Genç Kalemler
Genç Kalemler (Ottoman Turkish: Young Pens) was an Ottoman literary and cultural magazine which was one of the earliest nationalist publications in the Ottoman Empire.[1] Murat Belge describes it as a pan-Turkist publication.[2] It was published between April 1911 and October 1912 in Thessaloniki, Ottoman Empire, and was the first Ottoman publication which called for having a national language.
![]() Cover of Genç Kalemler | |
| Categories |
|
|---|---|
| Founder | |
| Founded | 1911 |
| First issue | 11 April 1911 |
| Final issue | 1912 |
| Country | Ottoman Empire |
| Based in | Thessaloniki |
| Language | Ottoman Turkish |
History and profile
Genç Kalemler was first published on 11 April 1911 as a successor of Hüsn ve Şiir, a literary magazine.[2] The founders were the members of the national literary movement: Ziya Gökalp, Ömer Seyfettin and Ali Canip Yöntem.[1][3] They supported the use of pure Turkish.[1]
The major tenet of the magazine was to implement the language reform to simplify the Ottoman language to improve the literacy rates and to avoid the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.[1] Another major view of the magazine contributors was that the Ottoman Turkish could not be a national language due to its artificial nature and that Istanbul Turkish should be adopted as the official language of the Empire.[1] Ziya Gökalp's poem entitled Turan was first published in the magazine.[4] Genç Kalemler published a total of thirty-three issues before ceasing publication in October 1912.[2]
References
- Ayşegül Aydıngün; İsmail Aydıngün (2004). "The Role of Language in the Formation of the National Identity and Turkishness". Nationalism and Ethnic Politics. 10 (3): 417–420. doi:10.1080/13537110490518264. hdl:11511/40574. S2CID 145324008.
- Murat Belge (2010). "Genç Kalemler and Turkish Nationalism". In Celia Kerslake; Kerem Ökten; Philip Robins (eds.). Turkey's Engagement with Modernity. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 27–37. doi:10.1057/9780230277397_3. ISBN 978-1-349-31326-6.
- Şeyma Afacan (2022). "Historical aspects of linguistic and emotional changes". In Gesine Lenore Schiewer; Jeanette Altarriba; Bee Chin Ng (eds.). Language and Emotion. An International Handbook. Vol. 46. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter. p. 286. doi:10.1515/9783110347524-013. ISBN 978-3-11-039460-3.
- M. Vedat Gürbüz (2003). "Genesis of Turkish Nationalism". Belleten. 67 (249): 503. doi:10.37879/belleten.2003.495. S2CID 156608257.
External links
Media related to Genç Kalemler at Wikimedia Commons
