Abstract:

The changes seen with the acceleration of the westernization movement in the 19th century Ottoman field are reflected in various aspects of daily life. Literary texts are the sources where the effects of these changes are seen directly. Ahmet Mithat Efendi, who is one of the important representatives of the novel in the Tanzimat era, which is the genre in which social life is reflected in the most detail among literary genres, frequently deals with such changes as a literary material in his novels. Ahmet Mithat creates a synthesis as a result of these comparisons by comparing the socio-cultural structure of the West and Ottoman society in his novels. Ahmet Mithat Efendi, who puts his artistic concerns aside and sees the novel as a tool to spread his ideas, adopts such an approach in his novel Vah; He questions the existence of women in the public sphere by addressing the changing perception of public space in the novel. The disintegration process in terms of male-female relations and the emergence of women into the public arena is one of the main themes of the novel. Within the scope of the study, impressions about this subject are determined. Keywords: Tanzimat novel, Vah, public space, promenades, theater halls.

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