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The culture of Turkey is derived from various elements of
the Ottoman Empire, European, and the Islamic traditions.
The nation was modernized primarily by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk,
as he successfully transformed a religion-driven former Ottoman
Empire into a modern nation-state with a very strong separation
of state and religion.
Literature
The history of Turkish literature is traced back to Orkhon
inscriptions. Most of the Turkish literature before the adaptation
of Islam was verbal literature. With the adaptation of Islam,
Turks were influenced with Persian culture and they developed
literature using the Persian structures, such as mesnevi,
gazel etc. With the 19th century and tanzimat period, artists
began to use western structures. The republican period is
dominated with western forms of literature.
Poetry
Poetry is most dominant form of literature in modern Turkey.
Prose
The backgrounds of current novelists can be traced back to
"Young Pens" (Genç Kalemler) journal in Ottoman
period. Young Pens was published in Selanik under the Ömer
Seyfettin, Ziya Gökalp ve Ali Canip Yontem. They covered
the social and political concepts of their time with the nationalistic
perspective. They became the core of a movement which will
be called national literature.
With the declaration of republic, Turkish literature becomes
interested in folkloric styles. This was also the first time
the literature was escaping from the western influence and
begin to mix western forms with other forms. During the 1930's
Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu ve Vedat Nedim Tor begin to publish
KADRO. KADRO was revolutionary in its look at the life.
Orhan Pamuk is a leading Turkish novelist of post-modern
literature. He is hugely popular in his homeland, but also
with a growing readership around the globe. As one of Europe's
most prominent novelists, his work has been translated into
more than twenty languages. He is the recipient of major Turkish
and international literary awards. The most recent of his
novels is "Snow." Pamuk was also widely tipped to
be the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005,
though he eventually lost to the British Harold Pinter in
what many people considered a surprise choice.
Cinema
The first film showing in Turkey was held in the Yildiz Palace
in 1896. Public shows by Sigmund Weinberger in the Beyoglu
and Sehzadebasi districts followed in 1897. The first Turkish
movie, a documentary produced by Fuat Uzkinay in 1914, depicted
the destruction of the Russian monument in Ayastefanos by
the public. The first thematic Turkish films were "The
Marriage of Himmet Aga" (1916-1918), started by Weinberger
and completed by Uzkinay, "The Paw" (1917) and "The
Spy" (1917), both by Sedat Simavi. The army-affiliated
Central Cinema Directorate, a semi-military national defence
society, and the Disabled Veterans Society were the producing
organizations of that period.
In 1922 a major documentary film, "Independence, the
Izmir Victory," was made about the first war of Independance.
The same year, the first private studio, Kemal Film, commenced
operations. From 1923 to 1939, Muhsin Ertugrul was the only
film director in the country. He directed 29 films during
this period, generally incorporating adaptions of plays, operettas,
fiction and foreign films. The influence of the theater dating
back to Uzkinay, Simavi, Ahmet Fehim and Karagozoglu is very
strong in Muhsin Ertugrul's work.
The years between 1939 and 1950 were a period of transition
for the Turkish cinema, during which it was greatly influenced
by the theater as well as by World War II. While there were
only two film companies in 1939, the number increased to four
between 1946 and 1950. After 1949, Turkish cinema was able
to develop as a separate art, with a more professional caliber
of talents.
Between 1950 and 1966, more than fifty directors practiced
film arts in Turkey. Omer Lutfi Akad strongly influenced the
period, but Osman F. Seden, Atif Yilmaz and Memduh Un made
the most films. The film "Susuz Yaz" (Dry Summer),
made by Metin Erksan, won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin
Film Festival in 1964. The number of cinema-goers and the
number of films made record a constant increase, especially
after 1958. In the 1960s, cinema courses were included in
the programs of the theater departments in the Language, History
and Geography faculties of Ankara and Istanbul Universities
and in the Press and Publications High School of Ankara University.
A cinema branch was also established in the Art History Department
of the State Fine Arts Academy.
The Union of Turkish Film Producers, and the State Film Archives
also were established in the 1960s. The State Film Archives
became the Turkish Film Archives in 1969. During the same
period, the Cinema-TV Institute was founded and annexed to
the State Academy of Fine Arts. The Turkish State Archives
also became part of this organization. In 1962, the Cinema-TV
Institute became a department of Mimar Sinan University.
