In 1954, Turkish poet Cemal Süreya published an unusual poem in one of the influential literary magazines of the period. “Gül” [Rose] describes a person’s psychic state as he wanders through a disorienting urban landscape. With its use of decontextualized imagery and striking reversals, this poem scandalized Turkey’s mid-century literary scene: I’m crying right in the middle of the rose As I die each evening in the middle of the street Knowing neither what’s ahead or behind me Sensing how your...

The Turkish War of Independence resulted in the official end of the Ottoman Empire in 1923 and dismantled the traditional, religious culture of Islam in Turkey. The ensuing secularist and modernist Atatürk Reforms are considered a revolution that aimed at transforming the cultural fabric of Turkish society. All aspects of life were reconstructed within the span of a decade: from the 1920s to the 1930s, a new civil code and alphabet were introduced, the metric and calendar system was established...