Abstract:

Hayride Irdal, the narrator and protagonist of Tanpınar’s novel, The Time Regulation Institute, defines the scene of resurrection of Aunt Zarife and of the opening of the coffin lid in the following words; “[b]ut without waiting a moment for assistance, [Aunt Zarife] flew up the stairs. The crowd stood stunned. My crippled aunt, who had been at death’s door, who had in fact just returned from the dead, was now walking unassisted—indeed she was bounding up the stairs!” (Tanpınar, 2019, pg.83-84). This amazing resurrection scene of Aunt Zarife brings to our minds the rise of Turkey out of the ashes of Ottoman Empire, whose end was unavoidable and near in the eye of the Western colonial invaders and therefore named as “the sick man of Europe”. Thus, historically speaking, the resurrection of Aunt Zarife might stand for the birth of Turkish Republic and during the close readings of these scenes of resurrection and latergic sleep, influences of the lines of Turkish national anthem might be observed as well. Thus, in this study, celebrating the centenary of Turkish national anthem on 12 March 2021, the influence of Mehmet Akif Ersoy and his lines on Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s novel, The Time Regulation Institute will be scrutinized with reference to the related scenes in the novel mentioned above.