Orhan Kemal’in Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde ve Gurbet Kuşları Romanlarının Edebiyat Coğrafyası Açısından İncelenmesi
Edebiyat Coğrafyası ülkemizde Coğrafya’nın yeni gelişen alt araştırma alanlarından biri olma özelliğini taşımaktadır. Edebiyat Coğrafyası araştırmalarında; coğrafi görünümün aktarılması, fiziki ve beşeri coğrafya elemanlarının edebi eserlerdeki kullanımı ve yazarın hayat deneyimi gibi birçok başlık önem taşır. Bu çalışma Orhan Kemal’in “Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde” ve “Gurbet Kuşları” romanlarının Edebiyat Coğrafyası kapsamında, oluşturulan şehirsel coğrafi kodlar üzerinden araştırılmasına dayanmaktadır. Bu romanlardaki şehirsel coğrafi unsurların belirlenmesi ve bunların romanlardaki kullanımının açıklanması ise çalışmanın ana amacını oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmada nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden biri olan doküman incelemesi yöntem olarak kullanılmıştır. İlgili romanlar içerik analizine tabi tutulmuş, önceden oluşturulmuş kavramlarla ilgili kodlar MAXQDA 2020 programı vasıtasıyla analiz edilmiştir. “Gurbet Kuşları” romanında geçen semtlerin ve mekânların haritalandırılmasında ise ArcGIS 10.3 ve CorelDraw X5 programlarından faydalanılmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında Orhan Kemal’in her iki romanında da olayların geçtiği İstanbul ve Adana şehirlerinin yazıldıkları dönemlere özgü şehirsel coğrafi yapılarının romanlara somut bir şekilde yansıdığı tespit edilmiştir. Bu çalışma gerek edebiyat ve şehir arasındaki ilişkiyi göstermesi, gerekse de Edebiyat Coğrafyası çalışmalarına katkı sunması açısından önem arz etmektedir. Bu açıdan bu araştırmanın var olan literatürde önemli bir boşluğu dolduracağı düşünülmektedir. Dolayısıyla ileride Edebiyat Coğrafyası alanında yapılacak olan birçok çalışmaya da yol gösterici olacaktır.
Analysis of Orhan Kemal’s Novels Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde and Gurbet Kuşları From Literary Geography Perspective
Literary Geography is one of the newly-emerging sub-research areas of Geography in Turkey. Literary geography studies discuss topics such as transferring the geographical view, the use of physical and human geography elements in literary works, and the author’s experiences. This study analyzes Orhan Kemal’s novels Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde and Gurbet Kuşları considering predetermined urban geographical codes within the scope of literary geography. It aims at spotting the urban geographical elements and explaining their use in the novels. A qualitative research method was used, more specifically, that of document analysis. Both novels were subjected to content analysis, and codes related to the predetermined concepts were analyzed through MAXQDA 2020. ArcGIS 10.3 and CorelDraw X5 programs were used in mapping the districts and places in the Gurbet Kuşları novel. The results of the study show that the period-specific urban geographical structures of Istanbul and Adana, which were the cities home to the plots of both novels, were concretely visible in the two works. This study is significant as it reveals the relationship between literature and the city and contributes to studies of literary geography. In this respect, the present research will fill a considerable gap in the existing literature. Therefore, it will guide many other studies to be conducted in the field of literary geography in the future.
