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Theater &
Cinema
Turkish theater is thought to have originated
from the popular Karagöz shadow plays, a cross
between moralistic Punch and Judy and the slapstick
Laurel and Hardy. It then developed along an oral
tradition, with plays performed in public places,
such as coffee houses and gardens, exclusively
by male actors. Atatürk gave great importance
to the arts, and actively encouraged theater,
music and ballet, prompting the foundation of
many state institutions. Turkey today boasts a
thriving arts scene, with highly professional
theater, opera and ballet companies, as well as
a flourishing film industry. The country enjoys
numerous arts festivals throughout the year, the
most prestigious of which is the Istanbul Film
Festival.
Plastic Arts
Until the18th century, painting
in Turkey was mainly in the for of miniatures,
usually linked to books in the form of manuscript
illustration. In the 18th century, trends shifted
towards oil painting, beginning with murals. Thereafter,
under European inspiration, painting courses were
introduced in military schools. The first Turkish
painters were therefore military people who, respecting
the Islamic tradition which bars representation
of the human face, focused at first on landscapes.
The modernization of Turkish painting, including
representation of the human figure, started with
the founding of the Academy of Arts under the
direction of Osman Hamdi Bey, one of the great
names in Turkish painting. In 1923, followed by
many other such schools. Art exhibitions in Turkey's
cities multiplied, more people started to acquire
paintings and banks and companies began investing
in art.
Literature
Literature has long been an important component
of Turkish cultural life, reflecting the history
of the people, their legends, their mysticism,
and the political and social changes that affected
this land throughout its long history. The oldest
literary legacy of the pre-Islamic period are
the Orhon inscriptions in northern Mongolia, written
in 735 on two large stones in honor of a Turkish
king and his brother. During the Ottoman period,
the prevailing literary form was poetry, the dominant
dialect was Anatolian or Ottoman, and the main
subject beauty and romance. The Ottoman Divan
literature was highly influenced by Persian culture
and written in a dialect which combined Arabic,
Persian and Turkish. Separate from the aristocratic
Divan literature, folk literature continued to
dominate Anatolia where troubadour-like poets
celebrated nature, love and God in simple Turkish
language. Towards the 20th century, the language
of Turkish literature became simpler and more
political and social in substance. The great and
politically controversial poet, Nazim Hikmet,
inspired by the Russian poet Mayakowski, introduced
free verse in the late 1930s.
Nowadays, the irrefutable master of the Turkish
popular novel is Yasar Kemal, with his authentic,
colorful and forceful description of Anatolian
life. Young Turkish writers tend to go beyond
the usual social issues, preferring to tackle
problems such as feminism and aspects of the East-West
dichotomy which continues to fascinate Turkish
intellectuals. Some of the rising stars of contemporary
Turkish literature are: Orhan Pamuk, Nedim Gursel,
Ahmet Altan and Pinar Kur.
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