Yaşar Kemal commemorated in Manisa with the panel 'An Epic Narrator from Yesterday to Today'

The panel discussed Yaşar Kemal’s epic language describing Anatolia, his impact on social memory, and his depictions of nature.

The panel, held at the Manisa Metropolitan Municipality Culture Center, was moderated by Feridun Andaç, with speakers including Yaşar Kemal’s wife and President of the Yaşar Kemal Foundation, Ayşe Semiha Baban; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cihan Erdönmez; and Lütfi Özgünaydın, who photographed Yaşar Kemal at various times over 9 years. The panel was attended by Manisa Metropolitan Municipality Public Education Branch Manager Serap Gücüyen, City Council Branch Manager Ahmet Kaş, CHP Manisa Women’s Branch President Gülbahar Tahmilci, CHP Provincial Vice President Esra Durukan, CHP Şehzadeler Municipality Council Member Zerrin İşnel, and literature enthusiasts.

Stating that Yaşar Kemal will be read even more in the future, panel moderator Feridun Andaç said, “Yaşar Kemal is not a novelist of today, nor of yesterday, but of the future. When we dedicate ourselves to understanding the Anatolia of the future, the Anatolian geography, and its cultural, political, social, and even human psychology, Yaşar Kemal will be read more in the future. We can say that Yaşar Kemal is the jugular vein of a budding literature. He is a root narrator and, at the same time, a literary memory. We will read him more tomorrow. The British say of Shakespeare, ‘Our language, our homeland, our memory.’ The Spanish say something similar about Cervantes, ‘We are Don Quixote.’ For that reason, I think we are Memed, My Hawk (İnce Memed).”

Stating that people discovered a completely different Anatolia with Yaşar Kemal, Ayşe Semiha Baban said, “Yaşar Kemal brought about a revolution in the press. He brought Anatolia. Even today, the national press is Istanbul-centric. It is almost a deep-rooted tradition; there is always a sense of alienation in Istanbul’s relationship with Anatolia. There is a role of savior, but at its core, there is a lack of recognition. Suddenly, an interviewer arrives, and everyone discovers a completely different Anatolia. Until the end of his life, he led calls for change on many issues regarding social customs, injustices, corruption, and deprivation. Standing against every initiative that harms peace, human rights, and human dignity was the foundation of Yaşar Kemal’s life, personality, and literature.”

Discussing epic narratives, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cihan Erdönmez said, “Yaşar Kemal’s narratives shed light on tomorrow. Epics are a social memory. They certainly have a heroic and supernatural aspect. There is mostly a poetic narrative. Its beginning is based on an oral future, and it contains mythological historical elements. When we look at whether we see these in Yaşar Kemal’s narratives, we do. This is not just my assessment. Memed, My Hawk is a complete epic. Yaşar Kemal talks about a hero who has become the hope of the people here. A folk hero resisting a cruel commander. A kind of Köroğlu, a kind of Oghuz Khagan Epic. It has an epic narrative. There are magnificent descriptions of nature that support this epic narrative. The vast plains of Çukurova. From the sea to the peaks of the Taurus Mountains. By adding epic narratives to realistic social problems, Yaşar Kemal creates narratives that captivate people. In fact, Yaşar Kemal does not create a surreal world. By presenting reality with an extraordinary narrative, he gives it a magical atmosphere. There are two things that Yaşar Kemal clearly opposed in his works, his life, and his other studies: the exploitation of human by human and the exploitation of nature by human. He himself says that the two are inseparable.”

Saying, “I did not have the strength to capture what he described,” Lütfi Özgünaydın added, “I swam in a great ocean. A great ocean. He taught me two things in life very well. You must be honest and conscientious. One must be a person of conscience. I am very happy. Yaşar Kemal is being talked about everywhere this year. His books and his words are becoming more important with each passing day.”