In this study, Orhan Kemal’s novels Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde and Gurbet Kuşları were discussed in the context of literary geography. Several codes were determined for both novels within the scope of urban geographical elements. These codes are rural-tourban migration, urban construction and development, urban functions, squatting and urban geographical view. Furthermore, urban functions were divided into sub-categories, namely industrial function, transportation function, trade function, agriculture function and housing function. Also, the frequency of certain words was checked throughout the novel since they represent Turkish urbanization between the years 1950 and 1980. These words were gurbet (abroad), göç (migration), traktör (tractor), Çukurova, gecekondu (squatter), fabrika (factory), Istanbul and şehir (city). The books were analyzed with MAXQDA 2020, ArcGIS 10.3 and CorelDraw X5. Single-Case Model, Two-Case Model and pie charts were created through MAXQDA 2020, while ArcGIS 10.3 and Corel Draw X5 programs were used in spatial mapping. The analyses in this study showed that urban geographical elements were widely used in both of the novels examined here. The industrial function was coded 21 times throughout Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde. Agriculture-based industry, which takes place due to cotton production in Çukurova, was highlighted with this code. In the numerical distribution of the relevant codes, rural-to-urban migration was seen to be the second most prominent code with a frequency of 16. The emphasis on Central Anatolia implies the tendency of immigration to nearby centers in the first place. The transportation function constitutes the third most frequent coding. The emphasis on inner-city transportation is remarkable in this coding. The chapter with the greatest occurrence of the agriculture function is the last chapter where the protagonists work as laborers across Çukurova at the end of the book. The agriculture function was coded 4 times throughout the book as was the urban geographical view. Lastly, the housing function was coded twice and the trade function once. Based on the selected words, the most frequent words in Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde were analyzed. It was found that şehir occurred 116 times, fabrika 104, Çukurova 57, traktör 21, gurbet 35, göç 3 times, and Istanbul 1 time, but gecekondu was not used at all. Regarding proportional distribution of the word frequencies, şehir has a share of 35%, fabrika has 31%, Çukurova 17%, gurbet 10%, traktör 6%, göç 1%, İstanbul 0,3%, and gecekondu 0%.
In the other novel, Gurbet Kuşları, rural-to-urban migration was coded 19 times, the highest frequency. The author describes migration by supporting it with many constituents such as countrymen relations in the city, and places receiving and sending migrating populations. Throughout the book, “gecekondulaşma” was coded 13 times. Zeytinburnu is the place where the phenomenon of squatting is found in the book. Urban construction movements were coded 13 times. In Gurbet Kuşları, the transportation function was coded 11 times. The author conveyed many vehicles of highway, seaway and railway transport to the reader, along with their functionality in the city. The industrial function was coded 8 times. Urban geographical view and trade function were coded 4 times each. The author’s narrations in various sections of Gurbet Kuşları concerning the urban geographical view describe street, road, and neighborhood views of Istanbul, and the selected words have the following frequencies: Istanbul 170, Çukurova 61, gurbet 57, şehir 55, gecekondu 28, fabrika 28, göç 1, traktör 0. As for percentages; Istanbul 43%, Çukurova 15%, şehir 14%, gurbet 13%, fabrika and gecekondu 7%, göç 0,25%, and traktör 0%.
The two-case model allows results to be reached by comparing two cases. The two novels show similar and different urban geographical elements in the codings. The similarities are the codes of rural-to-urban migration, industrial function, transportation function, urban geographical view and trade function. However, narrations of agriculture and housing functions are covered only in Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde. Squatting and urban construction and development appear only in Gurbet Kuşları. A striking detail here is the implication of developmental differences between Istanbul and Adana in the novels. Intra-urban squatting movements became evident first in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir and then all over Turkey. Therefore, squatting and urban construction and development are specific to Gurbet Kuşları, which focuses on Istanbul as the space. In contrast, Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde focuses on Adana (Çukurova). Reference to agricultural function in this book presents a situation compliant with the overall quality of the novel.
In this study, the novels Bereketli Topraklar Üzerinde and Gurbet Kuşları were analyzed with codes created in the light of certain urban geographical elements. The author’s close contact with people made human geographical elements and their spatial reflections dominant in his novels. Yet, narration of physical geographical elements is clearly weak in his works. On the other hand, urban functions like transportation, industry, housing, trade, squatting, construction movements in 1950s’ Istanbul, and urban geographical views are found to be the most manifest geographical elements in the author’s narration. Moreover, the use of places and spaces in the novels studied here witnesses the evolutionary process of the settlements.