Perspectives of Diwan Poets on Social Environment (15th Century)

It is a known fact that poets cannot be considered separately from the environment they are in, that relations are established between artists and various circles, and that this situation is reflected in art pieces. Additionally, these relationships can be seen in various forms and tighter in diwan literature. On the other hand, diwan poets made evaluations and detections on environment through their poems. However, as Harun Tolasa stated, the relationship poets establish with their environment is an arts-based relationship. Poets’ evaluations allow us to learn about the environment while the identification of the environment’s praise and critiques about the poet, identification of the personal artistic traits of poets, an artist’s criticism of their era/environment and revealing the impacts of the artist on their contemporaries are important in terms of providing materials for literature history. However, evaluations on the perceptions of the environment on poetry and poets are limited to what poets see or think. Poets of the 15th century included statements of complaint and grievances, satisfaction and gratitude in artworks such as eulogies, odes, and mesnevi. In our study, departing from these statements of poets, a general description of the environment of poetry and poet in the 15th century is provided. In addition, characteristics of people and types that constitute this environment, the perceptions of the environment on the poet and poetry, the intended audience, other artists, the impact of poets on the environment, and expectations from the readers are also addresse