Architecture in Fictional Literature: Essays on Selected Works by Erdoğan Nevnihal;Akarsu Hikmet Temel;

Author:Erdoğan, Nevnihal;Akarsu, Hikmet Temel;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers
Published: 2022-01-05T00:00:00+00:00

THE STORY OF THE LUMPENPROLETARIAT

Since the author knows quite well the history and the centuries-long lore of the city he inhabits, he shows utmost skill at recounting the devastation of such riches and treasures by these newly formed social classes. Such sections of the novel are where the author excels. Especially after the second chapter, the novel reaches its artistic apex, following the fleeing of the girl, making it in the city, and building a slum. The author deserves the honour of passing on this literary heritage to future generations by tackling the city’s unrelenting problems: the creation of their own caste system by the lumpenproletariat, its amalgamation to the political system, the mafia originating from illegal electricity distribution, the land mafia, involvement of leftist organizations and cults in these schemes, and the finale of the novel depicting the transformation of the “desparate” ex-slum-dwellers to skyscraper residents.

Within this precious work, the author employs the moribund occupation of selling boza as an allegorical tool to lament dying urban rituals and professions, paying tribute to the venerable urban aesthetic. Furthermore, he makes use of the lifestyle associated with boza selling so as to impart his philosophical ideas: for instance, empty streets loitered alone at night, houses with doors open for knocking strangers, the feeling of nostalgia stirred up by the echo of a sound in the streets, the feeling of emptiness inside, nights alone at decrepit cemeteries, and the state of mind looking at this outmoded way of living. Of all the many features of the novel that elevate it to new artistic heights, these are the most distinctive. The author utilizes this allegorical technique many other times with other elements as well: the accounts of the behaviour of stray dogs or little bourgeois women hiring charwomen are of literary value due to carrying such allegories.

Not only boza selling, but numerous places, shops, businesses, neighbourhoods, and even characters carry messages through their names and images, acting as subjects in allegories. Even if at times, the author, with a highbrow attitude, indulges in fetishism and mars the book by turning everything into a parade, these elements undeniably add to the novel’s artistry. From names given to kids to names of refreshment stands, from titles of construction firms to names of certain institutions, clubs and even Sunni-Turkish, central Anatolia cities like Konya, Beyşehir, Gümüşhane, Elazığ, Sivas, Yozgat and Tokat, each selection of the author’s acts in the same vein and drives the reader towards speculation. Such literary efforts render the novel more profound.

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