ANTI HERO – MOURTAZA
By Yashar Kemal
Translated by Dr. Seyhan Aydýnligil
Mourtaza is probably the
only character in the Turkish literary world who reflects a manifold set
of human complications and social contradictions. Mourtaza is only one
of the many just like him - a man of the people, from the people, and
for the people. He is alienated from all, forced by changing life
circumstances which are formed by the social, traditional and human
conditions. Mourtaza is alienated from himself, his children and the
family and from his social environment altogether.
This situation is not Mourtaza’s fault, however. He is only one
of the many who are found in such a situation. The world is indeed full
of Mourtazas.They exist because of the world misery and the misery
continues because Mourtazas are many in number. A vicious circle, indeed.
As such, Mourtaza is his own enemy. He creates and perpetuates the
conditions, which reproduce his misery. The world is full with –men and
women- who in their unfavorable life circumstances perpetuate their
despair and become their own enemies.
All of us, at least once
in our lifetime, have been a Mourtaza. There is actually no escape from
this happening. Even those who succeeded or thought to have escaped from
being Mourtaza are misled, indeed. There are always moments / periods in
everyone’s lives when they are Mourtaza. Being Mourtaza is indeed a
vicious circle. As individuals, we feel helpless in controlling our own
reality. We submit to all forms of authority, we then blame ourselves
more than others; we accept punishment without questions and are
enthused to serve the red tape and the ridiculing traditions. These are
the conflicts and adversities of the human life experience- this is the
human adventure.
Against a life in
despair, however, Mourtaza always retains a golden heart deep inside. He
remains strong and statute like in facing adversities of life. We know
then that Mourtaza is not so well - as a human being. He is ill and in
misery just as many like him in the world. Yet, there is another side to
him- not so visible unless you make an effort to penetrate into his
deeper sensibilities. Mourtaza is not fully contaminated. He is still a
hopeful man; he waits for and believes that goodness and brightness will
eventually come. Mourtaza is the hope of humanity as in his reflection
of an unrelenting hopefulness. Yet; he is the human misery- in despair.
He is of contradictions molded in a human shape.
This is the idea of a
human being that Orhan Kemal so eloquently puts forward. The endless
contradictions a man is. H e was in conflict with the society, and often
the world at large. In his most characteristic novel personality -Mourtaza-
Orhan Kemal introduces the reader to a man who manages to balance his
extremities putting up always two faces. One face is that of the man who
is dignified and who ardently believes in goodness. He has internalized
values of compassion and friendship, hope and beauty. On the other side,
he is detached, dutiful and submissive- night guard-without compassion.
Thus, Mourtaza”s alienation is in -not yet completed. He is still to be
recovered and he knows this. Orhan Kemal’s people are willing to cope
with life’s contradictions in order to bring about the goodness into
their lives. They are hopeful that goodness and well-being are on their
way towards them. The constraints that emerge perpetually will not
disappear easily. But there is no escape from hoping for the best.
Orhan Kemal’s Mourtaza
is an integrated man. This is a quality found in all of Orhan Kemal’s
people. They are wholesome people, balancing the good and the bad in
themselves equally. They are strong and proud in spite of their
undignified lives the misery that they often face. They are optimistic
and hopeful in the misery and despair that surround them. Orhan Kemal’s
people are good and bad, they are good and evil, human and inhuman all
at the same time. They have equal capacity both for love and for
torturing. They are a combination of all qualities and values that make
up a human being- the social animal. This aspect is indeed what awes
most the reader about Orhan Kemal’s characters. This is what Orhan Kemal
himself is so much impressed about the people, and their capacities to
changing and adapting to new life circumstances. And, depending on the
extent of goodness and the evil they faced, they adapt and determine
which of their sides will gain predominance over the other.
Orhan Kemal had just
started to write “Mourtaza”. I remember that he was so full with his
character. He was telling us about him and making us laugh about his
contradictions. One day, he took us to Mourtaza. We were all of a sudden
talking with Mourtaza in person. He was sitting right across and
speaking with us.”Hey my good men, do you happen to know me? I am the
security guard, Mourtaza. I have been trained and have learned to be
very disciplinary from my supervisors. We looked at each other with
Orhan Kemal and laughed slightly. Mourtaza did not know why.
