The chronotope in Turkish novel (1870-1928)

In this study, Turkish novel is discussed with chronotope concept focussed. The article titled "Time and Chronotope Forms in the Novel -Notes on a Historical Poetics" written by Mikhail Bakhtin between 1937 and 1938 serves as a reference framework for the study. Given article that was published in 1975, the year of Bakhtin's death, attracted the attention it deserved in academic studies almost half a century after it was written and translated into English in 1981. Considering the length of time in between, it can be said that the researches on time-space in art and literature studies have just begun. Although the concept of chronotope is not seen as a precise, complete definition, it is considered as an argument that helps to understand the importance of evaluating the time-space unity in the narratives as an inseparable whole. The author, who is part of a temporal-historical chronotope, the fictional world and the lives of the characters merge on the axis where time-spaces merge and the narrative becomes multi-layered. The fact that the chronotopes in the Turkish novel are elaborated by integrating a series of features including the relationship of authors with the outside world and the interaction of the fictional world with concrete imaginary units will reveal different chronotopic arrangements with historical specificity. This study reveals the interaction between the chronotopes in the novels published between 1870 and 1928 and examines the chronotopes specific to a certain period of the Turkish novel in a holistic manner, unlike the studies of a particular work or author.