Social function of intertextual and metatextual "Triangle of the desire” in oguz atay's "Tutunamayanlar” (“The disconnected”) novel

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triangular desire postmodern literature

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Social function of intertextual and metatextual "Triangle of the desire” in Oguz Atay's "Tutunamayanlar” (“The disconnected”) novel

U. Babayev, Baku (Azerbaijan)

У статті досліджується соціальна функція інтертекстуальності і метатекстуальності «трикутника бажання» в романі Огуза Атая «Ті, хто програв». Теорія «трикутника бажань» французького структураліста Рене Жирара в романі «Ті, хто програв» досліджується в характерному для постмодерністської літератури аспекті інтертекстуальності і метатекстуальності. Досліджується також міжтекстовий зв'язок і текстова поетична система. У статті предметом дослідження є роман «Ті, хто програв», що має модерністські та постмодерністські риси. Робиться висновок про художні стійності твору, сферу впливу «трикутника бажання» і соціальні функції роману.

Ключові слова: інтертекстуальність, метатекстуальність, «трикутник бажання», соціальна функція.

В статье исследуется социальная функция интертекстуального и метатекстуального «треугольника желания» в романе Огуза Атая «Проигравшие». Теория «треугольника желания» французского структуралиста Рене Жирара в романе «Проигравшие» исследуется в характерном для постмодернистской литературы аспекте интертекстуальности и метатекстуальности. Исследуется также межтекстовая связь и текстовая поэтическая система. В статье анализируется обладающий модернистскими и постмодернистскими чертами роман «Проигравшие». Делается вывод о художественных достоинствах произведения, сфере влияния «треугольника желания» и социальных функциях романа.

Ключевые слова: интертекстуальность, метатекстуальность, «треугольник желания», социальная функция.

The article deals with the social function of the intertextual and metatextual" triangular desire" in Oguz Atay's "Losers". The theory of the "triangular desire " of the French structuralist Renй Girard, reflected in the novel, is explored in the aspect of typical for postmodern literature intertextuality and metatextuality. The subject of the study is the novel "Losers" and it's modern and postmodern features. The discourse strategy and the poetical system are also investigated in the novel. Conclusions had been drawn for the artistic merit of the work, the sphere of influence of the "triangular desire" and the social functions of the novel.

Key words: intertextuality, metatextuaity, triangular desire, social function.

With his novel "Tutunamayanlar" (“The Disconnected”) Oguz Atay has established the first Turkish modernist and postmodernist literature and has done esthetics revolutionizing. After Ahmad Tanpinar the “triangle of the desire” esthetics is formed in turkish literature. And whit is “triangle of the desire”? That is theoratical and practice thesis of Rene Jirar the structuralist, culturologist of the literature of the XX century. In his book “Romantic lies and romanesque truth” (I and other one in literary text) Jirar could reveal the concept of a triangle wish exist in Servantes's, Stendal's, Flober's, Prust's and Dostoyevski's novels. For example in the work of “Don Kikhot” Alonso Kikhano decided to go on a world tour with the influence of the knight “Amadis” [10]. Later on Kikhano became Don Kikhot and inspires Sancho Pansan. He could wake Sancho's wishes. After Sancho Panso is together with Don Kikhot he always dreams the “island” which he wanted. A man like Sancho could never think about such dreams. These dreams were suggested Pansa by Don Kikhot. This time the suggestion usn't literary, but verbal. But the disparity isn't important. New wishes create a new triangle, there exist Don Kikhot, Sancho and fairyisland. Both of them the influences of the triangle wishes are the same [5, p. 25]. Triangle of the desire is ends with writer's, Servantes himself. Servantes's sarcasm, humour turn to laughing with the images of Don Kikhot and Pansa. Result the banality and tastelessness have been ended when Alonso Kikhano is in the death bed. Self awareness and logical ending of the wishes is happened. Servantes's wish does not remain unsuccessful. In the novel of the “Tutunamayanlar” there is a triangle of the desire among Salim, Ishig, Turgut Ozben and Oguz Atay. But in here triangle of the desire is not the same as in classical novels. That is postmodern. The same time it is a little differ from Jirar's thesis. In “Triangle wish” there exist three images as subject, object and the person who specifies and completes them. It looks like the structure of the sentence. Gustav Flober's “Madam Bovari” novel forms “triangle of the desire”. This triangle of the desire formed by Emma, Sharl and Rodolf. There is love and loveless among them. Jirar's thesis justifies itself. Emma is subject and her husband is object. But loveless has changed the course of the triangle of the desire between them. Emma sympathises to Rodolf . Famous “bovarism” syndrome is formed. The triangle is formed with “I” and transition to “other one” [4]. The main feature of Flober's images is they have no stable characters and they have no special lines belong to themselves. When they alone it is possible “to be something” though they understand that they are “nothing” [1, p. 67]. In “Tutunamayanlar” novel the triangle of the desire consists of Servantes, Don Kikhot and Sancho Pansa. Servantes is against the literature of banal knight and Atay is against environtment without intelligent. In “Tutunamayanlar” novel the triangle of the desire is formed with author. The innovation of the article is this. The main aim is to investigate the subject, object and the person who completes them, the relations among the texts and also the triangle wish which formed during the explanation of them. “triangle of the desire” is postmodern.