Many years went by. Both
Orhan Kemal and I remembered Mourtaza as he was on that day. We
reminisced about Mourtaza several times after that. Later in the years,
Orhan Kemal became such good friends with Mourtaza that he could not
actually stay away from him. Every so often, he would fetch Mourtaza and
they would walk along the streets of Adana. The most interesting and
enduring literary character of the contemporary Turkish literature was
born as a result of this genuine friendship between the author and the
real life character.
Until Orhan Kemal, we do
not come across a novelist who wrote or depicted workers while they are
on the job. This is a unique and very unusual aspect of Orhan Kemal’s
literary world. He created wholesome characters by focusing only on one
aspect of the character and detailing him through this single focus.
The wholesome realism of the conversations that Orhan Kemal constructed
between his characters were extremely beautiful and unusual at the same
time –a style of realism not to be so much found in other writers. As a
writer, as a novelist and as a storyteller, Orhan Kemals feet were
always on the ground.
Orhan Kemal must be
further studied. The richness of his human characters must be analyzed
in detail. As I have said it so many years ago “Orhan Kemal is one of
Turkey’s greatest novelists”. No other Turkish novelist could create a
character like Mourtaza. He created many literary opportunities and
contributed much towards contemporary developments in the Turkish
classical literature.Orhan Kemal’s works will continue to be favored and
widely read in Turkey.
In these days of dim
lights and blurriness of our times, the light of Orhan Kemal is not
sufficiently bright. The fog will clear away and Orhan Kemal will shine
once again. Many years ago our ways went in separate directions. But, I
am his relentless admirer as my master and my teacher. In his own
direction, Orhan Kemal remained statute like and strong. Many adverse
things were also said about him. They said he was too prolific but his
writing quality was not as good as before. I am in disagreement with all
these interpretations. The Master could not perhaps create another
character like Mourtaza. Nevertheless, “Inspector of the Inspectors” and
his other late works are easily placed amongst his best stories and
novels.
Orhan Kemal was not
known as he deserved both in his own country and in the world. His life
circumstances and adversities prevented him from being better known as
one of the most talented contemporary authors. The world would gain a
lot from knowing him and his characters a bit more. We still need to
refer to his characters to reflect upon the human reality- an area,
which still calls for further learning and understanding. It will indeed
be a great loss if we do not attempt further to get to know him and his
works.
However, Orhan Kemal
remains as one of the best classical novelists of our time. His shine is
approaching and the world literature will enrich, as he is better known
on international scale.
One loves human beings
as they come closer to understand the human reality and the changes that
occur to the human nature in the life as a human adventure. Seen this
way, one develops a limitless tolerance towards the human beings, the
people and their aspirations. The human adventure requires us to be
compassionate and modest therefore. There is no other choice. For Orhan
Kemal, the only alternative was to be a human being, with all its
contradictions and compassions and with modesty. Orhan Kemal was a
modest man so much so that he was never aware of the greatness he had
created in the Turkish classical literature. To live the life and the
life experience of Mourtaza was Orhan Kemal’s life as well. And for
Orhan Kemal living is always a very ordinary thing. It is a plain and
modest in spite of all of the complications it offers to men. Despite
the profoundness that he builds in his characters, Orhan Kemal is a keen
believer that humans are simple, modest, and very plain beings, indeed.
Speaking on a radio show
the other day, I said that no one living the life of Orhan Kemal as he
did in Istanbul could actually survive as a human being. He was a modest,
committed and compassionate man. He survived just as his characters did.
He went on living and shined as he did-adding much to the enrichment of
the Turkish literary world. He lived in poverty. Not so many could
survive in such circumstances as an integrated man as Orhan Kemal did
.His zest for life was his sanctuary. His insistence on life made him
one of the greatest personalities of the contemporary Turkish
literature.
Orhan Kemal is all of
the happy and sad, painful and joyous, hopeful and desperate, brave and
scared, modest and proud and fully indulged in the many adventures of
being a human.
Yashar Kemal, 1970
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