Abdülhak Hâmid
Abdülhak Hâmid
(also Tarhan Abdülhak Hâmit). Born Jan. 2,1852, in Istanbul; died there Apr. 12,1937. Turkish writer.
Abdülhak Hâmid was one of the founders of romanticism in Turkish literature. He studied in Paris in 1863 and was later educated privately. Beginning in 1878 he held diplomatic posts.
Abdülhak Hâmid wrote poetry and plays. The poetry in the collections The Desert (1879) and The Cemetery (1885) expressed sorrow and hopelessness, whereas the poems in the collection My Follies, or The City (1886) were permeated with joyful, life-affirming motifs. Abdülhak Hâmid introduced the syllabic meter kheje into Turkish poetry.
The plays of Abdülhak Hâmid inaugurated a new period in Turkish dramaturgy. Based on historical and contemporary themes, they attacked imperialism and the sultanate; examples are Freedom (1872), The Daughter of Hindû (1875), and Tank, or The Capture of Andalusia (1879).
WORKS
Validem. Istanbul, 1911.Tarhan. Istanbul, 1916.
Eşber. Istanbul, 1945.
Tezer. Istanbul, 1945.
REFERENCES
Gordlevskii, V. A. Izbr. soch., vol. 2. Moscow, 1961.Kiamilev, Kh. Obshchestvennye motivy v turetskoi poezii. Moscow, 1969.
Dizdaroğlu, H., A. Hâmit Tarhan: Hayati, sanati, eserleri. Istanbul, 1965.
Okay, M. O., Abdülhak Hamid’in romantizmi. Erzurum, 1971.