Analysis of Ömer Seyfettin's Stories about the Balkans in Terms of Narration Techniques

Abstract

One of the founding figures of contemporary Turkish short story writing, Ömer Seyfettin, produced hundreds of literary works in his short life. Having spent part of his life in the Balkans, the author's stories such as "Beyaz Lale", "Bomba", and "Hürriyet Bayrakları" contain elements related to the Balkans. In this study, these stories of the author have been analyzed in terms of narrative techniques. Qualitative research methods, specifically document analysis, were utilized in the study. At the end of the review, it was determined that narrative, description, dialogue, and inner monologue techniques were intensively used in the mentioned stories, with one story preferring the inner monologue technique. These techniques were found to play a significant role in shaping the preparatory phase in the stories, summarizing events over time, creating an atmosphere, directing the development of events, and revealing the personality traits of the protagonists. Especially in realistically narrating the massacres that Muslim-Turks were subjected to during and after the Balkan Wars, these techniques were found to be effective. In light of these findings, it is believed that Ömer Seyfettin's narrative techniques can serve as an example for contemporary short story writers.