Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil
Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil's 1897 novel Mai ve Siyah (Blue and Black) is the first modern Turkish novel in the Western sense, depicting the ideals of a young dreamer named Ahmet Cemil, his struggle for these ideals, and the deep disappointments he encounters.
The hopeless struggle between Ahmet Cemil's high artistic ideals, his passion for renewing Turkish poetry, and his dreams of pure love (Blue), and his brutal life (Black), characterized by the stress of supporting his family after his father's death, the conditions of the cheap literary market, and degrading literary feuds.
Istanbul (the old humble house in Süleymaniye, Tepebaşı, the coffeehouses of Beyoğlu, the printing street of Babıali, the wealthy mansions in Erenköy).
The last quarter of the 19th century (reign of Abdulhamid II and the beginning of the Servet-i Fünun period).
Melancholic, poetic, distressed, and pessimistic; a suffocating atmosphere that oscillates between the inner world of a dreamer and a ruthless, dark reality, sometimes illuminated by the false glimmers of Beyoğlu.
Third-person (omniscient/observer), yet featuring a poetic and subjective narrator entirely focused on Ahmet Cemil's inner world, stream of consciousness, and emotional state.
In this society, financial power far outweighs artistic value. Young idealists must exhaust their creativity on cheap translations or submit to hypocritical sycophancy to provide for their families. Class differences strictly define the relationships between the rich and the poor.
A period of dichotomy where Western and traditional lifestyles coexisted in Istanbul, marked by fierce literary feuds between followers of Divan literature (the old) and innovators influenced by French literature (the new).
Characters are arranged at equal intervals on a circle; you can read the relationship type and dynamics by clicking on the lines.
Bir çizgiye tıklayarak ilişki detayını açın.
In contrast to Hüseyin Nazmi's wealth and carefree nature, Ahmet Cemil is poor and struggling; yet they share a deep, insightful, and respectful bond of confidentiality regarding art.
Habituated since their school days, they read the poems they write to each other and stand shoulder to shoulder against criticisms in the Sublime Porte.
Raci tries to crush Ahmet Cemil's innovative art and achievements out of envy; Ahmet Cemil, in turn, is disgusted by Raci's crude, talentless, and miserable life.
While Raci calls Ahmet Cemil's poetry 'what a bitter weariness,' Ahmet Cemil views him as a buffoon and an ignoramus.
After their father's death, Ahmet Cemil considers himself his sister's protector; İkbal's sadness is his greatest heartache.
Seeing his sister's sad face, he falls apart internally, saying, 'Poor child, if only she were happy!'
While his mother relies on him as the head of the house, Ahmet Cemil hides the pain brought by poverty and fatigue to avoid upsetting her.
When Ahmet Cemil enters the house in the dark of night, suppressing his tears, he tries to smile at his mother to shield her from the reality of their poverty.
For Ahmet Cemil, Lamia is an unreachable, idealized fairy girl; because of his poverty, he lacks the courage to confess his feelings and suffers inwardly.
He gazes at her for long periods while she plays the piano, silently worshipping her, thinking, 'If only you would tighten [the strings] a bit more, kill me a bit more!'
For Vehbi Bey, İkbal and her family are easy prey, while İkbal is a victim forced to endure her husband's eccentricities and rudeness.
Ikbal, upon her brother-in-law's seizure of the newspaper, looks at her brother with accusing eyes and silently sheds tears.
While Ahmet Cemil endures him for the sake of his sister, Vehbi Bey becomes arrogant with the power brought by his ownership of the printing house and crushes him.
Vehbi Bey disparages and crushes all of Ahmet Cemil's idealistic dreams at the printing house, saying, 'You are just a broke guy.'
Ahmet Sevki Efendi, as a paternal and experienced manager, protects Ahmet Cemil and offers him sincerity against the cold face of the newspaper.
While Ahmet Sevki Efendi rages at Raci, he lovingly protects Ahmet Cemil and shares his secrets only with him.
Raci is a cruel and unfeeling husband/father who ignores his family's poverty and spends his money in taverns.
His wife explains at the newspaper, weeping, that her husband stole her earring to spend the money and that they have no bread left to eat.
Ali Sekip, who appears as a naive man on the outside, actually places great value on Ahmet Cemil's talent and does him pragmatic favors.
It is Ali Sekip who finds work for Ahmet Cemil behind Raci's back at the newspaper and guides him in securing payment for his first translation.
