This volume explores the political force of Turkish literature from the Tanzimat reforms to the modern Republic, across multiple languages within and beyond the Ottoman Empire and Turkey. Focusing on figures ranging from canonical writers to globally recognised authors such as Elif Shafak, it highlights the enduring entanglement of literature, censorship, and political intervention. Literary texts emerge not only as reflections of political life but also as sites of contestation, scrutiny, and indictment, revealing how writers have navigated ideological and institutional constraints across different historical contexts.
Bringing together studies of both well-known and lesser-known authors, the volume challenges linear and nationalist narratives of Turkish literary history by foregrounding its multilingual and ethno-religious diversity, including Armenian-Turkish writing and literary production in the Balkans. Organised around themes of political intervention, language, and representation, it offers a fresh and compelling rethinking of Turkish literature in its historical and transnational dimensions.

Ahmet Yikik is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cyprus. His research examines Ottoman and Turkish literature from a sociological perspective, with a focus on literary production.

Laurent Mignon is Professor of Turkish Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Antony's College, UK.