What comes to mind when you think of Turkish science fiction literature? If you don’t have a special interest in this topic, it’s probably on your mind. even the number of works that will exceed the five fingers of a hand will not come. But don’t worry, this is the case for most people.

In this content, it will focus on some of the reasons for this situation, and in fact it has made great progress over the years. The History of Turkish Science Fiction Literature We’ll have a look soon.

When do you think the traces of science fiction first appeared in Turkish literature?

The foundations of the expression, widely used in our language in the form of science fiction, were laid in the world for the first time. In the first science fiction magazine published in 1926 is thrown. great stories The term ‘Science Fiction’ is first used in this magazine by Hugo Gernsback. This expression and genre, which attracts attention and is loved, spreads in a short time and begins to be used often.

In Turkish, for this genre, which has been included in our lives as a translation for many years, some expressions such as fiction, imaginative work used. Science fiction for the first time It was published in the Turkish Language Magazine in 1973 by the writer Orhan Duru. used. The expression of Duru, who included this expression in the science fiction file he prepared and proposed to use it in this way, is accepted and thus the expression of science fiction is brought into our language.

Orhan Duru also contains science fiction elements in Turkish literature, working on the development of the species one of the key figures. In fact, he is known as the first writer to write original science fiction stories in the history of literature, but this is the first time he used the word “science fiction” and “he was one of the first names to try to explain and to develop this genre”.

The first volume cover of Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatnâme

But in fact traces of science fiction can be found in Turkish literature much earlier. Even some sources Some of the stories in Seyahatnâme. from Evliya Zelebic draws attention to the traces of science fiction.

For example, in a story told by Evliya Çelebi from Vienna, there are Turks who beat coffee in front of a coffee shop without even moving their head. Evliya Çelebi wants to respond to this situation because according to him these Turks work as slaves. Çelebi, who went away during the day ‘to avoid causing any incidents’, returns in the evening. At that moment, the man leaving the shop suddenly takes off the turbans of the ‘Turkish slaves’ and takes off their clothes. Evliya Çelebi said that the slaves who beat coffee were not Turks; sees it’s a machine. These machines, which we can now call ‘robots’, attract Çelebi’s attention and he describes his astonishment at this machine by describing it in detail.

Similarly, in another part of the Seyahat name, Evliya Çelebi addressed an event in Istanbul:flying manned missileHe talks about… Evliya Çelebi’s travel book is partly fictional and partly true, because of these kinds of stories that can be found in his stories. the first science fiction traces of some elements in our literature seems to be so.

But of course It is clear that they cannot be considered a literary work in the genre of science fiction.. However, they can be regarded as good references for the use of such expressions in a written text. Accepting it as such, it would not be wrong to say that the traces of science fiction in Turkish literature date back to the 17th century.

So when did the first “true science fiction works” begin to be released?

If we look away from the science fiction elements included in the works and if we look at the first time a Turkish science fiction work was created by who, we come across many names.

By Molla Davudzade Mustafa Nazim Erzurumi Dream Progress and Medeniyet-i Islamiyeyi Rüyet, written in 1913 and Refik Halit Karay’s work called Ago Pasha’s Memoir. His story, Hülya Bu Ya, dated 1921known as the first Turkish science fiction works.

If we look at the Republican period after these two works, we see Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı’s ‘The Great Kukuriko’, published in 1948 story and dr. By Vedii Bilgin Hataylı 1943 Dream or Reality? story comes out.

What were these works that were considered science fiction about?

We can say that the work called Rüya Terakki ve Medeniyet-i İslamiyeyi Rüyet, written by Molla Davudzâde Mustafa Nazım Erzurumi, is a utopian science fiction. In this work, 400 years later, the character goes to Istanbul in his dreams and meets his grandfather there. The two travel together to Istanbul of the future and begin to be surprised because a lot has changed. The details that attract attention as science fiction in the work are: flying machines that can be moved and lifted by hand after being put on as clothingCheap engines, which constantly advance with water and air pressure, are described as taking images from space. ‘all tools’We can mention details such as the announcement machine, the sleeping machine, which resembles today’s satellites.

In the work called Hülya Bu Ya, Ankara from that period is told through the eyes of a tourist who comes to Ankara from America. In the work, which can also be called a kind of satire,’There is no season in Ankara,” he said, “thanks to some scientific methods, we were able to maintain a constant supply of heat in the atmosphere, underground heaters heat the ground and electric machines give heat to the air, even here there is no rain and snow, no day or night! The nights have turned into days since independence was proclaimed!An imaginary Ankara is described with numerous expressions like ”. Again in the same work,human machines‘ describes a machine system in which babies are born without the need for a mother’s womb. These machines allow the completion of 9 months and 10 days in a week, and in another machine, the baby is made as advanced as a 10-year-old child in a short time…

If we look at the story of Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı named Büyük Kukuriko, it is almost like what we saw in 1984, the story of a dystopian and ghostly society We see it described. The elements that make the story into the genre of science fiction are that there are many absurd “inventions” to make society function in this dystopian society. For example in the story ‘pistons of motorized sorrow and motorized joy’There are many elements from tools that control people’s emotions, from ‘to inventions like ‘philosophy device’.

Dr. Vedii Bilgin Hataylı’s Dream or Truth from 1943? His work is called the first work that we started to travel in space. He finds himself suddenly floating in space, and then… character goes to mars, There he meets the Martians. After discussing inventions and philosophy with the highly advanced Martians, the character returns to Earth.

The history of science fiction in Turkish literature is somewhat controversial and quite complex.

Apart from the ones I mentioned above, there are also several works produced in similar periods. However, at this pointshould this work be included in the science fiction genre?’ ‘What makes a work a science fiction genre?’ It is not possible to make a clear positioning due to the constant discussions in our literature, such as:

For example, utopian or dystopian universes created through dream travel abound in our literature. However, literary circles do not consider many such works to be the science fiction genre. Even the works I mentioned above are actually a selection, Although almost every one of them is mentioned in different sources, it may not even be mentioned in any other source.…

Unfortunately, one of the biggest reasons for this situation is that the value placed on the science fiction genre in our literature is quite low. Mainly 1950 generation and later Although it is slowly starting to enter our science fiction literature with stories, magazines and books with firmer steps, writers who produce science fictionWriters who are afraid to deal with real problems and write superstitions‘ is one of these factors. At the same time publishers don’t give science fiction works a chanceproof that the genre has not been appreciated for years.

Fortunately, our science fiction literature has also been active since the 1970s.

After the steps of Orhan Duru, the father of science fiction, whom we mentioned at the beginning of the article, and the steps he took to bring science fiction into our literature, many important developments took place in the name of Turkish science. fiction in the 70s.

In these years, while the publication of translated science fiction works increased, on the other hand, the first Turkish science fiction magazine grew, Antares began broadcasting in 1971. Immediately after Antares, many magazines began to publish. Thus begins the science fiction period, which is known and appreciated as a genre and the number of works in Turkish literature is constantly increasing.

Among these magazines, one of the names that makes an important contribution to the science fiction genre in our country. X-Unknown magazine published by Selma Mine is coming. After its inception, X-Unknown takes important steps such as organizing science fiction story competitions. Selma Mine, on the other hand, writes the first female science fiction writer in our literature and the first science fiction novel for children, Star Trek, and many other science fiction works after that.

The science fiction story, which developed with the magazines, has been crowned with many works over the years. Lots of writers today continues to produce works in the genre of science fiction for our literature. In another content on this topic, I will talk about Turkish science fiction works approaching today and suggestions for you to read. If you have any suggestions, please share them with us in the comments.