The Awakening

Abstract

Namik Kemal was born on December 21, 1840 in Tekirdag, Turkey. He is known as a prolific playwright, literary critic, and the poet of “homeland and freedom”. He was one of the most prominent political and literary figures of this age and a pioneer of “art is for society” movement. The Awakening, first published in 1874, has an important place in Turkish Literature since it is regarded as the first Turkish literary novel with its vivid descriptions of the outer world and in-depth psychological analysis of the characters. The first name of the novel was “Regret” (Son Pismanlik)”. Now it is known as “The Awakening: The Adventures of Ali Bey (Intibah: Sergüzest-i Ali Bey or Uyanis: Ali Bey’in Maceralari). The setting of the novel is Istanbul, which is the biggest and the most important city in Turkey. The Awakening is a novel about love and jealousy with full of conflicts and surprizes the readers with its exciting plot and unexpected ending. The main character Ali Bey is depicted as a coy gentleman who lacks experience in life and love despite his good education. Briefly, the novel reveals Ali Bey’s uncertainty between decency and debauchery. The Awakening, written by Namik Kemal, is translated into English by Tekirdag Namik Kemal University School of Foreign Languages in an effort to contribute to the publicity of Turkey and Turkish Literature. (1) This book has the characteristic of being the first literary work by Namik Kemal translated into English. We believe that this book will appeal to graduate and undergraduate students, researchers, literary critics, academicians, and writers along with readers of all ages. The Awakening is translated by English Instructors of Tekirdag Namik Kemal University School of Foreign Languages with the encouragement of Namik Kemal University Rectorship and edited by assistant professors from Tekirdag Namik Kemal University Faculty of Letters. publication of this book, and to all academic and administrative staff who took part in the translation and publication process.