Treating Turkish-Armenian Relations with Symbolism in Literary Works: The Example of Ömer Seyfettin's "Ashab-ı Kehfimiz" (Diary of an Armenian Youth)

Abstract

In the latter years of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish-Armenian Relations was one of the issues that regularly dominated the nation's political and intellectual life. Some writers were able to convey a heated topic of the time using symbols rather than by speaking directly to the issue. This approach has also been followed by certain authors who are concerned that criticizing the present administration and its policies may result in fines or punishments. By employing symbols, making up fictional characters to represent both their own and the other party's thinking, and telling tales about actual events and concepts, they were able to do away with these fines and penalties. Ömer Seyfettin's "Ashab-ı Kehfimiz" (Diary of an Armenian Youth), which is the subject of the article, is such a work. The researchers who will examine social and political events should consider such works, which will make their research more equipped. In this novel, the author put himself in the place of an Armenian youth and wrote down the events as if he were keeping a diary, and conveyed the events and the general scene in this way.