İlhan Berk
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| Nationality | Turkish |
|---|---|
| Period | 1935–2008 |
| Literary movement | Postmodern literature |
İlhan Berk (18 November 1918 – 28 August 2008) was a leading
Turkish poetry (termed, "İkinci Yeni"; "The second new generation") and was very influential among Turkish literary circles.[1]
Biography
Berk was born in
French Language Department of Gazi University in Ankara. Between 1945 and 1955, Berk served as a teacher. He later began to work for the publishing office of Ziraat Bank as a translator (1956–1969). He became specialized in translation of poetry notably by translating into Turkish works by Arthur Rimbaud and Ezra Pound. In his later years, Berk resided in Bodrum
where he died on 28 August 2008.
Poetry
Berk's poetry evolved from the approach of an epical
mythology, and a synthesis of Western and Eastern poetry traditions, yet he accomplishes to create a unique and postmodern approach. Peter Riley, in an analysis of Berk's work published in The Fortnightly Review, suggests the poet sometimes "runs poetry itself to an extremity at which it can no longer function as language."[2]
History, geography, visual arts, cities such as Istanbul, Paris and Ankara, feed Berk's poetry and, his themes are supported by a sizable vocabulary that includes colloquial words as well as very specific ones, such as musical terms and local names of plants.
A significant body of Berk's work is now available in English, most notably A Leaf About To Fall: Selected Poems (2006), Madrigals (2008), The Book of Things (2009) and New selected poems 1947-2008 (2016); all translated by George Messo.
| Turkish literature |
|---|
| By category |
| Epic tradition |
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| Folk tradition |
| Ottoman era |
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| Republican era |
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Bibliography in English
- New selected poems 1947-2008, translated by ISBN 978-1-84861-461-1.
- The Book of Things, translated by ISBN 978-1-84471-523-7.
- İkinci Yeni: The Turkish Avant-Garde, translated by ISBN 978-1-84861-066-8.
- Madrigals, translated by ISBN 978-1-905700-73-8.
- A leaf about to Fall: Selected Poems, translated by ISBN 978-1-84471-274-8.
- Selected Poems, translated by Önder Otçu. Talisman House Publications. 2004. ISBN 978-1-58498-033-9.
- History of a Face, translated by ISBN 978-0-89304-285-1.
Awards
- 1979 Turkish Language Association Award
- 1980 Behçet Necatigil Poetry Award
- 1983 Yeditepe Poetry Prize
- 1988 Sedat Simavi Literature Award
See also
References
- ^ "İlhan Berk'i kaybettik (Ilhan Berk passes away)" (in Turkish). Europe Media Monitor News Brief. 2008-08-28. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22.
- ^ The Fortnightly Review http://fortnightlyreview.co.uk/2016/06/ilhan-berk/
Resources
- "İlhan Berk bibliography" (in Turkish). siirgen.com.