The conception of city in classical Turkish poetry

In this thesis, couplets reflecting the relationship between literature and the city in classical Turkish literature are examined within the context of similes and metaphors centered around the concept of the city. The study aims to demonstrate that these couplets serve not merely as abstract spatial descriptions within the poets' imagination, but as documents of cultural history that reflect Ottoman urban culture, architectural fabric, social life, and the typology of the urbanite. Transcending approaches in the literature that are generally limited to mere spatial descriptions, this study analyzes the phenomenon of the city in classical Turkish poetry through a multidimensional perspective. The research is based on a survey of numerous divans (anthologies) spanning the 13th to the 20th centuries. The data has been compiled via sample couplets selected from the divans within the scope of this study. The study comprises an introduction and three chapters. The introduction outlines the problem, aim, significance, scope and limitations of the research. The first chapter adresses the theoretical framework of the concept of the city, along with works and studies written about the city in classical Turkish poetry. The second chapter analyzes the symbolic and metaphorical dimensions of the city phenomenon as it is transposed from the plane of concrete space to the realm of abstract meaning within the poets' imagination. In the third chapter, the physical layout of the city, the construction of urban identity, and social critiques and recommendations of the period-derived from a comparison between the urban and the provincial- are presented through contect analysis. The findings demonstrate that the concept of the city, beyond being a mere symbol reveals the aesthetic taste, civilizational conception, and urban identity of the period; it reflects a broad social fabric extending from the physical appearence of the city to human relationships. It is concluded that the poets' perception of the city serves as a bridge between the past and the future, providing significant data for understanding the culture of space. Further more, the study emphasizes the necessity of the relationship between space and literature and offers a comprehensive theoretical framework for the interpretation of the city phenomenon in classical Turkish poetry. Keywords: Classical Turkish Poetry, Concept of the City, Urban Culture, Urbanite.