The Reception History of Heinrich Kleist in the Context of the Turkish National Discourse

Abstract

The literary figure of Heinrich von Kleist occupies an often contested position within the Germanophone canon. The reception of Kleist in Turkey presents a case for examining how a canonical German writer is mobilized within a national literary discourse that has itself undergone profound transformations – particularly in relation to questions of modernity, identity, and cultural belonging. While Kleist’s presence in Turkish intellectual circles dates back to the early Republican period, his works have gained renewed attention since the late 20th century, especially among scholars and translators interested in the intersections of trauma, resistance, and political subjectivity. Against this backdrop, the present study aims to trace the historical trajectory of Kleist’s reception in Turkey, focusing particularly on how his literary works have been interpreted and instrumentalized within the evolving framework of Turkish national discourse. Drawing upon critical translation studies, literary sociology, and the theory of cultural transfer, this study seeks to illuminate how Kleist has been translated, taught, and critically framed in Turkish academia and print culture from the early 20th century to the present. By analyzing translations, academic publications, and cultural policy documents, this research endeavors to uncover the ideological and hermeneutic strategies that have shaped Kleist’s place in a non-European literary field. Ultimately, the study contributes to broader debates on the politics of literary reception, the transnational circulation of canonical texts, and the ways in which foreign literature can be recontextualized to serve local discursive needs.

Keywords

• Heinrich Kleist
• Turkish nationalism
• literary reception
• translation history
• national identity

References

1. Ardıç, N. (2013). Islam and the Politics of Secularism: The Caliphate and Middle Eastern Modernization in the Early 20th Century. Palgrave Macmillan; 2008. google scholar
2. Başaran, M. (2009). Öğretmenim Hasan Âli Yücel. Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları. google scholar
3. Bora, T. (2021). Hasan Âli Yücel. İletişim Yayınları. google scholar
4. Breuer, I. (2009). Kleist-Handbuch: Leben - Werk - WirKung. J. B. Metzler. google scholar
5. Bulut, Y. (2008). Hasan Âli Yücel: İcraatları ve Eserleriyle Bir Eğitim Bakanının Portresi. Türkiye Araştırmaları Literatür Dergisi, 6.2(12), 665-684. google scholar
6. Cizre Sakallıoğlu, Ü. (1996). Parameters and strategies of the Islam-state interaction in Republican Turkey International Journal of Middle East Studies, 28(2), 231-251. google scholar
7. Coşkun, A. (2007). Hasan Âli Yücel: Aydınlanma devrimcisi. Cumhuriyet Kitapları. google scholar
8. Çıkar, M. (1998). Hasan Âli Yücel ve Türk kültür reformu. Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları. google scholar

9. Demiriz, S. M. (2019). Kemalismus - Das türkische Modeli einer sakularen google scholar
10. Republik. Europaische Geschichte Online. https://www.ieg-ego.eu/de/threads/modelle-und-stereotypen/tuerkengefahr-exotismus-orientalismus/sara-marie-demiriz-kemalismus-das-tuerkische-modell-einer-saekularen-republik google scholar
11. Eisenstadt, S. N. (1984). The Kemalist Regime and Modernization: Some Comparative and Analytical google scholar
12. Remarks. In J. M. Landau (Ed.), Atatürk and the Modernization of Turkey (pp. 3-16). Westview Press. google scholar
13. Gronau, D. (1994). Mustafa Kemal Atatürk oder die Geburt der Republik. Suhrkamp. google scholar
14. Gülbeyaz, H. (2004). Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Vom Staatsgründer zum Mythos. Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung. google scholar
15. Iwanowa, G. (1942). Der nationale Gedanke bei Heinrich von Kleist. Staatliche Universitat Sofia. google scholar
16. Laats, R. (2015). Wölfe und Halbmonde: Die Symbolik der „Ülkücü-Bewegung“. Verfassungsschutz Baden-Württemberg. https://web.archive.org/web/20180712153300/http://www.verfassungsschutz-bw.de/,Lde/Startseite/Arbeitsfelder/Woelfe+und+Halbmonde_+Die+ Symbolik+der+Uelkuecue_Bewegung google scholar
17. Landau, J. M. (1974). Radical Politics in Modern Turkey. Brill. google scholar
18. Lewis, G. (1999). The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success. Oxford University Press. google scholar
19. Ortaylı, İ. (2018). Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Kronik Kitap. google scholar
20. Ozelli, T. M. (1974). The Evolution of the Formal Educational System and its Relation to Economic Growth Policies in the First Turkish Republic. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 5(i), 77-92. google scholar
21. Öncü, M. T. (2017). Türkçe Çeviriler Bibliyografyası: Dünya Edebiyatından Çeviriler. Hiperlink Yayınları. google scholar
22. Press, V. (i993). Das Ende des alten Reiches und die deutsche Nation. In H. J. Kreutzer (Ed.), Kleist-Jahrbuch 1993. J. B. Metzler. google scholar
23. Rill, B. (i985). Kemal Atatürk. Rowohlt. google scholar
24. Sevim, A. (2008). Herder. Halk Milliyetçiliğin Öncüsü. Ötüken Neşriyat. google scholar
25. Sevim, A. (20i3). Heinrich von Kleist’da Alman Birliği Fikri. Diyalog, 1(2), i-i5. google scholar
26. Sevim, A. (20i6). Yalnız Kurt. Ötüken Neşriyat. google scholar
27. Sevim, A. (2020). Alman Filozofu Ernst Moritz Arndt’ın Partikülarizme Karşı Mücadelesi. Ötüken Neşriyat; 2008. google scholar
28. Sevim, A. (2024). Kadıköy Türk Ocağı Başkanı Prof. Dr. Acar Sevim Vefatı. https://www.istanbulturkoca gi.org/istanbul_turkocagi/kadikoy-turk-ocagi-baskani-prof-dr-acar-sevim-vefati/534/ google scholar
29. Sönmez, Ş. (2000). Eğitimde ve Siyasette Hasan Âli Yücel. Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları. google scholar
30. Şengör, C. (200i). Hasan-Âli Yücel ve Türk Aydınlanması. TÜBİTAK Yayınları. google scholar
31. Tekin, H. (2025). Zu den Übersetzungen von Heinrich von Kleist in der Turkey. In A. Fleig et al. (Eds.), Kleist Jahrbuch 2025 (pp. 209-2i5). Metzler. google scholar
32. Thadden von, R. (1981). Fragen an Preufien: Zur Geschichte eines aufgehobenen Staates. C. H. Beck. google scholar
33. Ünal, A. (2020). Ein Überblick über Heinrich von Kleist und seine Rezeption in der Türkei. In M. T. Öncü (Ed.), Rezeption der deutschsprachigen Literatur in der Türkei I, 102-104. Logos Verlag. google scholar
34. Vierhaus, R. (1991). Man muss sich mit seinem ganzen Gewicht in die Waage der Zeit werfen: Die Zeit, der Dichter und die Tat. In H. J. Kreutzer (Ed.), Kleist-Jahrbuch 1990, 71-88. J. B. Metzler. google scholar
35. Yıldız, Ş. (1998). Ein Überblick über die kültürelle Identitat der türkischen Gesellschaft. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 15(1), 83-113. google scholar
36. Zürcher, E. J. (2004). Turkey: A Modern History (Rev. ed.). I. B. Tauris. google scholar