Women and women education in short stories by Ömer Seyfettin

Ömer Seyfettin is an important writer of Milli Edebiyat period. Although he had started his art life with poetry he has also been one of the most important short story writer of both Milli Edebiyat period and whole Turkish literature. He succeeded to become the most important representative of classical (Maupassant style) short story in our literature. He especially told the difficulties of community life because he lived in one of the most difficult eras of Ottoman history. It's possible to see the reflections of Balkan and Trablusgarp Wars on public through his stories. Ömer Seyfettin had the opportunity to observe these wars closely because he's also been a soldier and held captive by Greeks for some time. "Nakarat" and "Bomba" are the examples of stories he told his experiences about war. Ömer Seyfettin also tried to shed some light on the nonfunctional parts of society. Europeanism, religious fanatism, supersititious beliefs, prearranged marriages are some of the problems he discussed in his stories. He criticized the people with these kind of attitudes and left them in difficult situations in his works. When appropriate he humiliated them in funny situations. One of the most important themes he chose besides these ones above is women. According to Ömer Seyfettin women are the most important power to raise the upcoming generations because of their effect on children. For this reason it's mandatory to educate women and set their position in public life. In his stories female characters were categorized according to their ages or social status and he evaluated theese characters in their own problems. Ömer Seyfettin is an important figure of Turkish literature with not only his short stories but also his thoughts about language. His artical "Yeni Lisan" (New Language) which was published in Genç Kalemler magazine is highly important for simplification of Turkish. The points he emphasized in this article became principles about simplification of Turkish language which has been tried since Tanzimat period but couldn't have been succeeded. These principles became the guidelines of simplification achieved in Turkish Rebuplic period. Key Words: Ömer Seyfettin, story, woman