One-man Canoe: Meandering a Turkish River with Jeremy Seal

Abstract

As a contemporary travel writer and journalist, Jeremy Seal has been travelling and writing for over twenty years with a special enthusiasm for Turkey. His first publication on Turkey was appeared in 1995 with the title of A Fez of the Heart: Travels Around Turkey in Search of a Hat (1995), which is a deeply instructive piece of present-day history as well as an entertaining insight into the soul of contemporary Turkey. Later publications of Seal cover The Sneakebite Survivors’ Club: Travels among Serpents (1999), The Wreck at Sharpnose Point: A Victorian Mystery (2002), Santa: A Life (2005) and his recent travel book Meander: East to West Along a Turkish River (2012). This paper scrutinizes his last non-fiction Meander arguing that Seal nourishes his masterpiece both with the elements of travel literature and guidebooks of the touristic fashion. Therefore, he creates a unique form of literature encapsulating the new form of contemporary travel guidebooks. Foremost aim of this paper is to demonstrate Seal’s Meander as both in the tradition of travel literature and touristic guidebook.

Keywords

• Travelogue,British travelling,Jeremy Seal,meander,travel guidebook

Tek Adam ve Tekne: Jeremy Seal'ın Meander: East to West along a Turkish River adlı eserinde seyahat olgusu

Abstract

Çağdaş gezi edebiyatı yazarı, gazeteci, turist rehberi olan Jeremy Seal yirmi yıldan fazla bir zamandır Türkiye hakkında yazmaktadır. Yazarın Türkiye tutkusu 1980’li yılların başına dayanmaktadır. Türkiye ile ilgili ilk yayını olan A Fez of the Heart (Fes) 1995 yılında yayınlanmış ve Osmanlı’dan Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’ne geçişteki mikro düzlemdeki anekdotlarla önem arz etmektedir. Diğer eserleri arasında The Sneakebite Survivors’ Club (2002), Travel Among Serpents (1999), The Wreck at Sharpnose Point: A Victorian Mystery (2002), Santa: A Life (2005) yer almaktadır. Bu çalışma ise Seal’ın son yayını olan Meander: East to West Along a Turkish River (2012) hakkındadır. Seal’ın bu çalışması hem klasik bir gezi edebiyatı formatında hem de bir tür turist rehberi kitabı özelliğinde ilerlemektedir. Bu çalışmada adı geçen eserin hem klasik gezi edebiyatının dinamiklerinden beslenerek hem de bilgilendirici ve turistik amaçlı oluşuyla üçüncü bir türü ortaya koyduğunu iddia edilmektedir. Üçüncü boyuttaki bu türü Turistik Gezi Kitabı olarak adlandırılabilir.

Keywords

• Seyahatname,İngiliz seyahat edebiyatı,Jeremy Seal,turistik gezi kitabı,Menderes nehri

References

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