Children of War And Realism in Dağa Çıkan Kurt
Pelin Aslan AyarHalide Edip Adıvar, who closely observes the destruction caused by war, from the Balkan Wars to the end of the Turkish War of Independence, publishes stories which mostly depict the period during the Turkish War of Independence in Dağa Çıkan Kurt (1922). She aims to illuminate the conditions of that period and the sufferings of the war by bearing vivid witness to them. She also narrates to the next generation, telling of the victory gained in spite of all the destruction, and explaining disappointing challenges by drawing attention to common history in order to unify them. In addition, she aims to unite Turkish people who are in the process of becoming a nation state. In order to persuade readers and make a strong impression on them, in almost every one of her stories in the book, she emphasizes how the situations, events, and characters in her narration are not fictional; that they all literally reflect reality. That is why, as a part of making her stories real, she includes historical events that she observed and witnessed herself. Some assert that the stories told by Halide Edip in Dağa Çıkan Kurt are fiction, but just the opposite is true: they are real and they reflect situations, events, and characters in a realistic way. On the other hand, we also see that Halide Edip insists on moving away from reality when discussing children in her stories. While she does describe each child of war according to the child’s personal geographic, social and economic circumstances, and she reflects their physical appearance realistically, when she describes their emotional and psychological world, she does not reflect simple reality. Instead, she creates a new, distinctive, and idealized reality. This attitude is closely related to the new roles she attributes to children after the war in Turkey during the national process of change. This article discusses how her idealized image of children originating from war conditions weakens her insistence on reality in her stories and her focus on children’s characters in Dağa Çıkan Kurt actually creates a new reality. We also look at how and why she created her stories this way.
Dağa Çıkan Kurt’ta Savaş Çocukları ve Gerçeklik
Pelin Aslan AyarHalide Edip Adıvar, Balkan Savaşlarından Kurtuluş Savaşı’nın sonuna kadar savaşın neden olduğu yıkımları yakından gözlemlemiş bir yazar olarak çoğunluğu Kurtuluş Savaşı dönemini resmeden hikâyelerini 1922’de Dağa Çıkan Kurt adıyla yayınlar. Yazar, hikâyeleri aracılığıyla dönemin koşullarını canlı tanıklıkla yansıtmayı, yakından şahit olduğu acıları aktarmayı, tüm bu acılara, yıkımlara rağmen savaştan nasıl zaferle çıkıldığını gelecek nesillere göstermeyi ve ulus devlet olma sürecindeki Türk halkına ortak bir geçmişin hikâyesini sunarak onları bu geçmiş etrafında birleştirmeyi amaçlar. Okurun anlatılanların gerçekliğinden şüpheye düşmemesi, hikâyelerden yazarın istediği doğrultuda etkilenmesi için de yazar hemen her hikâyesinde anlattığı durum, olay ve kişilerin kurmaca olmadığının, gerçeği aynen aktardığının altını çizer. Bunun için de hikâyelerini gerçekçi kılmak adına başta kendisi olmak üzere gerçekten yaşamış kişileri ve yaşanmış olayları hikâyelerine dâhil eder. Bu bağlamda Dağa Çıkan Kurt’ta Halide Edip Adıvar’ın bir iddia barındırdığı söylenebilir: Yazar, dönemin gerçeklerini gerçekçi bir biçimde aktarmaktadır. Ancak kitabın çocuk karakterler içeren hikâyelerine yakından bakıldığında yazarın bu iddiasının, onun tüm çabalarına rağmen, zayıfladığı görülür. Halide Edip, savaş dönemindeki çocukları içinde bulundukları sosyal, ekonomik ve coğrafi şartlarla uyumlu gerçekçi bir şekilde yansıtırken, fiziksel görünüşlerini gerçeğe uygun bir biçimde resmetmeye azami derecede önem verirken, bu çocukların ruhsal ve psikolojik dünyasını aynı gerçeklikle vermez; idealize edilmiş yeni bir gerçeklik kurar. Yazarın bu tavrı, savaşı artık geride bırakmış ve ulus devlet olma sürecindeki Türkiye’de çocuklara biçtiği yeni rollerle yakından ilgilidir. Bu bağlamda bu makalede Dağa Çıkan Kurt’un çocuk karakterler içeren hikâyeleri odağa alınarak yazarın savaş koşulları üzerinden yarattığı çocuk imgesinin aslında onun gerçeklik ve gerçekçilik iddiasını nasıl bulandırdığı, iddiası gerçeği aynen aktarmakken resmettiği çocuk karakterler üzerinden gerçeklikten nasıl uzaklaştığı, nasıl başka bir gerçeklik kurduğu ve bunu hangi amaçlarla yaptığı tartışılır.