Atay and his heroes long for reading. An educated man lightening himself and nearby people, can grow only by reading and understanding. Oguz Atay, Selim Ishik and Turgut Ozben are not understood and it is the greatest problem of the intelligentsia. Atay is an innovator in literature while Selim and Turgut in life. But in reality their triangle of the desire is based on the same logic. The books that Selim read and Turgut's stepping on Selim's traces form intertextuality. Together with the texts and their interpretation the desires make modernist and post-modernist mood. So, Rene Girard's “triangle of the desire” makes applying the thesis to “Tutunamayanlar” novel in a new format. Because intertextual and metatextual triangle of the desire are looked through for the first time. The theoretical views of Girard become an experiment in Atay. Though the genre and form festival formed of lyric, epic and dram genre seems chaotic, it forms a special harmony. In the triangle of the desire “Tutunamayanlar” novel basing on tens of literary, philosophical and cultural texts, it's rational to begin from the author angle. Atay's life is the framework of this triangle of the desire. Information about the author's life is necessary.

Enis Batur draws the portrait of the political-social situation in Europe and Turkey when Oguz Atay came to the literature and environment in which the writer appeared. When he was born (1934) “dajjal came to the western world” in the same year. He spent his childhood in Turkey that had become smaller since Hitler came to authority. When he began to learn reading and writing, Joyce had published his “Finnegan's wake” and the novel was on its peak. When the “Democrat Party” came to power, he was a student. While his study on engineering in Istanbul, view of Turkey changed, so new buildings, roads, textiles were built [1, p. 14]. Then he worked in “Pazar postasi” newspaper. He began writing in 1970. In the same year he had a tumour in his brain. The young writer, who was only 36 years old and struggled against serious illness, spent his last 7 years on his creativity. That serious brain illness wasn't able to hinder his dream and passion of writing. He wrote two novels, plays and dairies during those seven years. His novel “A man whose future is deprived” left unfinished. The writer whose life passed in sociability and reading make an intertextual relation in Turkish prose. The “Tutunamayanlar” mainly has intertextual relation with James Joyce's “Ulysses”. The aesthetic revolution that Joyce made in the early XX century in European literature happened with “Tutunamayanlar” in Turkey in 1972. The engineer writer writes his teacher the professor Mustafa Inan's life in his “Novel of the scientist” [2].

Staying between engineering and literature also happened in Orkhan Pamuk's life. In his book “Different colours” Orkhan Pamuk writes the similarity of the fates in his essay “Oguz Atay: Sink, the world, sink”. Both writers are the signature of creating the new structure aesthetics of the social function in Turkish prose. In 1974 none of the newspapers and journals published Orkhan's (who was only 22 years old) article about Oguz Atay's novels. Turkish press was not ready for new and different one. Nevertheless the future novelist analyses the points that Turkish literary criticism failed to see. “There's no incident and movement in Oguz Atay's novels. Only there exists meat, unity of skin that is spread everywhere. While reading the books I meet with the memory that thinks of working, suffering and loving, but not working, loving, suffering people” [8, p. 208]. Memory of Selim Ishik attracts Turgut. Triangle of the desire begins in Oguz Atay's life, is knotted in Selim and revealed in Turgut. The plot of the novel is the key for understanding the triangle. The triangular desire crosses with the three stages of tasavvuf and intellectual development. There are three levels of consciousness and mentality:

