Assia Djebar'ın ve Nedim Gürsel'in yazınında zaman ve mekan sorunsalı

The problem of space and time has been discussed for centuries, taking only one-dimension into account. Starting from the twentieth century the spatial-temporal perspectives began to expand with respect to socio-economic and political changes. The discussion has turned out to be multidimensional, while some kept the focus on time and some others on space. However, the subtle questions, "what is the new understanding of space and time?", "what makes them significant?", and, "what is the female and male perspective for their interpretations?" still remain. Is it possible to talk about intimate time, the collective time, and universal time and, similarly at the same time, intimate, collective and universal space? What are their components? What is the relationship between them? What is their role in the culture? Space and time, are they sufficient conceptions for realization of historical novel? Is time a linear concept, or perhaps self-repeating and even punctual? To analyze these in Assia Djebar's novel "Far from Medina" and in Gürsel's "The daughters of Allah", the present references were primarily based on i- the chronotope theory of Mikhaϊl Bakhtine, ii- geocriticism by Bertrand Westphal and iii- the concept of historical novel by Georges Lukács, iv- the autobiographical consciousness of especially Gérard Genette and Philippe Gasparini. The current study consists of three major headings. In the first part, the conceptions within the chronotopes of Mikhaϊl Bakthine were discussed. Chronotopes in M. Bakthine's work make use of the space and the time as an indivisible structure. They focus essentially on the conception of time. Bakthine takes the time and the space as heterogeneous and complementary, but also relative and absolute conceptions. According to him, the time becomes more visible through space. Resultantly, Assia Djebar, depicts the period of four caliphs in Medina as a reformulation of the years 1985-1990 in Algeria. Using the Medina time, the writer implements the targeted period in Algeria more clearly. Assia Djebar establishes an analogy between Medina and Algeria and the period of four caliphs and the years 1985-1990, respectively. The author visualizes the analogues as complementary and absolute. As for Nedim Gürsel, he elaborates on different times that seem completely divergent in the beginning. However, in his literary style, the different times would gradually merge employing the similarities between his personal history and the history of Turkey. These different times : the Djahilia period, the advent of Islam, the last period of Ottoman Empire, the proclamation of the Republic, the 1950's in Turkey, were revealed by means of Manisa, Istanbul, France and Mecca. As the author considers a story of an individual dependent on public history, he gathers the evident similarities observed between the public Turkish and his own private histories. While these two stories are heterogeneous and relative, they appear complementary and absolute in his style. In view of chronotope, it is always incessant metamorphosis in all areas. Nevertheless, this consciousness is represented by moments of crisis. Therefore, Assia Djebar begins his story by the death of Mohammed, the moment of an essential crisis for the Islamic world, on which it initiated socio-political and economical transformations. As for Nedim Gürsel, autobiographical life is reconstructed from its own moments of crisis and those of Turkey (according to his own interpretation). His personal story begins with his grave in his mother's womb. With the birth, he feels the sense of abandonment for the first time. Now he is left alone in a chaotic world. There are three types of chronotope : the chronotope of i- the encounter, ii- the road, and of iii- the threshold. Chronope for the encounter; In Assia Djebar; There are common destinies of women, whose lives somehow interlace. The confrontation of different historical perspectives : Assia Djebar and the Tabari (historian and Qur'an commentator) : a male and a female history. The overlapping of similar phenomena between two different times. In Nedim Gürsel; Intersection of his inner traits with those of historical figures Intersection of different periods on the fictional timeline of the author For the chronotope of road; This is the common way of life of the various women in Assia Djebar. The path of Nedim Gürsel's life goes through Manisa, Istanbul and France. For the chronotope of threshold; Assia Djebar begins the story by the chronotope of threshold : the death of Mohammed, this phenomenon becomes a turning point for the fate of women. Then, the four titles in the book focus on the chronotopes of threshold for the women: "Freedom and challenge", "the obedient and the disobedient", "the voyagers", "ever-alive sayings". Throughout the book in which the author ridicules men, these four titles serve to reach the chronotope of essential threshold : the emancipation of women. Nedim Gürsel, on