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| Garip (poetry movement) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Garip |
| Years active | 1940s |
| Country | Turkey |
| Major figures | Orhan Veli Kanık; Oktay Rifat; Melih Cevdet Anday |
| Influences | Nazim Hikmet; French Surrealism; Dada; Turkish folk poetry |
| Notable works | Garip (book); Yenisi; Vazgeçemediğim |
Garip (poetry movement)
Garip was a Turkish modernist poetry movement formed in the 1940s that sought to overturn established poetic norms and bring verse closer to everyday speech. Emerging in Istanbul amid debates involving figures linked to Republic of Turkey, Garip rejected ornate diction and academic models favored by poets associated with Milli Edebiyat and responded to earlier modernists such as Nazim Hikmet. The group’s programmatic debut sparked discussions in contemporary periodicals and cultural institutions including debates affiliated with Istanbul University, Ankara literary circles, and major newspapers.
The movement arose during a tumultuous era in Turkish cultural life shaped by the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s reforms and conversations among intellectuals in Istanbul and Ankara. Founders had studied or interacted with writers and critics connected to Varlık (magazine), Yedigün (magazine), and the theatrical scenes around City Theater (Istanbul). Their first collective statements appeared against the backdrop of debates involving earlier modernists such as Ahmet Haşim, Tevfik Fikret, and social realist trends represented by Nazim Hikmet and contributors to Tan (newspaper). International currents—French Surrealism, Dada, and continental avant-garde networks—filtered into Turkish journals and salons through translations and émigré contacts linked to presses in Paris, Berlin, and London.
The movement’s central trio comprised Orhan Veli Kanık, Oktay Rifat, and Melih Cevdet Anday, each of whom had ties to institutions and publications such as Varlık (magazine), Yaprak (magazine), and university circles around Istanbul University. Orhan Veli’s friendships and correspondences connected him to artists and intellectuals with links to Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, and the theatrical community around Darülbedayi. Oktay Rifat’s career intersected with figures like Ece Ayhan and later poets associated with Mavi (magazine), while Melih Cevdet Anday engaged with dramatists and novelists whose networks included Nazim Hikmet and cultural institutions such as Ankara State Conservatory. Secondary contributors and sympathizers encompassed editors and critics at Vakit (newspaper), translators who worked with texts from Paul Éluard, Louis Aragon, Tristan Tzara, and Turkish poets influenced by Ahmet Haşim and Tevfik Fikret.
Garip advocated plain diction, conversational cadence, and the demystification of poetic language, positioning itself against the ornate neoclassical style promoted by older generations including figures associated with Milli Edebiyat. The manifesto-style pronouncements echoed programmatic declarations from French Surrealism and polemics similar to those of Dada, yet the movement insisted on local inflections drawn from folk and urban vernaculars prevalent in Istanbul and Ankara. Formal experiments included free verse, prosaic lines, and humor influenced by popular song traditions and street culture observed in neighborhoods near Beyoğlu and ports like İzmir. The group’s aesthetic also engaged with public debates on literature hosted by newspapers such as Cumhuriyet and literary salons patronized by figures from cultural institutions including Istanbul Municipality theaters.
The initial collective publication that articulated the movement’s aims appeared in a pamphlet and subsequent collected poems published by Orhan Veli, Oktay Rifat, and Melih Cevdet Anday, and circulated through journals linked to Varlık (magazine), Yaprak (magazine), and daily press outlets like Ulus (newspaper). Notable individual works include Orhan Veli’s collections that later appeared in anthologies alongside pieces by Oktay Rifat such as his early volumes and Melih Cevdet Anday’s experiments in narrative poetry; these were serialized or reviewed in periodicals like Cumhuriyet, Vakit (newspaper), and cultural weeklies that also covered theaters such as Darülbedayi. Translations of European modernists—Paul Éluard, Louis Aragon, Tristan Tzara, Guillaume Apollinaire—featured in the same venues, amplifying Garip’s claims about international affinities.
Reactions ranged from enthusiastic endorsement in avant-garde circles around Istanbul University and younger editors at Varlık (magazine) to severe critique from established poets and critics linked to Milli Edebiyat and conservative reviewers at papers such as Akşam (newspaper). Critics invoked predecessors like Ahmet Haşim and Tevfik Fikret to defend formal polish, while supporters pointed to affinities with Nazim Hikmet and continental movements as validation. Public controversies unfolded in the letters pages of Cumhuriyet and debates at literary gatherings hosted by institutions including Istanbul Municipal Theatre, with some dramatists and novelists expressing sympathy and others invoking traditionalist defenses from salons associated with Sait Faik Abasıyanık and similar figures.
Garip’s influence extended into postwar Turkish poetry, shaping subsequent schools and poets connected to İkinci Yeni, Mavi (magazine), and later experimentalists such as Ece Ayhan, Edip Cansever, and Turgut Uyar. The movement’s emphasis on colloquialism informed lyric experiments in plays staged at State Theaters of Turkey and in prose by novelists whose networks included Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar and others. Academic study of Garip became part of curricula at Istanbul University, Middle East Technical University, and cultural histories featured in exhibitions at institutions like Istanbul Modern and archives maintained by Turkish Historical Society. Its challenge to poetic orthodoxy remains a reference point in debates about modernism, translation practices, and the role of everyday language in Turkish letters.
Category:Turkish poetry movements