Bektaşi Fıkralarını Nazma Çeken Bir Kitabın Hikâyesi: Metin Eloğlu ve Oğuz Tansel’in “Bektaşi Dedikleri” Kitabı
Abstract
Bu çalışmada, Bektaşi fıkralarının nazma çekilmesiyle oluşturulmuş Bektaşi Dedikleri adlı kitabın hazırlanması ve yayımlanması süreçleri ele alınmıştır. Fıkraları nazma çekerek kitabı hazırlayanlar; şair, yazar ve halk bilimi araştırmacısı Oğuz Tansel ile şair, yazar ve ressam Metin Eloğlu’dur. Kitapta ayrıca, Tansel’in hocası ve dostu olan Pertev Naili Boratav’ın kaleme aldığı, sunuş niteliğinde, “Bektaşilik ve Bektaşi Fıkraları Üzerine Birkaç Söz” başlıklı yazı ve ressam Abidin Dino’nun fıkralarla ilgili desenleri yer almaktadır. Çalışmalarına 1962 yazında karar verilen ve başlanan kitabın tamamlanması 1966-1967 yıllarını bulmuş; ancak kitabın yayımlanması 1970 yılında mümkün olabilmiştir. Çalışmada, kitabın öncelikle hazırlanması; ardından da tamamlandıktan sonra yayımlanması sürecinde yaşanan zorluklar mümkün olduğunca ayrıntılı bir şekilde ele alınıp değerlendirilmeye ve kitabın hazırlanıp yayımlanması sürecinin 8 yılı geçmesinin nedenleri ortaya konulmaya çalışılmıştır. Bu çerçevede gecikmenin nedenleri olarak her iki şairin de diğer çalışmaları, sağlık sorunları, hem kendileri ayrı şehirlerde (İstanbul ve Konya) hem de kitaba katkı sunacak olan Boratav ve Dino başka bir ülkede (Fransa) yaşıyor olmasına karşın ortak bir çalışma yapmaktan kaynaklanan zorluklar, 1966 yılında kitap tamamlanmak üzereyken benzer nitelikli başka bir kitabın yayımlanması ve dönemin siyasi koşulları çerçevesinde yayınevleriyle yaşanan sıkıntılar gibi noktalar tespit edilmiştir. Aslında kitabın, 1960’lı yıllardan bugüne Türkiye’deki kültür, sanat ve edebiyat atmosferi hakkında önemli bilgiler veren hikâyesi; hem Türk halk edebiyatı hem de modern Türk edebiyatı araştırmaları için önem arz etmektedir. Bu bakımdan kitabın hikâyesi hakkındaki tüm bu bilgi, tespit ve değerlendirmeler; bugün ve gelecekte hem sanatçılar hem edebiyat araştırmacıları hem de yayıncılar için yol gösterici niteliktedir.
Keywords
The Story of a Book That Put the Bektashi Anecdotes into Poetry: “Bektaşi Dedikleri” by Metin Eloğlu and Oğuz Tansel
Abstract
Rewriting a prosaic work as a poem is called “making verse” or “versification”. Studies on poetizing prose in world literature began with Socrates in 400s BC. Socrates attempted to rewrite Aesop’s prose tales in verse. Transforming prose works into poetry is an important tradition in Turkish literature as well. Anecdotes are among the most popular works that have been turned into poems in Turkish literature. The most important example in this regard is the Nasreddin Hodja anecdotes. There have been Nasreddin Hodja anecdotes rewritten in poem form in many works since the 15th century. There are also independent books consisting entirely of Nasreddin Hodja anecdotes written in verse form.
One of the important examples in this regard is the Bektashi anecdotes. A Bektashi is a member of the Bektashi order and the origin of this dervish order goes back to 1300 in Anatolia and the Balkans. Bektashi anecdotes present humorous scenes from the life of Bektashis. There is a wide repertoire of Bektashi anecdotes in Turkish literature, and these anecdotes are, of course, narrative works written in prose. However, many of these anecdotes were later rewritten in verse form by various poets. There are books consisting of works in which Bektashi anecdotes are rewritten in poetic form.
One of the first of these books is “Bektaşi Dedikleri”, written by Metin Eloğlu and Oğuz Tansel. The book also includes a foreword by world-famous Turkish folklorist Pertev Naili Boratav and illustrations by world-famous Turkish painter Abidin Dino related to the poems. This book was first published in Istanbul in 1970 by İş Bankası Publications. New editions of the book were published in 1977, 1983, 1995, 2004 and 2008. The book was translated into English by Joseph S. Jacobson under the title “Dervish Bektashi Gems-Poems” and this translation was published in 2020.
This study discusses the preparation and publication processes of the book titled Bektaşi Dedikleri. Information about the story of this book was generally compiled from two main sources. The first is the letters written by Metin Eloğlu to Oğuz Tansel and the second is the correspondence between Oğuz Tansel and Pertev Naili Boratav. Both Eloğlu’s letters and Tansel-Boratav letters were published as two different books (Eloğlu, 2012; Çevik, 2024). Two poets, Eloğlu and Tansel, decided to prepare this book in the summer of 1962 and started working on it. The book was completed in outline form in 1966-1967; however, it was not possible to publish the book until 1970.
In this study, the difficulties experienced in the process of preparing the book, first of all, and then publishing it after completion were identified. The preparation and publication of the book took more than 8 years. As a result, the reasons for such a long delay were identified as follows:
1) Both poets worked on other works simultaneously. Tansel has mostly worked on fairy tale books for children and compiled folkloric products from oral culture. And Eloğlu mostly worked on other poetry books that he wrote himself and on paintings as a painter.
2) During this period, both poets, but especially Tansel, experienced significant health problems.
3) During these years, the poets were living in different cities, one in Konya and the other in Istanbul. On the other hand, Boratav, who wrote the foreword of the book, and Dino, who illustrated the poems, were living in another country, France. It was a very difficult and time consuming task for four people living in two different countries and three different cities to prepare a book together, especially in the 1960s.
4) In 1966, when the book was nearing completion, another book was published that versified Bektashi anecdotes. This situation demoralized the poets and had a negative impact on the publishers who would print the book. For this reason, the completion and publication of the book has normally been prolonged.
5) Tansel, Eloğlu, Boratav and Dino are known as leftists politically. Especially Boratav and Dino were unfortunately punished for this reason. For this reason, the fact that these four leftist names were together in the same book made some publishers uneasy.
Some of this information about the story of the book was written directly by Eloğlu, Tansel and Boratav in their letters.
Some of them are explained indirectly in these letters, and some of them are included in other sources. This information about the story of the book is important for both Turkish folk literature and modern Turkish literature research. This information is also important in terms of providing information about the cultural, artistic and literary atmosphere in Turkey from the 1960s to the present day. All this information, findings and evaluations about the story of the book are guiding for artists, literary researchers and publishers today and in the future.
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