Highlights from the “Summer’s End with Adalet Agaoglu” programs:
Web site: http://lightmillennium.org
For more information: event@lightmillennium.org or/ contact@lightmillennium.org
Date: May 8, 2009, NY

People in shalwar and bikini come face to face in the Eastern Mediterranean

The first program, titled "Adalet Agaoglu in a Discussion of her Novel: Summer's End” took place in Princeton University, Department and Program in Near Eastern Studies, on Tuesday, April 28, 2009.

Prof. Robert P. Finn moderated the discussion. He introduced the author to the audience by giving information about her writing career and important works. Adalet Agaoglu started her speech by thanking the Light Millennium for inviting her for the second time to the U.S. for such programs and also Figen Bingul, the translator of Summer’s End. Ms. Agaoglu then told the audience how she met with Robert Finn, showing the audience a book written by Robert Finn about Turkish literature, which he had given her twenty years ago. Agaoglu said she had not had a chance to have the book autographed by then; so Prof.  Finn autographed his book prior to the second part of Ms. Agaoglu’s speech. Ms. Agaoglu stated that she has always written about conflicts that would be suited to portray a society in depth for her novels. She then read an essay of hers, called “Time in the Eastern Mediterranean,” referring to the main theme of her novel Summer’s End:

She explained that the conflicts of the Turkish society which were experienced during the transition from the religious state of the Ottoman Empire to the secular state of the Republic of Turkey are visible in the eastern Mediterranean, along with the problems arising from modernization or Westernization. In her essay, she illustrated the contrasts between the present daily life and the history and ancient culture of the region. She underlined the cultural conflicts in a rapid changing society, noting the rise of a consumer culture. She described the changes in the region, which occurred as a result of the migration from the mountains to the seaside, bringing people of the mountain and the seaside come face to face.

Ms. Agaoglu stated that her writing journey, from playwriting to novel writing, has been a means for her continual search for answers to her own questions. She said, since from the beginning, she has been striving to change the structure of the classic Turkish novel. She reflected her appreciation of her writing adventure, saying, “I have not learned from anything as much as I have learned by writing.”

Furthermore, the author underlined the importance of translation in making cultures aware about other cultures. She emphasized that the best way to understand other societies goes through reading good novels about those people and countries. She referred to Turkey’s long-term efforts to join the E.U, indicating that they don’t understand Turkey well, and they could only get a good understanding through literature. 

After Ms. Agaoglu’s talk, a Q&A session took place. The author answered questions about the advances in postmodern novel and her perspective of women, especially women in provinces, in her writing. She emphasized that the most repressed women are the ones who live in provinces; much more so than the women who live in villages. Ms. Agaoglu then noted that there is a rise in Sufism and asked the audience what the reasons for this could be. A short discussion about this topic followed. Prof. Sukru Hanioglu, who was in the audience, commented that the tradition of poetry in the Ottoman era had been at its highest level, but lost its importance during the Republic period. Ms. Agaoglu said that, poetry is a channel for people when they are repressed and they cannot find any other outlet to express themselves. Since poetry lets one to convey his/her emotions in an obscured way, it was preferred in the past.

Second program was titled "A Panel and Book Signing with Adalet Agaoglu," and it took place at the Turkish Center, on Thursday, April 30, 2009.

The program was opened by Bircan Ünver, the founding president of the Light Millennium. Ms. Ünver stated that, “LM is also celebrating its 9^th anniversary by this event.” She also noted that this was the second time LM has organized a series of programs with Adalet Agaoglu. The first time was in 2005, when LM had invited Ms. Agaoglu for programs titled “Developments in the Turkish Novel between 1970 and 1980.”

Then Prof. Sibel Erol made the introduction for Adalet Agaoglu, giving biographic detail about the author. She also underlined Agaoglu’s important works, demonstrating the foundations of Ms. Agaoglu’s contribution to the Turkish literature. About Summer’s End, Prof. Erol said: “This is an elegiac novel of attempted reconciliation and consolation set in a lush and delectable setting that intensifies the heartbreaking contrast between life and death and society’s fragmentation and nature’s organic unity. … Agaoglu reinforces the fact that she is exploring a specific economic and cultural problem tied to a specific geography with the name she has chosen for her victim hero. The boy’s name, Guney, actually means “south” in Turkish.”

After the introduction, Adalet Agaoglu gave her speech, informing the audience about the subjects and conditions that make her write. She noted that she has experienced, and is still experiencing, “the depression caused by the serious conflict between the culture of the Ottoman Empire, which was a religious state, with that of the 85 year old state of the Republic of Turkey, which has aspired to become a secular state. To be able to understand this society of ours, people of ours, a patient archeological excavation is vital. It is necessary to approach problems that may not even be issues in other societies thoroughly and search for answers through a multitude of means.” Ms. Agaoglu stated that the need she felt “to make my people and society understood that made me become a writer, especially a novelist.”

Agaoglu stated that her questions go beyond local conflicts and issues. She said, “I have worries about the future of mankind and therefore all living creatures of the world in our day where industrialization has reached the level of spatial science and knowledge; and nuclear energy has turned into a commodity that can be sold and bought. I have worries about the ambiguity of the horizon in this global catastrophe. In fact, these worries have invaded my mind and soul since Hiroshima. The great creativity of the human mind: Massacre! What is this? The sign of what? This means, the power of money equals the power of weapons.”

Ms. Agaoglu then told why she has chosen Summer’s End to be published in the U.S. She underlined that “foreigners can understand the society of the Republic of Turkey and the people of this society in depth only by reading the literature of the Republic, especially poetry and novels from this era.”

