Reflections of Tartarin of Tarascon in Araba Sevdası in the Context of Impressionism

Abstract

Araba Sevdası, written by Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem and one of the most important novels in Ottoman-Turkish literature, criticises the “European snob type” who despises his own culture and desires everything Western. Based on Alphonse Daudet’s impressions of his trip to Algeria in 1861, Tartarin of Tarascon criticises the “Provencal type of Southern France” who is overly fond of the exotic and looks quite comical in Eastern clothes. Both Daudet’s and Ekrem’s protagonists are alienated from their own identities and are caricatured with their incompatible, ridiculous, and exaggerated aspects. Ekrem himself states that these two texts, which have parallel aspects, are similar to each other, especially in terms of style. This article argues that the stylistic similarities between the two texts are based on the methods and techniques of impressionist painters and that Ekrem exemplifies Daudet’s impressionist style.