the other hand, focuses on threshold chronotopes of his private life and those of the Turkish history. Thus, from the relationship among the past, present and future that have been depicted, Nedim Gürsel tries to escape from the pressure of the present by the stories of the past to illuminate the future by historical inversion. Assia Djebar analyze the period of four caliphs to save Algerian women from their current situation in order to illuminate and guide their future by "Far from Medina". Therefore, chronotopes can be seen as the organizers of the fiction of the phenomena in the novel. This way, the time becomes more realistic/likely. At first, the time is fixed so that the space can be analyzed from the time interval that has already been set. Assia Djebar looks at Medina for Algeria and Algerian women, while Nedim Gürsel incorporates Mecca, Manisa and Istanbul to shape his own life. In the second part of the study, the focus lies on the aspect of geocriticism of Bertrand Westphal and the concept of historical novel by Georg Lukács. The geocriticism is a post-modern representation of space by highlighting the coherence among heterogeneous concepts. His perspective and spatial nomenclature are source of geography, architecture and urbanism. It emphasizes the importance of the individual for the understanding of space. The geocriticism is a literary criticism based on spatio-temporality, transgressiveness, and referentiality. Bertrand Westphal draws attention to the slow-down of the time in order to see and analyze space more efficiently. Thus, Assia Djebar sets the time period of four caliphs to illuminate Medina and, using the same conception, draws parallels in Algeria in the 1990s. On the contrary, the temporal consciousness of Nedim Gürsel is not fixed so that the brakes are loosened. He flies between time and different areas : Manisa, Mecca, the Djahilia period, the advent of Islam, the last period of the Ottoman Empire, the proclamation of the republic, Turkey in 1950's and the present (France and Turkey today). In Gürsel, there is no representation of space in detail. In geocritical consciousness, it is important to identify the evidences for the reciprocal relationship between space and literature. Concerning space in detail, it can be said that it also describes the time. They are fictionalized in a literary work. Therefore, it can be said that geocriticism humanizes space in order to recompose it. For instance, Assia Djebar reconstructs the atmosphere of Algeria in 1990's by means of the Medina period of four caliphs by the voice of women in the Islamic theater. As for Gürsel, he reconstructs his personal space, humanizing various spaces: Manisa as the paradise of childhood; Mecca, his purgatory; and France as his hell. The geocriticism controls a multifocal perspective : the inside and the outside, which is perceived and designed, the real and the imaginary... It aims to show the victory of space over time and even that of geography over history. In particular, Assia Djebar does not describe the atmosphere of Medina, using neither the real historical facts of the period of four caliphs, nor the generally recognized collective history. She describes women's history through the actions and voices of women who are even neglected until now. However, Nedim Gürsel describes the characteristics of the time and space by combining these with intimate features. Places are in the service of the creators by fiction. The fictionalization is performed by the transgression. Transgressing means to go out of a space and to enter another. According to Westphal, this awareness has two mental processes: deterritorialization and reterritorialization. Assia Djebar deterritorializes Algeria and France and she reterritorializes them into Medina. Nedim Gürsel deterritorializes himself from Manisa and France because he reterritorializes himself to Mecca. So, Assia Djebar transgresses Algeria in 1990's to Medina, Nedim Gürsel transgresses his own life to Mecca. These consciences then have effect on spaces, individuals, and creators. These transgressions, then, cause the explicit oscillation between the present and the past in Gürsel, as well as with an implicit style in Djebar. Each novel is a reflection of individual or collective discourse. Fiction is dependent on reality. It is formed by the transgression between the real and the imaginary. This includes the common location(s), proper location(s), improper location(s), factual location(s), fictional location(s), renamed location(s). Bertrand Westphal describes the spatiality of fiction by the homotopic consensus, heterotopic interference, and utopian excursus. In Djebar, it is homotopic consensus between the 1990's Algeria and the period of four caliphs. In Gürsel, the same is true between the history of Turkey and his private life. In the heterotopic interference, the similarity between the two concepts that seem incompatible is highlighted by four methods: juxtaposition, interpolation, overprinting, and misallocation. In