The Prison Imaginary in Turkish Literature

Abstract

The Prison Imaginary in Turkish Literature Maureen Freely From theearliestdays of theRepublic, literary writerswho challengedTurkey's officialideologycouldexpecttospend timeinprison.Despite the privations thatthey suffered behindbars, they were able to formsocietiesofsupportthat helped them grow as writerswhile also helping themto survivematerially. Though today's literary writersare unlikelytospend timebehindbars, they do not alwaysfeel better off. In 1938,while doing his military service, a young Turkish poet named Rasit was charged with incitingmutiny and spreading propa ganda on behalf of a foreign state. The evidence against himwas slimbut, ina court that regarded Communism as the singlemost important threat to national security, not unusually so. Among his belongings, the authorities had discovered an assortment of newspaper cuttings about Marxism, a book byMaxim Gorky, and a handful ofpoems dedicated toNazirn Hikmet, who was not just Turkey's firstand foremost modern poet but also itsmost famous Communist. Rasjt was dispatched toa prison in the cityof Bursa to serve out a five-year sentence. The win terof 1939-40 found him assigned to the prison registeroffice.One morning, the registrar walked in to say, "You're in luck. Your master's coming." When Ras.it protested, saying, "I don't have a mas ter,or anyone else who fitsthatdescription," the registrar thrusta document intohis hand: "Look at this, then.Nazim Hikmet. Don't you reckon he's yourmaster?" (OrhanKemal inJail withN?zim Hikmet). Though Bursa Prison was a broad church, mixing itspolitical prisoners with thieves, drug dealers, murderers, and bandits, every inmate knew of thegreatN?zim Hikmet. Those who had come to know him personally in other prisons painted a picture of aman somuch larger than life thathe could stun a cryingbaby to silence justby picking him up. So Ra?it was not prepared forthe bright-eyed, open-facedman who walked through thedoor, clicking his heels together like a soldier as he introduced himself.As he scanned theroom, his face litup at the sight of each familiar face. "And you're here as well, Vasfi? What happened to your appeal? ... Then what next, Remzi? So you got thirty years then? What on earth for?" He was assigned to one of the isolation cells usually reserved for men caught gambling, thiev ing,or knifing a fellow inmate (though in thiscase itwould have been an acknowledgment by the prison authorities thathewas a distinguished man of letters who should not be obliged to live com munally with common criminals). Ra?it was on hand tohelp N?zim settle intohis new quarters. After Ra?it had cooked themboth ameal of eggs and Turkish sausage on his charcoal brazier?and refused to lethis guest pay forhis share?N?zim asked ifhe would mind being his roommate. "I can't stand being alone! You can't even imagine. ... I can't write a single word. I just go mad." Itwasn't long beforeN?zim, having already decided to tutor Ra?it in French and current affairs, asked to hear a few of his poems. Rasit began with the one ofwhich he was most proud. He had not reached the end of the firststanza Facing page: Orhan Kemal (left) and N?zimHikmetin Bursa Prison / Letter from Hikmet toKemaldated October 7, 1949 46 i World Literature Today SPECIAL SECTION when N?zim said, "That's enough, brother, that's enough . . . let's go on to another one, please" He did as he was told, but he had hardly begun the poem when N?zim cried, "Awful!" Feeling very small,Ra?it embarked on a thirdpoem, only tobe told, "Ghastly!" "All right,brother," N?zim said then, "but why all this verbiage and?excuse the expres sion?mumbo jumbo?Why do you write things you don't sincerely feel? Look, you're a sensible person. Don't you realize you're maligning your selfwhen you write about what you feel in a way that you'd never feel, that you're making a mockery of it like that?"Having launched into a long lecture about "active realism" that Ra?it, in his humiliation, could barely understand, N?zim again stunned his new friend,this timeby asking ifhe would like tohear him read. "I pulled myself together,"Rask laterrecalled. "Wewere facingeach other, eye toeye.He added: 'Butyou're not...