Varlık

Varlık
Title	Varlık
Founder	Yaşar Nabi Nayır
Founded	1933
Country	Turkey
Based	Istanbul
Language	Turkish
Frequency	Monthly

Varlık is a Turkish literary magazine established in 1933 that has played a central role in modern Turkish letters. Founded in Istanbul, it has published fiction, poetry, criticism, and translations, fostering connections among figures in Turkish and international literature. Across decades it has engaged with movements, debates, and institutions shaping 20th- and 21st-century Turkish literary life.

Etymology

The magazine's title was chosen by founder Yaşar Nabi Nayır and reflects a Turkish lexeme meaning "existence" or "being." The name resonates with intellectual currents linked to Turkish Modernism, Turkish nationalism, and the cultural projects associated with figures such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Ziya Gökalp, and Halide Edip Adıvar. The title also evokes parallels in Eurasian literary journals like La Nouvelle Revue Française, Beacon, and Poetry that signaled ambitions to shape literary canons alongside contemporaries such as Nazım Hikmet, Orhan Veli Kanık, and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar.

Literary Magazine History

Varlık was launched in 1933 in Istanbul during the early Republican era, a period concurrent with reforms by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and cultural initiatives involving institutions such as the Turkish Language Association and the Ministry of National Education (Turkey). Its early decades intersected with the careers of poets and novelists like Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, Sait Faik Abasıyanık, Peyami Safa, and Sabahattin Ali. The magazine continued publication through World War II, the multi-party transition of the late 1940s and 1950s that included Democrat Party (Turkey, 1946) ascendancy, and the coups of 1960 and 1980, during which literary circles engaged with debates involving İsmet İnönü and Kenan Evren. Throughout the Cold War era it published translations from authors such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, Marcel Proust, James Joyce, and Gabriel García Márquez, connecting Turkish readers to global modernism and postmodernism.

Editorial Profile and Content

Varlık's editorial line combined original Turkish poetry and fiction with critical essays, reviews, and translations. Editors and contributors included intellectuals associated with institutions like Istanbul University, Ankara University, and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) cultural initiatives; notable editorial figures worked alongside publishers such as Remzi Kitabevi and Yapı Kredi Yayınları. The magazine ran serialized novels, short fiction by writers like Oğuz Atay and Adalet Ağaoğlu, and poetry by Sezai Karakoç and İlhan Berk. It also featured critical interventions on aesthetics reflecting dialogues with the works of T.S. Eliot, Bertolt Brecht, Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, and translations of Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, and Vladimir Nabokov.

Influence and Reception

Varlık influenced successive generations of Turkish writers and critics, shaping curricula at İstanbul Üniversitesi and informing debates in cultural forums including the Istanbul Biennial and gatherings at the Salt Beyoğlu space. Literary historians compare its influence to magazines such as Yaprak and Papirüs and to international counterparts like The New Yorker and Granta. Reception varied across political contexts: during periods of censorship under laws like Law No. 765 (Turkish Penal Code) and trials affecting authors linked to Communist Party of Turkey (historical), the magazine sometimes faced controversy for publishing politically sensitive material. Critics such as Fethi Naci and scholars like Metin And have assessed its editorial continuity and role in canon formation.

Notable Contributors and Publications

Contributors over decades included poets, novelists, and critics such as Nazım Hikmet, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Attilâ İlhan, Cemal Süreya, Edip Cansever, Orhan Pamuk, Ismet Özel, Latife Tekin, Vüs'at O. Bener, Leyla Erbil, and Haldun Taner. The magazine serialized important works and published early poems and stories by future prizewinners and nominees associated with awards such as the Nobel Prize in Literature, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and the Sait Faik Short Story Award. It carried translations and introductions to works by Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Vargas Llosa, Octavio Paz, Tomas Tranströmer, and Seamus Heaney.

Circulation and Distribution

Varlık circulated primarily in Turkey with distribution concentrated in urban centers such as Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir via newsstands and bookstore chains including Remzi Bookstore and independent sellers. Copies reached diaspora readers through cultural associations in cities like Berlin, Vienna, and New York City with networks involving the Turkish Cultural Foundation and university Middle Eastern studies departments at Boğaziçi University and Harvard University. Circulation figures fluctuated with political and market conditions, responding to competition from publishing houses such as Can Yayınları and periodicals like Milliyet Sanat.

Awards and Recognition

Over its history Varlık and its contributors received acknowledgments from institutions including the Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Awards (Turkey), the Sait Faik Short Story Prize, the Orhan Kemal Novel Prize, and international fellowships from organizations like the British Council and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Individual contributors associated with Varlık have been recipients of national honors such as the State Artist of Turkey title and have been shortlisted for international accolades including the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Man Booker International Prize.

Category:Turkish literary magazines