LITR 304 MODERN TURKISH LITERATURE SPRING 2012 Koç

LITR 304
MODERN TURKISH LITERATURE
SPRING 2012
Koç University
Department of English Language and Comparative Literature
Class Days/Hours: Tuesdays/Thursdays – 17:00-18:15
Instructor: Meliz Ergin
Office: SOS 136 B
E-mail: [email protected]
Office hours: Tuesdays/Thursdays – 14:00-15:00 (or by appointment)
Course Description:
This course will examine the development of modern Turkish literature, by bringing to the fore
the entanglement of literary and political currents from the 1940s to the present. We will initially
focus on the literary expressions of the problems of modernity experienced during and following
the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic. We will then offer a close
analysis of the literary works produced in response to various social and political events such as
the coups d'état and internal migration. Finally we will shift our focus to postmodern
experimentations in Turkish literature. While we will look at examples of modern Turkish poetry
and short story, our focus in this course will be particularly on the development of the Turkish
novel.
Course Material:
The required course pack is available at the copy center. Students must also purchase the
following books from the Pandora Bookstore on campus: Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü, Üç Beş
Kişi, Sevgili Arsız Ölüm, and Kara Kitap. Please note that our library also holds a copy of each
of these works.
Course Format:
This course is a combination of lecture and discussion. Lectures will not only focus on and
clarify the required readings, but will also provide additional information. Students are expected
to do the readings before class and to participate in class discussions. While attendance for this
class is not mandatory, students should be well aware of the fact that participation in class
discussions is both as an essential component of the learning process, and makes a considerable
contribution to your final grade.
Evaluation/Grading:
Participation 15%
Presentation 10%
Midterm %20
Take-Home Paper %25
Final Exam %30
Brief Guideline on Academic Honesty: Please note that related to any work you submit, you
are expected to behave in strict obedience to the warnings against plagiarism. Plagiarism is
borrowing or using someone else’s writing or ideas without giving written acknowledgement to
the author. This includes copying from a fellow student’s paper or from a text or an internet site
without properly citing the source. In case of plagiarism the school disciplinary rules will be
implemented, and the plagiarized work will receive a zero for that assignment.
COURSE SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
Weeks 1-3:
Tanpınar, Ahmet Hamdi. Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü.
Tanpınar, Ahmet Hamdi. “Medeniyet Değiştirmesi ve İç İnsan.”
Week 4:
Selected poems by Nazım Hikmet, Orhan Veli Kanık, Oktay Rıfat, Melih Cevdet Anday, and
İlhan Berk.
Weeks 5-6:
Kemal, Yaşar. “Sarı Sıcak;” “Bebek;” “Ağır Akan Su.”
Nesin, Aziz. “100 Liraya Bir Deli.”
Atay, Oğuz. “Beyaz Mantolu Adam.”
Weeks 7-8:
Agaoğlu, Adalet. Üç Beş Kişi.
Karasu, Bilge. Excerpt from Gece.
Vassaf, Gündüz. Excerpt from Cehenneme Övgü.
Midterm: March 22
Weeks 9-10:
Latife Tekin. Sevgili Arsız Ölüm.
Film Screening: Güney, Yılmaz. Yol.
April 9-13: Spring Break
Week 11:
Presentations
Weeks 12-14:
Pamuk, Orhan. Kara Kitap.
Aruoba, Oruç. Excerpt from Yürüme.
Take-Home Paper Due Date: May 10