Adnan Benk and modern Turkish literary criticism

Adnan Benk and Modern Turkish Literary Criticism Adnan Benk (1922-1998), a famous critic in modern Turkish literature, started writing reviews in 1 947, after graduating from the Department of Roman Languages and Literatures at İstanbul University in 1946. He published his articles mostly between 1 950-1 960 in various newspapers and literary magazines. Having a very lively writing style and a deep knowledge of various arts, Benk's writings focused on literature, fine arts, music, cinema, and theatre. Benk engaged in discussions with famous names of the Turkish literary world in some of his writings. Since a wide range of subjects and a vivid style characterize his writings, he has been considered a highly original writer both by the writers of his time and of today. In this work, the continuity and change in Adnan Benk's career as a literary critic are discussed in the context of the main trends in Turkish literary criticism, namely, subjective and objective criticisms. In the first chapter of the thesis, Benk's style, his view of criticism, art, and culture, and the sources of his critical approach are discussed. Benk's view of criticism, which favors objectivity, suggests that literary works must be analyzed as a unity in themselves and primarily by literary terms. Benk was also a good polemicist and used successfully an original sense of humor in his critical texts. In the second chapter of the thesis Benk's critical outlook is compared and contrasted first with that of Nurullah Ataç, who favors the subjective method, and then with Berna Moran who represents the objective method. As a result of these comparisons, it is concluded that Benk stands closer to Nurullah Ataç in terms of his sense of humor and sharp irony although his view of objective criticism is closer to that of Berna Moran. Thus, it can be said that Adnan Benk's idea of objective criticism sometimes contradicts his critical practice, which embodies a personal style and subjective judgements. Key words: literary criticism, objectivity, subjectivity, method