On Literature (Book)

Edebiyâta Dâir is a collection of articles, literary conversations, and interviews written by Yahya Kemal Beyatlı on various subjects following his death. The book encompasses the author’s views on topics such as the development of Turkish literature particularly after the Tanzimat era, its interaction with West literature, and traditional poetic understanding, among others like.

Formation of the Book

Work published its first edition in 1971. Edebiyâta Dâir was published by the Yahya Kemal Institute as a result of an agreement signed between the heirs of Yahya Kemal—Reşad Beyatlı (the poet’s brother), Adile Güreralp, Delicate Özbalkan, and Çetin Şencan—and the Istanbul Fetih Society. Edebiyâta Dâir is the eighth volume of the 16-volume Yahya Kemal Külliyatı.

Nihad Sâmî Banarlı, then Director of the Yahya Kemal Institute, described the book’s formation process in its preface as follows:

“A large portion of this book has been compiled from documents officially transferred to our Institute by the heirs of Yahya Kemal. Examining and restoring these scattered documents, as well as articles from old newspapers filled with typographical errors, required more than two years of work at our Institute.”