Elm al-yagin

Eyn al-yagin

Elm al-yagin

Here the expression of “setting fire” is able to exemplify. The logical accepting this sentence belongs to the first level, contemplating this deed belongs to the second one, but being aware of what burning in the fire means belongs to the third level [7, p. 32]. In Oguz Atay this awareness level is retrospective. The detailed analyse of the novel will reveal this retrospective nuance. “Tutunamayanlar” novel are the texts read by Turgut Ozben. He gets acquainted with those texts by Selim Ishik. Selim commits suicide. After the suicide Turgut investigates his letters and the people knowing him. He begins to read Selim's life. For Selim Ishik the meaning of life is reading. He lives in the world of books and texts. Selim dissenting obscurantism is the character that cannot connect to life. The tragedy of Turkish intelligent is shown with the appearance of Selim. For that reason Atay makes an intertextual travel. “Tutunamayanlar” is the first intertextual work in Turkish novel. As in Joyce's “Ulysses” Bloom and Stephen are anti-heroes, in “Tutunamayanlar” Turgut and Selim are also anti-heroes. The intelligentsia disagreeing with their time and interrogating it typify the mentality and spirit. Bloom is the character of mentality and reasoning. But Stephen is the character of spirit, sense and feeling. For this view point the first novel that Oguz Atay created intertextual relation is “Ulysses”. In “Tutunamayanlar” Turgut typifies reasoning and mentality, while Selim typifies emotionality and irascibility. Selim's committing suicide is the sign of that ardent objection. Joyce uses inner monologues in “Ulysses”. The conversations coming into sight as the self-converse of the intelligent are also the literary criticism of subconscious [6].

Javad Chapan writes about Atay who couldn't find a reader in his time. Pirandello wrote a play called “Six people are looking for their writer” that showed the reality to be false and relative. This play formed in me the thought while working on the similar problem Oguz Atay was the writer looking for his reader. When he said “Hey reader, where are you, I'm here”, maybe he meant the indifference of the reader. But on the other side he tried his reader to attend in ideological creativity existing in his books [3, 9]. The dream triangle becomes concrete now. Thinking person, dream of intelligent is very intense. But the environment is vice versa. The popularity and monotony throws Atay off balance. Both Selim and Turgut fall into the same existential situation. The greatest problem of Turgut and Selim is being understood. If there doesn't exist intelligentsia in the society, that nation is sentenced to death. Objecting such society, Selim commits suicide. But Turgut occupies his brain by reading. The German critic Tatjana Seyppel in her book “World of Oguz Atay” works on the theme of intelligent and people's attitude. According to the critic Atay's creativity demonstrates the dramatic image of the society and intelligentsia in Turkey [11]. The greatest struggle in “Tutunamayanlar” is for reading. In Turkish culture reading has a controversial position. From one side father says “read” at home. But this reading is self-interested. Read for endowing yourself. Though reading is so self-interested aim, from the other side the young are put in a reading pattern. In “Tutunamayanlar” we see the spread of memory loaded with reading complexes. Reading became so composite, so accused activity that there is no way except allusively approach to either reading or writing. Turgut Ozben takes a train for a comfortable reading [9, p. 224]. There rises an action metaphor. Acting in train, thought and belief rescues Turgut form the chaotic obscurantism atmosphere. The intertextuality in “Tutunamayanlar” is also reflected among the events and texts in the novel. For recognising Selim well, Turgut finds his friends. Suleyman is one of his best friends. He talks to Suleyman for to know Selim. But Suleyman's best answer is the song collection of “Yesterday, today and tomorrow”. Most of the songs belong to Selim, but the lasts to Suleyman. The first song is about Selim's birth date and his family. But in the prelude his steady friendship with Suleyman is glorified. When Selim's sad song ends the metatextualism, explanation and interpretations begin. Suleyman Selim's songs named “Yesterday, today and tomorrow” and his character is investigating. Selim looks from Turkic people yesterday to today. He again returns from today to yesterday. But can he say anything about the feature? He is anxious. Because if you want to earn feature it is necessary to read, to understand and to be understood. Selim's “be or die” to be or not be fighting continues. Later on Suleyman analyses the songs. The first metatextualism forms in Turkish prose. Suleyman's writings begin when Selim's text ends. He applies the books of different universities and publications of Europa. The relations among texts are not only in art works but also in the scientific-publical encyclopedias were analyzing. The sources belong to the Middle Ages history and culture of the East are including into the text. The environmenst expands. There is a support to scientific, publicistic and literary text in all pages of the novel and there is also postmodern relation. We meet prophet Isa in Suleyman's explanations. He comes back and airs Selim's grievances to each other. “Suddenly Isa appears and leads away every one from him. He said: “Okey, all of yours go away and busy with your works”. They went to upstairs and sat opposite. They spoke about the heavenly beauty and so. They spoke the characters of the human and they didn't feel how the hours pass. On the eve of evening Isa wanted permission and went. They say his father was waiting for him” [1, p. 153]. Prophet Isa's ideas and a little part of his life is reflected in the text. Texts form inside the text.

