Bir Kadın Eleştirmen: Gülten Akın

Abstract

Türk edebiyatında, kadın şair dendiğinde Gülten Akın ilk akla gelen isimler arasındadır. Gülten Akın daha ziyade kadın edebiyatı kavramı çerçevesinde, kadın şair kimliğiyle, toplumsal gerçekçi tutumuyla, özgün dizeleriyle, eserleriyle toplumsal cinsiyet çalışmalarına sunduğu perspektifle, II. Yeni'deki konumuyla ve Türk edebiyat kanonuna katkıları ile sorgulanır ve incelenir. Bu çalışmada, Gülten Akın'ın üzerinde çok fazla durulmayan bir yönü, eleştirmen kimliği ortaya çıkarılmaya çalışılacaktır. Söz konusu çalışma için temel alınan iki eser Şiir Üzerine Notlar ile Şiiri Düzde Kuşatmak'tır. Bu kitaplardaki yazılarından hareketle Gülten Akın'ın sanata ve özellikle şiire, çağdaşı ve öncülü olan şairlere ve onların şiirlerine bakışı sorgulanacaktır. Söz konusu metinlerde dile getirilen eleştiriler, edebiyat tarihine ve bilimine sundukları katkının yanı sıra Gülten Akın'ın bir sanatkâr olarak portresini tamamlayacak ve şiirini üzerine inşa ettiği teorik zemini tanıtacaktır. İlaveten, şiirde, hikâyede, romanda kısacası kurgusal eserlerde bahsedilen kadın sesinin, söz Gülten Akın'a geldiğinde onun özgün yanı kabul edilen incelikler ve hassasiyetlerin, kadın kimliği ile bağı irdelenerek eleştiri metninde Gülten Akın'a has bir üslup ve kadın sesinin izlerinin bulunup bulunmadığı çözümlenecektir. Böylelikle Gülten Akın'ın edebiyata sunduğu katkıların yalnız sanat metinleri ile sınırlı olmadığı kabulünden hareketle; şiir eleştirisi ve sanat teorisi alanlarındaki yapıcı eleştirileri ve eleştirmen kimliği ile eleştiri türüne katkıları aydınlatılacak; bu eleştirmen kimliğindeki kadın sesi duyulmaya ve duyurulmaya çalışılacaktır

