A new historicist approach to Ahmet Umit's novels

According to the new historicist approach that emerged in the 1980s with the writings of critics such as Stephen Greenblatt, Luis Montrose and Catherine Gallagher, the literary text interacts with the discourses circulating in the social, cultural, political and economic fields of the period in which it was written. According to the new historicists influenced by the views of the cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz, the literary text itself contributes to the change and transformation of the culture after it emerges as a product as well as being influenced by the cultural discourses of the period in which it was written. New historicists bring a subjective and critical approach to historical information and documents, claiming that historical texts are undergoing a literary process like fictional texts. In this context, they focus on the textuality of history and the historicity of the text. Influenced by some views of Marxist criticism, new historicists focus on knowledge, power and ideological discourses produced in literary texts. New historicists position the ordinary person who is ignored in traditional historiography and the people who are seen as the other in the historical stage in the place they deserve. It is seen that Ahmet Ümit, who is known for his detective novels, has included historical/cultural events, facts and people into detective fiction, especially with the Patasana novel he wrote in 2000. In this study, in which Ahmet Umit's novels are examined with a new historicist approach, it has been tried to determine how these elements, which Ahmet Umit included in his novels, have been moved to fiction with a change and transformation and the author's perspective on history. The relationship of the period in which the novels were written with social, cultural and political discourses was emphasized. The existence and discourse of the people who are in the other position according to the majority among the novel characters were evaluated. Power relations and ideological discourses embedded in the plots were brought to light. The relationship between the novels and other texts was tried to be determined. In the light of the information obtained, a conclusion was reached about what Ahmet Umit added to his detective novels, the author's place in the postmodern period and his understanding of art. Key words: Ahmet Umit, novel, new historicism, history, culture, alterity, intertextuality, power, ideology.