The woman question in Fatma Aliye Hanım's novels

ABSTRACT The Woman Question in Fatma Aliye Hanim's Novels Being the first Muslim Turkish woman novelist discussing the "woman question", Fatma Aliye Hanim is a prominent literary figure in Turkish history. Since her, woman and woman problems were the subject that only men discuss. With her novels, for the first time, she portrayed an alternative "model woman" to the woman prototype that had been displayed in Ottoman novels. In this dissertation, her approach to woman question has been studied. In spite of the fact that to what extent the women movement in the late period of the Ottoman Empire was influenced by the feminist movement in the Western World has not been spotted exactly, the demands of feminism and Ottoman women are under the scope of this study for they are crucial to understanding Fatma Aliye Hanim's view of the woman problem. Fatma Aliye Hanim's essays that are closely related to the titles of the chapters of this dissertation have been used in this study. Nevertheless, the works which have been referred to as the main sources are her novels. Her novel, Hayal ve Hakikat (Reality and Imagination), which she wrote in cooperation with Ahmet Mithat Efendi has been exploited in the study but her novels Muhâzarât (1 892), Refet (1896), Udî (1898), Levâyih-i Hayât (1898) and Enîn (1910) has been reviewed in this dissertation. At the end of the study, it has been proved that Fatma Aliye Hanim's novels, however they may seem likely to be read as feminist readings at the surface level, when thoroughly examined, are unlikely to be labeled as works of feminist literature and the writer is unlikely to be categorized as a feminist writer, accordingly. It has been stated that, although she deals with the problems of women in her novels, as a result of her social, cultural and religious situation, the way she assesses these problems is different. In conclusion Fatma Aliye Hanim has to be defined as a conservative Muslim woman writer since her proposed solutions to the problems depicted in her novels are based on Islam. Key Words: Woman and Literature, Ottoman Woman Movement, Feminism, Family VI