Gülten Akın is amongst the first female poets in Turkish literature. Generally, Gülten Akın is questioned and examined within the frame of women’s literature, as a female poet, with her socialist-realistic attitude, with her original verses and texts of art, with her perspective on women’s studies, with her position in II. Yeni and with her contributions to the Turkish literature canon. This study aims to illuminate Gülten Akın’s criticism. Şiir Üzerine Notlar and Şiiri Düzde Kuşatmak are the two main texts to be examined in this study. On the basis of these texts, Gülten Akın’s views about poetry, art, pioneering poets and her contemporaries and their poems will be questioned. The criticism in these texts will complete Gülten Akın’s portrait as an artist and introduce the theoric background which her poems are built on besides contributing to the science and art of literature. It will be further examined whether the voice of the women alleged to exist in fictional texts is in Gülten Akın’s critical texts. Gülten Akın’s contributions literature are not just limited to fictional texts just they also include constructive criticism about poetry and art. For that reason Gülten Akın as a critic and her contrabutions to criticism are to be illuminated and the woman’s voice in her critical texts will be tried to heard and told In Turkish literature, Gülten Akın is among the names that comes to mind first when we say 'female poet'. Poetry and poesy is a field that is mostly associated with males in both world and Turkish literatures, and therefore, female poets who achieve popularity in this male-dominated field are attached a special importance and their gender is particularly emphasized. Gülten Akın takes part among these female poets, female voices of Turkish poetry. The graceful tone, maternal statements and themes in her poetry are explained with her being a female. However, this study focuses not on her poesy which is widely dwelt upon but on her identity as a critic. Gülten Akın compiled her criticism in two books named Şiiri Düzde Kuşatmak and Şiir Üzerine Notlar . According to Gülten Akın, as poetry takes its origins from life, even if every poet starts their poem with an "I", the identities surrounded by the society cannot produce works that are isolated from the society. Gülten Akın's opinions regarding what art and, in the strict sense, a poem are significant because these opinions also function as the basis of her criticism. There are two ways of following these sources: the first is her writings on this subject, which are compiled in the two books that constitute the subject of the study, while the second is the application of these opinions which can be considered to be her poems, that is, her artistic/aesthetical productions. Because poetry is a itself a different research subject, consistency of her views on art and her poetry takes us to a research beyond covering her identity as a critic. For this reason, it will be helpful to keep the sources -in which Gülten Akın stated her opinions- with her critical works. While determining the scope of this study, the texts in the two books are taken as the ground whereas Gülten Akın's poetry is not included. Criticism, like poetry, is considered as a male-dominant field. Austerity, accurate and rigorous attitude expected from criticism is described as pertaining to the perception of manliness. In this respect, Gülten Akın has a position that is anomalous in Turkish criticism customs for various different reasons. First of all, it can be stated that the constructive approach, hopeful and optimist tone, mild and tolerant style that Gülten Akın uses in her criticism do not coincide with the male-dominant expressions and style of criticism, and that the writer, the owner of this voice opens up a new field for herself. Gülten Akın usually deals with her era and poetry in terms of genre. Akın's effort to present a constructive approach in almost all of her critical works especially those addressing to young poets, and the optimism she holds behind this effort is noteworthy. On the other hand, Gülten Akın uses a mild style fit for her purpose instead of an austere one, which is usually regarded as a result of her being a female. However, the missing point in this emphasis is the manliness of the naturalized aspect of criticism, because there is no definition which remarks that Gülten Akın's tone should not be the essential tone of criticism. Among the most important traits of Gülten Akın's criticism are the reflections of socialist realist literary approach, because this approach on which she bases her poetry also determines the criteria of her criticisms. Poetry, according to Gülten Akın, can be beautiful regardless of whatever theme as an aesthetical whole it covers; nevertheless, a real poem should be based on the public, should not remain unresponsive to the public's concerns, and should takes its form on an ideological basis. Although Akın, does not set having a socialist quality as condition in the aesthetical evaluation of poetry, she regards poetry as a means of transformation. Poetry, which she regards as a means of transformation, should be a source of social dynamism. Only thus can poetry, underlined for many times to be based on mind, fulfill its function of rebellion. Gülten Akın is a socialist realist but considering her poetry as reflective examples of Marxist art restricts the view to her poetry, while at the same time her criticism cannot be limited by the reality that her criticism also depends on Marxist theory. Because Akın views art through a more local socialist realist perspective compared to Marxist theory. This approach of Gülten Akın, which can be extended as a different study and in the context of keywords such as republic, Ataturk, Anatolia, and Turkey should be considered as the theoretical basis of her both socialist poetry and critical works. Therefore, the socialist realist basis of Gülten Akın's criticism, which is as important as female sensibility/grace/voice, and the scope of this basis should also be taken into consideration. Gülten Akın regards socialist realism as a choice, draws the frame of the concept of socialist poetry rather than poetry, and she notes that she does not prefer, rather than disregard, the poetry outside of this frame. Thus, Gülten Akın not only gets through being a representative of frequently encountered omniscient point of view and the claim of dauntlessly following the truth, but also proves to be a consistent critic and a consistent artist by placing the ideological ground on which she builds her poetry at the head of the criteria of her criticism. As a constructive critic, in the general sense, Gülten Akın's criticisms are mostly similar to a conversation style in which she shares her sincere thoughts about a literary work that she read. This style is what makes her to be celebrated as a graceful -just as her poetry- critic, not as an austere critic. On the other hand, Akın's positive criticisms outnumber her negative criticisms; and all of her negative criticisms comply with a body of criteria that she developed within the frame of her sense of art. In this respect, it is possible to see that Akın definitely resolved the problem of point of view which she sought in authors, poets and critics; in other words, along with being constructive and optimist, she is also a consistent critic.