CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2026
| Author | Sahin, Muhammed Furkan |
|---|---|
| Title | Between Nation and Devotion: The Translation and Commentaries of the Masnavi in Early Republican Turkey |
| Summary | This thesis examines how Rumi’s Masnavi was reinterpreted between 1937 and 1951, when the newly established Turkish Republic implemented anti-Sufi reforms and pursued fluctuating modernizing, secular, and nationalist cultural policies. It focuses on two contrasting forms of remembrance: the 1942 state-sponsored translation by Veled Çelebi İzbudak and Abdülbaki GölpInarlI, produced under the influence of Turkish humanism promoted by Hasan Âli Yücel, the minister of culture and education, and the commentaries of Avni Konuk and Tahir Olgun, who were among the last representatives of the Mesnevihân tradition. Through textual, discursive, and historical analysis, the thesis investigates the dynamics that shaped two distinct presentations of the Masnavi in early Republican Turkey. It contrasts the state-sponsored translation, framed by nationalist and humanist ideology that reframes the Masnavi as a cultural asset of the nation-state, with the commentaries of Avni Konuk and Tahir Olgun, which continue the classical Sufi commentary tradition and perceive the text as a living Sufi text within the Mevlevi framework. By situating these works within broader debates on secularism, religion, and nationalism, the study explores how Mevlevi-affiliated figures negotiated their positions in a secular environment often hostile to Sufism. The study demonstrates how varied interpretations of the Masnavi redefined its place within early Republican Turkey’s cultural memory. Ultimately, the Masnavi emerges not as a fixed, singular text but as a dynamic and plural site of memory, reflecting the complex entanglement of religion, literature, and modernity in early Republican Turkey. |
| Supervisor | Wilson, Michael Brett; Krstić, Tijana |
| Department | Historical Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2026/sahin_furkan.pdf |
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