Orientation Towards the West
When Divan Literature reached a point where it could no longer produce anything new, it was replaced by the so called Tanzimat Literature in the nineteenth century when some significant political reforms were made, thus giving the period its name, Tanzimat, meaning "Reformation". Tanzimat literature which developed under Western influence, produced novels, plays, stories, articles and critical essays which were alien to "divan" literature. Journalism and writing editorials for the dailies influenced the authors of this period, when literature with a social context became the vogue and journalism and literature became interlinked. The editors of the dailies in this period were men and women of literature. They were invariably under the influence of either classicism, romanticism or realism; but all of them attributed importance to the utilization of simple language and aimed to reach and inform the public. In this period, Sinasi wrote, Sair Evlenmesi (A Poet's Marriage), which was the first play in the Western sense. Namik Kemal, Ziya Pasha, Semsettin Sami and Recaiz‰de Mahmut Ekrem were prolific producers of prose and verse in this genre.

The Edebiyat-i Cedide (New Literature) movement started in 1891 by the authors who had gathered around Servet-i Funun (a periodical) who were proponents of "art for art's sake". But whether this was a choice they had made freely is rather debatable: some historians of literature argue that they had no other option, considering the oppression and censorship in the reign of Sultan Abdulhamit II. In this period, the most important literary development occurred in the novel. The Mavi ve Siyah (Blue and Black) and Ask-i Memnu (An Illicit Love) by Halit Ziya Usakligil, who is considered to be the first real Turkish novelist, and Eylul (September) by Mehmet Rauf, who produced the first example of the psychological novel, were the most important works of this period.

National Literature Movement
Nationalist sentiments, which gained in strength after the Second Mesrutiyet (the Second Period of Constitutional Monarchy) affected literature. The principle of turning to national and domestic sources for inspiration became the characteristic of the National Literature Movement. The movement which started with the Genc Kalemler (Young Pens), a periodical issued by Ali Canip Yontem, Omer Seyfettin and Ziya Gokalp, soon attracted authors who had identified themselves with other approaches to art. Authors who joined this movement wrote in a simple, clear and relatively pure Turkish, dealt with the problems of the country and national values in their works. In the novel and short story, Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu, Halide Edip Adivar, Resat Nuri Guntekin and Refik Halit Karay produced the best examples of this movement. The poets of the period had different world-views and widely differing approaches to poetry. For instance, Mehmet Akif Ersoy, the author of the Turkish National Anthem, who used the strict prosodic meters of Divan poetry (aruz) in his poems, instead of syllabic rhyme ( the main characteristic of the movement), was inclined to write on social issues in a realistic manner. Yahya Kemal Beyatli, who was accepted as a traditionist and the defender of Ottoman style, developed a neo-classical poetry, and Ahmet Hasim, who excluded himself from the dominant ideologies defended thePure Poem with an impressionistic and symbolistic perception.

Mehmet Akif Ersoy.