Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar

Infobox Writer
name = Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar
birthdate = birth date|1901|6|23|df=y
birthplace = Istanbul, Turkey
deathdate = death date and age|1962|1|24|1901|6|23|df=y
deathplace = Istanbul, Turkey
occupation = Writer, Poet, Scholar
nationality = Turkey
influences = Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, Ahmet Haşim
influenced = Oğuz Atay

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar (23 June, 1901 - 24 January, 1962) was one of the most important modern novelists and essayists of Turkish literature. He was also a member of the Turkish parliament (the Grand National Assembly of Turkey) between 1942 and 1946.

Biography

Tanpınar was born in Istanbul on the 23rd of June 1901. His father was a judge, Hüseyin Fikri Efendi. Tanpınar's mother died at Mosul, when Tanpınar was thirteen. Because his fathers vocation required frequent relocaton, Tanpınar continued his education in several different cities, including Istanbul, Sinop, Siirt, Kirkuk, and Antalya. After quitting veterinary college, he resumed his educational career at the Faculty of Literature at Istanbul University, which he completed in 1923. As a literature teacher, he taught at high schools in Erzurum (1923 - 1924), Konya, Ankara, the Educational Institute of Gazi and the Fine Arts Academy. At the Fine Arts Academy, besides teaching literature, Tanpınar taught in branches of aesthetics in arts, history of art and mythology (1932 - 1939). From 1942 to 1946, he entered the Turkish National Assembly as parliamentar of Kahramanmaraş. In 1953, he made an extensive journey to Europe, traveling many countries within six months such as France, Belgium, Holland, England, Spain and Italy. Tanpınar died of a heart attack on the January 24, 1962 in Istanbul. His grave is in the Aşiyan Graveyard, Istanbul.

Work

One of his most significant works, among others, is a novel entitled "The Time Regulation Institute" (Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü) (2002 English paperback edition: ISBN 1-892381-03-6). The book has been widely acclaimed as an ironic criticism of the bureaucratization process with the implication that its title suggests, though that's not what the book is all about. In fact, the book can be read from quite different perspectives, and cannot be exhausted in only one. First of all, it is a great psychological analysis of a man who suffers from being unable to adapt himself to his time, in other words to modern times. So the fact of bureaucratization is indeed incorporated into a broader problem: modernization and its impact on the individual. Most of the characters of the novel seem to be struggling in quite weird manners in order to survive in modern times. In this way, the concept of "time" occupies a central place, giving a deeper sense, even a philosophical taste to the novel.

Bibliography in Turkish

* "Poem" (Şiirler, 1961)
* "Story" (Abdullah Efendinin Rüyaları, 1943; Yaz Yağmuru, 1955; Hikâyeler, 1983, Dergâh Yay. 2002)
* "Novel" (Huzur, 1949, Dergâh Yay. 2004; Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü, 1962; Sahnenin Dışındakiler, 1973; Mahur Beste, 1975; Aydaki Kadın, 1987)
* "Essay" (Beş Şehir, 1946; Yahya Kemal, 1967; Edebiyat Üzerine Makaleler, 1969; Yaşadığım Gibi, 1970)
* "Monography" (XIX. Asır Türk Edebiyatı Tarihi, 1949)
* "Bes Sehir (Five Cities)" Writings on the cities of Ankara, Erzurum, Konya, Bursa and Istanbul

External links

* [http://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article.php?lab=Villa The Villa in Acibadem] Translation of a story of Tanpınar