The function of letter in Tanzimat Period Turkish novels

Letter is one of the written tools that enable communication in human history. Sincerity, genuineness, and privacy are important in letters written in a natural style. Letter, which was a common communication tool during the Tanzimat (Reorganization) Period, was intertwined with other genres, and thus letters were involved in novels. It became a genre used by the characters. In those years, women kept in the background in social life due to the traditional society structure, and because of that letters were widely used among women. A women who wanted to sign, talk about her privacy, and share her feelings and thoughts, frequently used the letter technique. Letter became the language of confession by carrying subjective feelings and thoughts. Thus, letter could be seen in novels. It makes the novel meaningful and gain dimension. It adds vivacity to the plot. Female writers of Tanzimat, such as Ms. Fatma Aliye and Emine Semiye, included letters in their books. In addition, authors such as Sir Ahmet Midhat, Namik Kemal, Samipasazade Sezai, Nabizade Nazım, Mizanci Murad, Mehmed Celâl, Mustafa Rashid used letters in their novels as a communication tool. Roman hereos preferred letters when they wanted to Express their love, feelings and thoughts, their depression, their suicidal tendencies, the status, hostility, and hatred od soldiers fighting on the front line. Letter which was one of the communication tools of periods when technology was not developed, became the language of the subject who acts as a living organism in the novel and who does not speak. The letter, suddenly appeared in the novel, changed the course of events when the fiction was limited. It became a protagonist of the novel. The functions of the letters in the novels will be explained in this study, which focuses on the letter and Turkish novels of the Tanzimat Period. The functions added to the novels by the letters will be shown by using the information about love, suicide, privacy, timidity, and war gotten from the letters.