Özet
Historical Elements In Kitab-ül Hiyel As An Example Of New Historicism
Postmodern novels of the recent period deal with the subject of history through a witty approach in despite of serious stance of the historical novel. İhsan Oktay Anar, one of the prominent authors of this period, brings an ironic and critical approach towards history in his novels. The subject of this paper, his book titled Kitab-ül Hiyel, comes out as a novel in which history is blended as reality and fiction.
This study touches upon the concepts of New Historicism and Postmodern History Novel and investigates which historical elements are used in Kitab-ül Hiyel and to what extent. Since the period of the book is the Ottoman period, many sultans are used figuratively in the text. As the technological innovations especially in the military and the intrigues in this period are mentioned in the novel, the names of the sultans related to the topic are also mentioned. Innovative statesmen, religious and mythological figures are included in this frame. The story of the whole of the novel was formed based on Kitâb fî ma‘refeti’l-hiyeli’l-hendesiyye, the work of physicist, master of robotics, scholar İsmail Ebul İz Bin Rezzaz El Cezerî who is considered to be the supreme genius of mechanical engineering. The delivery-and-return machine in Cezeri’s book is also the source of the infinite energy machine that leads the novel. The struggle between Prophet David and Goliaht is anachronically placed in the novel. Political, scientific, military concepts, places, traditions and instruments are always intertwined when the text is considered as a historical unity. As the novel is a postmodern history novel, the concepts have been investigated in the research considering the characteristics of the new historicism movement.
Anahtar Kelimeler
New Historicism, Postmodern Historical Novel, Kitab-ül Hiyel, Historical Elements