Both Isa and Selim are trying for the bright future of the mankind. Isa is hopeful. Selim is pessimist. Isa spreads education and beauty with heavenly love and religion. But Selim thinks that the way of science, analyzing, logic and mainly reading with understanding is the best. Selim's letter to Isa forms a new text: “Dearest Isa, I am sorry for everything happened. I understand my mistake. I am thinking about you during some days. I never put of your book from my hand” [1, p. 154]. The spiritual katarsis happens in Selim. Suleyman explains the songs written by Selim verse by verse. Now Selim recognizes with his other friend Esed. Esed gives a short information about Selim's character too. But Esed's main talk is about the books read by Selim. He likes hard and difficult literature. Mainly Oscar Wilde and Maksim Gorki are his lovely writers. A human's fighting with himself in Wilde's “The portrait of Doruan Grey” novel, also the human's getting education from the life in Maksim Gorki's “My universities” works attract Selim's attention. Esed speaks about Selim's irresolute and crazy acts. “He was interested in everything he met. He spent the same energy to everything and has never thought about in which direction he must go” [1, 374]. Esed's talks about Selim forms a carnival consist of literary works. We enter a figurative world which lights Selim's life. Selim is fond of Tolstoy's “War and Peace” novel and he struggle against his senses as the images of that novel. The triangle of the desire of the novel of “Tutunamayanlar” explains the novels written before itself. That is metatextual. Its relation with that novels is intertextual. Result a new polifonic, intertextual and metatextual “triangle of the desire” is formed in the novel of “Tutunamayanlar”. Oguz Atay's, Selim Ishig's and

Turgut Ozben's wish of spreading knowledge is connected the three stage of the mysticism. All of them firstly understand, then they are witness the lag and ignorance and result they become sad (Precisely as the passengers of the mysticism. Becausein the stage of understand they first feel the fire, see it and include the fire and begin to burn). The triangle of the desire is retrospective. The light of profession, life and knowledge spreads. The author's profession, Selim's sad life and Turgut's deeply knowledge dream to form a harmony in the society. They struggle for to live with literature and science. The social function of the intertextual and metatexstual “triangle of the desire” in the novel of “Tutunamayanlar” improves the esthetics of the text. This fact awakes the interest and attention in the reader.

Bibliographic references

1. Atay O. “The Disconnected” (“Tutunamayanlar”). Relation publications. Oguz Atay's all works. Istanbul. 2014, 724 p.

2. Atay O. “The novel of a scientist”. Relation publications. Oguz Atay's all works. Istanbul. 2004, 280 p.

3. Atay О. “Dangerous games”. Relation publications. Oguz Atay's all works. Istanbul. 2014, 479 p.

4. Flober G. Madam Bovari. Translator: Chimnaz Veliyeva. Baki: Ganun publication, 2014, 428 p.

5. Girard R. Romantic Lying and Romantic Truth. Translater: arzu Etensel Ildem. Metis publications. 2013, 254 p.

6. Joyce J. Ulysses. Translator: Nevzat Erkmen. Yapi Kredi publications. Istanbul. 2015, 841 p.

7. Khaveri S. The code of poetic mysticism in th system of the national culture. Baki: Science, 2016, 180 p.

8. Pamuk O. Different colours. Yapi Kredi publications. Istanbul. 2013, 470 p.

9. Parla J. “the novel from Don Kishot till today”. Relation publications. Istanbul, 2010, 389 p.

10. Servantes M. S. Translator: P.I. Khalilov. Baki, 2004, 576 p.

11. Seyppel T. World of Oguz Atay. Translator: Tanil Bora. Relation publications. 1989, 115 p. Надійшла до редколегії 20 грудня 2017р.

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