Metaphorizing Places in Classical Turkish Poetry: Idol Houses

Abstract

: Classical Turkish poetry is important in terms of reflecting the cultural and sociological structure of Ottoman society together with different images and dreams in texts. Places that symbolize the general characteristic structure of a society and nation have also been the main material of poems. In the texts in which Divan poetry put love at the center, idols, one of the objects that symbolize beauty, are among them, when they use concrete signs in their depictions of the beloved, the main actor of this phenomenon. Concepts such as sanem and nigar are products of human art and represent perfect beauty aesthetically. The places of worship of the Christian religion (churches, monasteries, etc.) in which these objects, which are seen as the symbol of beauty, are located, together with the cities and countries identified with these concepts, are frequently used as an element of simile in classical Turkish poetry. The places where these objects are located have taken shape around this meaning. In this study, by examining the texts of classical Turkish poetry, the place of idol and idol concepts in the meaning world of this poem is tried to be determined.