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Description
Aganta Burina Burinata is a novel by a Turkish novelist and short story writer, Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, also known as the Fisherman of Halicarnassus, who portrays the protagonist Mahmut’s close but paradoxical relationship with the land and the sea. This paradox evolves into a crisis, as Mahmut oscillates between the sea that forms and soothes him and the land that confines and suffocates him. To make sense of this relationship and ground it in a theoretical framework, this study will evaluate the novel from the perspective of Blue Humanities which focuses on water and its relationship with other living things. Kabaağaçlı does not merely give Mahmut the leading role in this novel, he places the Aegean Sea at the very heart of the plot and the dilemma. The sea is not merely a landscape or setting; it is a living, breathing entity that forms relationships with other beings. Mahmut’s attempt to detach himself from the sea by getting married and settle down is the source of his struggle to understand where he belongs. When he is on the sea, there are dangers, losses and difficulties but he feels peaceful and most importantly free. However, his bondage to land requires commitment and enslavement in spite of the safe and static environment. By staying on the land, he fulfills the expectations of society but he is restless and suffocated. Mahmut's conflict which will be addressed and analyzed as ‘blue crisis of belonging’ will be interpreted in reference to Steve Mentz’s concept of “shipwreck modernity.” Shipwrecks do not mean only disasters; but they are metaphors for “opportunities”. Kabaağaçlı’s novel can be read as a shipwreck narrative which portrays Mahmut’s figurative shipwreck when he cuts off his emotional and physical bond with the sea. Mahmut’s shipwreck and stranding are not a disaster but a transformation. Mahmut escapes this crisis by abandoning the land and returning to the sea. The blue crisis is not a destruction for Mahmut but a rebirth and re-belonging.
| Keywords | Aganta Burina Burinata, Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, blue humanities, shipwreck modernity, blue crisis of belonging |
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| gokben.guclu@atlas.edu.tr |