LITERATURE IN EXILE: NAMIK KEMAL AS A PERMANENT EXILE AND STRUGGLE FOR SELF-EXPRESSION

Abstract

Namık Kemal is one of the symbolic figures in the Westernization process of Turkish literary history and in addition to his productive identity in the field of literature, he is a versatile artist who has an important place in our social and political history with his political attitude and his attitude of rebellion against injustice. He is an exceptional person who has devoted his whole life to the solution of fundamental values and issues such as homeland, nation, freedom, and constitutionalism and risked all kinds of oppression and exile for this cause. Namık Kemal is undoubtedly the first name that comes to mind when exile is mentioned in Turkish literature. The artist, who lived a significant part of his forty-seven-year life in exile, escaped from compulsory civil service in his youth and at that time his exile started in Paris and London, and then continued as compulsory exile and civil service in places such as Gelibolu, Magosa, Midilli, Rodos, Sakız. Although Namık Kemal was an artist and believer who spent most of his life in exile, he succeeded in turning the exile into an opportunity rather than turning it into a tragic one, struggled for existence, overcame the conditions he was in and made significant contributions to Turkish literature with the works he wrote in exile. This study focuses on the artist's exile life and his literary production in the mentioned exile stops.