Istanbul and Sadness

Istanbul, as one of the metropolises that can be considered the most extraordinary works of human hand, is a dizzying city whose story has been told for hundreds of years and has been represented in almost every branch of art. Nevertheless, its course, especially in modern times, has long been far from being properly studied; those who look at Istanbul insist on seeing in it a city that follows other major cities from behind. In the words of Uğur Tanyeli, Istanbul’s modern history has always been grasped within the psychosis of belatedness. This familiar story has fortunately been displaced in the last few decades. Today, we know, for example, that Istanbul is a cultural center, not very different from 19th century Paris, and that it has a newly discovered literary network.

Aiming to be included in the current discussions in the field of literature, Istanbul and Sadness’ attention to the “new” is not limited to this. The book also follows the path opened by exciting studies focusing on the place of emotion as a concept in social sciences. It consists of articles that focus on texts that think, write, love, criticize and embrace Istanbul with “sadness.” Thus, while providing the opportunity to comprehend the representations of Istanbul in Turkish literature from Samiha Ayverdi to İhsan Oktay Anar, Zaven Biberyan to Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Sait Faik to Burhan Sönmez, Leyla Erbil to Orhan Pamuk, a study emerges that hopes to splash water on the dead face of the academic field.