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

Year 2025, Issue: 54, 173 - 200, 12.12.2025

Habib Tekin , Burak Özsöz

https://doi.org/10.26650/sdsl2025-1804378

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

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