Among the well-known directors of the 1960-1970 period are
Metin Erksan, Atif Yilmaz, Memduh Un, Halit Refig, Duygu Sagiroglu
and Nevat Pesen. In 1970, the numbers of cinemas and cinema-goers
rose spectacularly. In 2,424 cinemas, films were viewed by
a record number of 246,662,318 viewers. In 1970, approximately
220 films were made and this figure reached 300 in 1972. After
this period, the cinema began to lose its audiences, due to
nationwide TV broadcasts. After 1970, a new and young generation
of directors emerged, but they had to cope with an increased
demand for video films after 1980.
Increased production costs and difficulties faced in the
import of raw materials brought about a decrease in the number
of films made in the 1970s, but the quality of films improved.
On January 23, 1986, a new cinema law aimed to ensure support
for those working in cinema and music. A reorganization of
the film industry began in 1987 to address problems and assure
its development. The Ministry of Culture established the "Professional
Union of Owners of Turkish Works of Cinema" the same
year. The Copyrights and General Directorate of Cinema was
founded in 1989 as well as a Support Fund for the Cinema and
Musical Arts. This fund is used to provide financial support
to the film sector.
Fine Arts
All resources were mobilized in the field of fine arts in
Turkey as of the first years of the Republic, towards a more
dynamic and progressive production of art by also benefiting
from a backlogue of the past. The modernization that accelerated
under the leadership of Atatürk, and with the following
of the thought and art movements in Europe in a conscious
and sensitive manner, paved the way for the creation of the
culture and art of the new Republic. In fact, today it is
observed that a "Modern Turkish Art" language has
been formed which represents Turkey at an international level,
in which the individual styles are prominent and in which
regional motifs and subjects gain importance. Within "Modern
Turkish Art" based on an East-West synthesis the cultural
values of the "past and future" also exist by being
blended together.
Architecture
Classical Turkish architecture is best shown in its mosques.
The Blue Mosque and Suleiman Mosque, for example are two of
the most popular and beautiful structures in Turkey.
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| The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque),
Istanbul |
The various other non-Turk population also follow their own
different customs aside from the regional.
Architecture in the Republic era was in search of a new identity.
Architects embraced a selective style reminiscent of the classical
period of Ottoman architecture with traces of nationalism.
The Anatolian towns were filled with buildings which were
sorely needed after the war. These construction activities
which continued till the end of the 1920s, were influenced
by the First National Architectural Movement. The architects
of this era seem to have borrowed certain elements of Seljuk
and Ottoman architecture. They were led by Kemaleddin Bey
and Vedat Tek. Particular importance was given to façades
which were decorated, sometimes elaborately, with stone carvings
and ceramic tiles, however, no original solutions were produced.
The public buildings, some of which are standing today, reflect
the peculiarities of the First National Movement. After the
1930s, foreign architects were commissioned to build public
buildings having nationalistic features. Flat roofs were preferred;
the façades were bereft of ornamentation; large windows
were used and almost invariably, buildings in which simplicity
and function were given top priority, were erected. Most of
these foreign architects held posts as instructors and professors
in schools of architecture and thus trained a new generation
of architects.
Opera and Ballet
In the period prior to the proclamation of the Republic in
Turkey, opera, ballet and the theatre were mostly centred
around Istanbul and Izmir. The first showing of opera at the
imperial court was by artists trained by Guiseppe Donizetti
(1788-1856) from the Italian opera. During the Republic, Ahmet
Adnan Saygun, Necil Kazim Akses and Cemal Resit Rey were the
first composers of opera, operettes and musicals. A. Adnan
Saygun's first two operas, Özsoy and Tasbebek, Necil
Kazim Akses's Bay Önder staged in Ankara, a Mozart musical
Bastien and Bastienne staged at the Ankara State Conservatory
with pupils playing libretto in Turkish (1936),and the staging
of western operas such as Madame Butterfly and Tosca (1940-1941)
and the orchestrations, chorus and solo recitals of 1950-1952
all contributed to form a foundation for the establishment
of today's State Opera and Ballet.
Meanwhile in 1947, the famous ballerina and teacher Ninette
de Valois was invited to Istanbul and through her intermediary
the National Ballet School at Yesilköy was set up. In
1956-57 the first dancers graduated from Ankara State Conservatory
and in 1959-60 the State Opera formed a corps de ballet. "Çesmebasi"
which is one of the most important works in Turkish ballet
history was first performed in 1965. Notwithstanding the short
history of opera in Turkey which only spans 56 years, the
General Directorate of State Opera and Ballet numbers amongst
its members many artists of international fame, and aside
from Ankara and Istanbul branches have been set up in cities
such as Mersin and everywhere very successful results have
been achieved.
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