The Source Value of 16th Century Biographical Dictionaries on 14th-15th Centuries Turkish Literature
While works in Western Turkish have been produced since the late 13th century, the primary sources of Western Turkish literary history, such as tezkires [biographical dictionaries] of poets and other biographical sources, did not begin to appear until the early 16th century. Due to this gap of nearl...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Istanbul University Press
2025-05-01
|
| Series: | İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Türk Dili ve Edebiyatı Dergisi |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/3CB29441FA9A4DC6846787C6923F9C51 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | While works in Western Turkish have been produced since the late 13th century, the primary sources of Western Turkish literary history, such as tezkires [biographical dictionaries] of poets and other biographical sources, did not begin to appear until the early 16th century. Due to this gap of nearly two and a half centuries, these sources naturally would contain errors and inaccuracies regarding their knowledge of past literature. This study analyzes the information the 16th-century biographical sources provide about pre-16th-century Turkish literature. Thus, this study first briefly introduces the sources it uses before analyzing the epoch in question in three stages: the period up to Sultan Bayezid I’s accession to the throne (1299-1389), the period up to the conquest of Istanbul (1389-1453), and the period ending with Necati Bey’s death (1453-1509). This study observes the tezkires to contain very little information about the literature that had formed before 1389. The period of 1389-1453 is considered the beginning of the formation of Ottoman literature. The number of poets and works known from this period is incomparably higher than that of the prior period. As a result of the new capital city and the important steps taken to establish the empire and social life, significant developments are understood to have occurred in the literary culture after 1453, with this period also understood to have been a harbinger of the advanced level that would be reached in the 16th century. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2602-2648 |