Following Ms. Agaoglu’s speech, Figen Bingul talked about the translation process of Summer’s End. She explained the audience that translating needs to go beyond reading and understanding an author. She emphasized that it is necessary for a translator to enter the author’s mind to be able to reflect his/her voice in another language.  She said, “You need to establish a deep connection with the author, while trying to make her voice sound the same in another language,” adding that the biggest challenge was to keep the tone in Ms. Agaoglu’s lyrical prose accurate in English.

Then the publisher of Summer’s End, Edward Foster, founder of the Talisman House, Publishers, talked about the stages of the publishing process. He told the audience that he met with Adalet Agaoglu during the program organized by the Light Millennium at Stevens Institute of Technology in 2005, and he decided to publish the novel after he read Figen Bingul’s translation of a short story written by Agaoglu. He stated that as he read Summer’s End, he found the setting incredibly familiar and remembered that he had been in Side around the time the book was written, during the late ‘70s. He also mentioned that the book cover was actually a photograph he had taken in Side back then. While pointing out the parallels he found in this book to his own life, Prof. Foster said that he is very grateful for being introduced to this work of great literature and “if some day the justice is done, we will have another Nobel prize here.”

At the end of the presentations, Bircan Unver, to mark the Light Millennium’s 9^th Anniversary, and as a symbolic gift, presented an award to Adalet Agaoglu for her great contributions to contemporary Turkish literature.

Later, there was a Q&A session. Ms. Agaoglu answered a question about what she thought about postmodern novels, saying, “They are like fruits with hormones. They look great, but have no taste and odor.”

Following the panel, Adalet Agaoglu signed books and talked with her guests. Meanwhile, a reception honoring Ms. Agaoglu took place.

The third program, titled “Summer's End (Yazsonu): A Conversation with the Acclaimed Novelist and Playwright", was held in New York University, Near Eastern Studies and The Program in Ottoman Studies, on Friday, May 1, 2009.

Greta N. Scharnweber, Associate Director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, opened the program by introducing the presenters and thanking the Light Millennium for collaborating with NYU for this event. Then Prof. Sibel Erol introduced Adalet Agaoglu, giving detailed information about the life and works of the author.

Adalet Agaoglu read a passage from the novel, highlighting the themes of separation and change in Alanya. The passage was a reflection of the central theme in the novel, dealing with the transformation that was experienced during the process of modernization. The lyrical prose portrayed the mythological figures from the region’s past in a contrast to the present scene. Figen Bingul read the same passage in English. Afterwards, the session continued with questions from the audience. One question was about the inner voice of the author. Ms. Agaoglu explained that she has always wanted to have a voice that is multi-dimensioned, multi-colored in accordance with her themes. Another question was if she was read more by women in Turkey. Adalet Agaoglu said that, although some of her novels are more embraced by women, she cannot be categorized as a women’s writer. She also mentioned that some feminists in Turkey are far from seeing the women’s issues in depth; instead they are trying a feminist approach they have adapted from the West. She said that, to be able to understand the women’s problems, you need to look at men’s position first.

Attendees:

At the program in Princeton University, the attendees were mostly students and academicians from departments of Turkish Literature and Ottoman Studies. NYU program attracted some outsider guests as well as students in Turkish Studies, Turkish Literature and Ottoman Studies.  At the Turkish Center program, there were approximately 90 guests, including many academicians, authors, poets, with diverse backgrounds, Romanian, British, and Americans as well as Turks.  The attendees included Mr. Ozhan Uzumcuoglu and Mrs. Uzumcuoglu, Ms. Burcu Keriman Erdogdu, Ms. Zeynep Kiziltan from the Turkish Mission; Consul Ayse Uzer, Consul Pinar Senturk Sevi from the Turkish Consulate; NY Turkish Cultural Attaché Hasan Zongur and Deputy Attaché Nihan Bekar; Commercial Attaché of Turkey Mr. Yavuz Ozutku; Tayfun Selen, President of Anadolu Club; and Adalet Agaoglu’s close friends in New York.

All three programs with Adalet Agaoglu on the book Summer’s End attracted high interest from many different individuals from all walks of life and each of them gave her audience—both Turkish and non Turkish speakers—the opportunity to talk and listen to her closely. Programs with Ms. Agaoglu brought up high level intellectual discussions on many key issues related to literature and culture as well as the Turkish society at large. Not only in Summer’s End but also in all her other works, Adalet Agaoglu has reflected a strong constructive critical approach to the issues she has dealt with. In all her works, she has presented a multi-layered perspective both in content and style.  Her use of multi-voiced narrative is a representation of her view of the society as an extension of many different individuals shaping it. She has always looked at the present, questioning the past and investigating the conditions that make up today. Past always exists in the present as in Adalet Agaoglu’s words: “Before long the sea will sweep over our footprints in the sand and erase them. But they existed. They were there.”

While the programs in Princeton University and NYU were organized by the Light Millennium in collaboration with the related departments of these universities, the Turkish Center program was organized solely by the Light Millennium. The main sponsor for the programs was the Turkish Culture and Tourist Office in New York, along with the Anadolu Club. 

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The first edition of Summer’s End in Turkish was published in Istanbul, Turkey in 1980; and the translation in English was published NJ, USA in 2008.

- For the previous Media Release dated April 6, 2009>
- For the full version of Adalet Agaoglu’s Keynote speech>
- For the full version of Adalet Agaoglu’s essay, “Time in the Eastern Mediterranean">

Special Thanks to:
Consulate General of Turkey in New York for hosting the April 30^th program, reception and general support.

Talisman House, Publishers for printing the invitations for the April 30^th program.