the same way, in "Far from Medina", Algeria and Paris are juxtaposed, in "The daughters of Allah", Manisa and Paris even if they look as discordant outside the intimate life of Nedim Gürsel. Then, in conception of interpolation, Far from Medina, his ideal world includes Algeria, Medina, and Paris. For Gürsel, his familiar space is reflected in Manisa, the paradise of his childhood; in Mecca, his purgatory; and in Paris as his hell. Finally, as to the overprint through two familiar spaces Algeria and Paris, Assia Djebar experiments Medina. Nedim Gürsel, by making use of Turkey and Paris, his familiar spaces, he observes Mecca. In addition, Assia Djebar makes the misallocation named as his ideal world by "Far from Medina" and Nedim Gürsel nicknames Manisa after the paradise of his childhood. Thus, utopian excursus mobilizes an imaginary place. According to Umberto Eco, this in itself has the allotopia, utopia, uchronia, and metatopia / metachronia. In "Far from Medina", the author approaches the uchronia. In addition, there exists the metatopia by creating an ideal and imaginary world, Far from Medina, so that it turns into utopia. In "The daughters of Allah", Gürsel uses allotopia and metachronia. It is also close to the metatopia considering his longing for his mother and for his country. So, the Geocriticism is a literary vision which is geocentric, interdisciplinary, multifocalized, multi-sensorial, stratigraphic, and intertextual. The writer must act towards the place, not the place towards the writer(s). Assia Djebar makes feminine geocriticism in her book, however, Gürsel does not totally make geocriticism his literary aspect transfigured self-criticism. It is impossible that such a representation of space is done without reference to history. So, now, the historical novel will be discussed. Historical novel is a redaction of particular time depicted in fictional way. The time is determined by the analysis of the space. The time is framed by the ambiance of the location(s) selected. The central target is to create a momentum for the future by means of metamorphosis. So, the story is a spatio-temporal notion composed of moments: moments of the past and present. "The daughters of Allah" is composed of two parts : the past (history) and the present (autofiction). Nevertheless, "Far from Medina" describes the past, in which it keeps the present Algeria. The interpretation of the past is related to the present and to the experiences of the individual. In both novels, the authors have chosen worldwide historical figures, nevertheless Nedim Gürsel also describes his family. Assia Djebar describes the atmosphere of the period of four caliphs as popular life. The acts of men and women are the only important elements. However, Nedim Gürsel manipulates historical figures as to provide the reflections of his inner values. The historical novel is formed by the moments selected with an emotional and ideological force. There are two types of novel : the historical novel and the contemporary novel. Djebar focuses on a specific period and the style of his work is historical, whereas Gürsel uses introjections from historical themes. As a result, his historical novel transforms into a contemporary novel. By the fictionalization of a particular time, there are various spaces that reflect the psychological state of the author(s) and of the time as tragic, dramatic and epic. Thus Djebar focuses on highlighting the evidences for the women tragedy that lasts for centuries. Djebar's style transforms a post-modern tragedy by changing the components of the classical tragedy, using the harmony of the tragedy of women, and of the tragicomedy of men. In Djebar, the dramatic collision between generations and genders are reflected. This drama was destroyed by the room theater. In "The daughters of Allah", the source of the dramatic state of Gürsel is the dilemma between individual needs and social norms. In addition, he oversees the history of Turkey in a dramatic manner. In his book, Gürsel tries to find himself in the history of Turkey in an epic style. Historical events revolve around him. He talks about himself and he also speaks by means of his characters. He transforms into a national character acting as a representative of Turks, who face the dilemma between the Eastern and Western worlds. In Djebar, women's identity disappears on the way to emancipation in an epical manner. The coexistence of various time and space in the same context results in polyphony. Polyphony and dialogism originate from double enunciation. If this type of discourse transforms into entity, it becomes intertextual. Among the three, there is a reciprocal relationship. In addition, the interpretation of the spatial-temporality creates pressure on intertextuality or the contrary. In Assia Djebar, firstly, the female voice rises due to polyphony, resulting in a plurality of voices and dual expression in the field of spatial-temporality. There are also double expressions, interplay between history and fiction, in italic