"Searching for Identity (National and Personal) in S.S.Aydemir’s Novel, The Man Searching for Water”

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore Turkish nation’s search and man’s search for identity in Şevket Süreyya Aydemir’s novel, The Man Searching for Water. Turkish writer, thinker, historian and economist Şevket Süreyya Aydemir based on his life story, wrote The Man Searching for Water in 1959 and tells the story of the birth of Turkish Republic from the ashes of Ottoman Empire as well as the story of Aydemir/the protagonist in his novel. He touches upon many different socio-political inluences such as Turanism, Socialism, Communism and Kemalism detailedly. He very vividly describes the winds of change blowing all over the world and lets the readers witness many historical events. Thus, Aydemir’s semi-autobiographical novel conveys many ideological turbulences of the recent ages in his lifetime. Starting from Greco-Turkish war to Aydemir’s own participation in the First World War as a soldier and his efforts to contribute to Turkish financial policies in the first decades of the young Republic by suggesting new concepts and strategies as he has the opportunity to see and work with Atatürk himself. In The Man Searching for Water, Aydemir, in his later years, seems to get rid of all kinds of ideologies and finds the source of the water/his identity that he was looking for in his homeland. Actually, he seems to get closer to transcendentalism; he finds himself and eventually peace of mind too. Thus, the author conveys socio-political history of Turkey as well as his personal history in his work and in doing so, he helps us have a deeper grasp of the spirit of Turkish independence and the spirit of August 30, Victory Day.