explained under separate headings. In the study, it will be investigated how the historical events from Kanuni's accession to the throne until his death in the Zigetvar campaign are explained, it has been determined that various stylistic tools have been used since the title. It is aimed to examine how these tools are used in the work and their contributions to the work. Thus, it will be ensured that the narrative features in historical texts are determined and it will be shown that the language uses in the work, which is said to be heavy in language, carry stylistic tools.
Bir Osmanlı Tarihi Nasıl Anlatır ?: Karaçelebi-zâde Abdülaziz Efendi’nin Süleymân-nâmesi’nin Anlatım Özellikleri
Selim-nâmelerin devamı olarak görülen Süleymân-nâmeler, Kanûnî Sultan Süleymân’ın hayatı, savaşları, yaptığı hayır hasenatı içeren eserlerdir. Osmanlı yönetiminde önemli etkilere sahip olan Karaçelebi ailesine mensup, Karaçelebizâde Abdülazîz Efendi’nin Süleymân-nâme’si ise 17. yy.da yazılmış tek Süleymânnâme olması bakımından önemlidir. Bununla birlikte eser Kanûnî’nin ölümünden sonra yazılmış, I. İbrahim’e sunulmuştur. Eser hakkında kaynaklarda dilinin ağır olduğu, “süslü” bir dil kullanıldığı gibi genel ifadelere rastlanır. Kâtip Çelebi ise eserin “hoş bir kompozisyon” ile hazırlandığını söyler. Giriş kısmından sonra anlatılanların başlıklar hâlinde verildiği eserde toplam 25 başlık bulunur. Kanûnî Sultan Süleymân’ın tahta çıkmasından ölümüne kadar olan tarihî olayların verildiği eserde, şehzadeler için ayrı bir bölüm açılmış; ayrıca Kanûnî devrindeki vezirler ve âlimlerin hayatları ayrı başlıklar hâlinde anlatılmıştır. Kanûnî’nin tahta çıkışından Zigetvar seferinde ölümüne kadar olan tarihî olayların nasıl anlatıldığının araştırılacağı çalışmada, başlıktan itibaren çeşitli üslûp araçlarının kullanıldığı tespit edilmiştir. Bu araçların eserde nasıl kullanıldığı ve esere katkılarının incelenmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Böylelikle tarihî metinlerdeki anlatım özelliklerinin tespiti sağlanacak ve dilinin sanatlı olduğu söylenen eserdeki dil kullanımlarının üslûp araçlarını taşıdığı gösterilecektir.
Suleimannames are works that started as a continuation of Selimnames and describe the life of Suleiman the Magnificent. The Suleimanname, written by Karaçelebizade Abdülaziz Efendi, has a special importance in that it was written after Kanuni’s death and is the only Suleimanname in the 17th century. Katip Çelebi says that he has a “nice composition” about the work, while Babinger says that the work tells “the life of Kanûnî with an ornate and grandiose style”. In line with the point of view pointed out by these expressions, the narrative features of the Suleimanname will be examined. The narrative features used in the work, their functions and contributions to the work will be examined. Thus, it turns out that a work written in the field of history is the subject of literary science with its expression. In addition, for Classical Turkish prose works, the expression “ornate, viscous, heavy...” has been used for a long time. It is thought that such judgments are an indicator of a negative mentality about the work rather than describing the style of the work. It will be explained that judgments such as language being closed in meaning and not being understood are the ways of artistic expression used in the work. In our opinion, the places that are stated to be written in a “ornate, viscous, heavy…” language are the places where stylistic tools are formed and used. For this reason, it will be tried to show that the heavy, closed expressions in the work are ways of literary expression.
While investigating the style of the work, the work will be examined according to the stylistic tools extracted from the narration of the work. Accordingly, it has been determined that elements such as rhetoric, sound arts, repetitions of words and sounds, quotations (poems, verses of the Qur’an) are used in the narration of the work. Considering that there are elements that make the narration of Süleymanname different, how these tools are used in the work and their contributions to the work will be examined.
As a history book describing the Kanuni period, different stylistic tools were used in Suleimanname. Thus, the work was described in a literary form and became the subject of literary analysis. These tools, which are used from the titles in Suleimanname, are the structures called “indirect expression” in the study, the phrases formed with the Persian long chain phrase, and the phrases and phonetic arts. It is thought that this structure is what is meant by an ornate, viscous, heavy language expression used when describing the language or style of classical Turkish literature products. In the study, it has been tried to show that such structures are the place of formation of sound and rhetoric, provide the emergence of different meanings, and increase the density in terms of sound. One of the detected points is that concretization is frequently used in indirect expressions. Thus, we can say that the meaning in long and complex phrases is given in a way that can be visualized.
There are often quoted elements in the narrative of the work. It has been determined that the poems from the quoted elements have different usage features in terms of structure and meaning. It has been determined that the poems from the quoted elements have different usage characteristics in terms of structure and meaning. In these quotations consisting of Arabic, Persian and Turkish poems, Turkish poems are used very little compared to others and a great deal of belong to Baki. In the work, poems are used as an element of a sentence in terms of structure and independently of the sentence. Poems that are independent of the sentence have functions such as continuing what was told before them, explaining the ongoing narrative, and ending a chapter or work.
The verses of the Qur’an are included in the work in order to legitimize the authority of the sultan throughout the work. The most important source on which the ruler, who is the shadow of Allah on earth, is based on, is the holy book. Therefore, by quoting from the Qur’an, the authority of the Kanuni is given by the verses in which it is confirmed by Allah that he is on the right path.
Karaçelebi-zâde Abdulaziz Efendi was a well-educated statesman who had a divan and knew the subtleties of all three languages. At the same time, he is one of the most important great author (münşî) of the period. He showed his artistic side in his work named Suleimanname and created his work with various stylistic tools that we tried to explain above. Although there are expressions such as heavy, ornate, and grandiose about Suleimanname, which is one of the important works of aesthetic prose in terms of narration, in our opinion, what should be meant by these expressions is that the work was created by means of artistic expression.