form, as well as by the use of individual punctuation. There are references to old literary works as well. In Nedim Gürsel, we witness the dialogues between the child Nedim and bastard Ismaϊl, which cause polyphony and dialogism. Double expressions of history and fiction are also present in Nedim Gürsel. This is why it is evident by the fact that the dialectic between the history and his own interpretation causes polyphony. Finally, grotesque style and carnivalesque laugh have been mentioned because laughter is a paradigm where it is of private interpretation of the common history. Mikhaϊl Bakthine highlights three types of carnival; ritual forms and spectacles, comic verbal oeuvres, and different forms and genres of vocabulary. In the first, it should be noted that the event where there exists a second life or another possibility for the happenings in certain periods of time. Assia Djebar establishes his Islamic theater with regard to this conception. All the scenes are revisions of historical facts in order to seek a second choice to change the course of women's fate. In "The daughters of Allah", Nedim Gürsel seeks a new life for himself. This type of carnival is universal renovation for real life and transforms reality. This aspect becomes a popular festival in Djebar, as she sees the present as unfinished and, on the contrary, it translates into a satirical laugh at Gürsel, because he deems the present as completed. In the second type of carnival, as in the novel of Djebar and that of Gürsel, language and language skills occupy an important place: French and Arabic (language of Koran for Nedim Gürsel). Similarly, it is dichotomous conceptions in verbal oeuvres such that "Far from Medina" possesses the carnival and the tragedy simultaneously and "The daughters of Allah" embodies the laughter and the drama at the same time. In the third, there are blasphemous profanities. In addition, Bakthine manifests three aspects of the comic : the buffoon, the burlesque, and the grotesque. At first, laughter, which originates from dissatisfaction, is naïve and there is no expressions of insult. Assia Djebar does not consider Islamic and patriarchal system satisfying for the freedom of women, while Gürsel is not satisfied with himself. The burlesque comic is concerned with the relegation of the importance and value. Assia Djebar deals with the devaluation of the high status of men in the public area. However, Gürsel aims to deprive the value of space and time. Grotesque comic has ridiculing features for some social events. Only in the novel of Gürsel, there are ridiculing exercises for certain socio-historical facts. In the third part of our study, the autobiographical consciousness was attended. The autobiography is the fictional re-composition of the intimate history in the form of both historical and psychological study. This aspect is influenced by the collective history. In "The daughters of Allah", Nedim Gürsel describes his childhood and family by questioning himself on the accounts of the effects of the history of Islam and Turkey. His book also contains a biography of his grandfather and Mohammed. In "Far from Medina", Assia Djebar sheds light on women's biography under the influence of the collective history and the patriarchal system. The identity of Assia Djebar is manifested implicitly by the female biography. Biography and autobiography are reference texts. In Djebar, the similarity among the Muslim women forms the female identity. In Gürsel, it is his own identity that creates the resemblance between his characters and himself. These are four different methods for the representation of the inner life : the autobiographical novel, autofiction, the fictional autobiography, and simple/pure autobiography. All of these definitions are valid for biography: a biographical novel, biofiction, the fictional biography, and pure/simple biography. The auto-fiction and fictional autobiography are the metonymic mechanisms saving the writer(s) limitations and norms. The novel of Gürsel is composed of two parts : the autobiography (the level of the present) and autofiction (the level of the past). In the autobiographical part, Gürsel narrates using the "tu (informal and singular form of "you" in French)" in his epistolary style, using the same pronoun he also addresses readers to infer that the biography refers to the people sharing similar emotions and dilemmas. As a result, Gürsel is transformed into a model for all the citizens of the country. This can also be deemed as his diary where all episodes of the book correspond to a day experienced by Gürsel. By mixing his diary and epistolary writing styles, he tries to express himself using a form of radio language. Assia Djebar, on the other hand, emphasizes the common biography of women. The only important element for her style is to tell all what is experienced by women. Thus, Assia Djebar can be seen as only practicing autofiction. Her style transforms into a bio(auto)fiction due to the fact that she more focuses on probabilities.