Halide Edip Adıvar wants to reflect the conditions of war by bearing vivid witness to them, and to narrate suffering, emotional atmosphere, and the spirit of this period to the next generation in Dağa Çıkan Kurt (1922). By exhibiting common history, she also aims to unite the Turkish people who are in the process of becoming a nation state. In order to realize this unification and make a strong impression on readers, she stresses the importance of the readers’ positive reception of her writing; they should not doubt the stories she tells, and they should develop empathy with others suffering from challenging conditions of war. To solidify this impression, the author writes about historical events that she herself observed and witnessed. Her own acquaintances are a part of her stories. In this respect, she asserts that the stories in Dağa Çıkan Kurt are not fiction; instead, they are all real and reflect the literal reality. On the other hand, when telling stories focused on children, we see that Halide Edip moves away from the reality on which otherwise insists. This article discusses how the idealized child image originating from war conditions weakens her usual insistence on reality, and it analyses the reason for this idealization. It concludes that this idealization and movement away from reality is closely related to the role she attributes to children after the war in a new and young Turkey. At first sight, the stories in Dağa Çıkan Kurt seem quite realistic. Narrator Halide Edip emphasizes that she narrates stories about children whom she has met; that she knows them personally. She describes these children using physical details in order to bring the destruction of the war to light. We see that most of the children in the stories of Dağa Çıkan Kurt, Tanıdığım Çocuklardan, Himmet Çocuk and Muhlis’in Ağabeysi have lost their parents and are experiencing extreme poverty because of the war. They are always hungry because of poor nutrition. As a result, their faces and bodies are so thin and weak that their physical appearance is unhealthy. In this respect, when we compare the aforementioned stories with Gündelik Adamlar: Kabak Çekirdekçi, we understand the care that Halide Edip takes to reflect the destruction caused by the war on the children bodies seriously. In Gündelik Adamlar: Kabak Çekirdekçi, she does not depict the physical appearance of a child who lives in better social economic conditions and is not directly exposed to the war. Thus, her way of describing every child according to his/her own geographic, social, and economic circumstances makes her stories realistic and persuades readers that the stories are real. Of course, when wars affect the lives of real children, it turns their physiologies upside down in a way that might not be reflected in fictional narration. Not only does war cause chaos in their emotional world, but it also leaves them with lasting damage. Certainly, we cannot expect Halide Edip Adıvar to depict her characters as if she were an expert in psychology. She is a creative writer, and readers already know that they are reading about a fictional world she created. Nevertheless, the author who describes such a realistic physical appearance of children chooses not to depict their emotional and psychological worlds realistically. In fact, her choice weakens her usual insistence on the reality. Halide Edip Adıvar idealizes the children of the war. The children in her stories lack the traumatic effects of the war. They do not feel emptiness. On the contrary, they become mature and their tenacity increases. Despite their young ages, they are able to cope with big problems. Moreover, they are proud, honorable, and always hopeful. This idealization of children by moving away from reality is closely related to the duties Halide Edip Adıvar assigns to children. She expects children to leave behind the emotional and moral collapse caused by war and construct the new Turkey. She insists that now is the time for Turkish people to be reborn. Turkey is in the process of becoming a nation state, and she burdens many of the associated responsibilities to children during this period. With their courage, self-sacrifice, and diligence, children are the future of Turkey, and that is why Halide Edip idealizes them and creates her own reality.
