The Effects of Positivism on Turkish Literature: Fazl？ Necip, a Person of ‘Interim Period’ Generation, and His Booklet Tebessüm (Smile)

Fazl？ Necip (1864-1932) had a writing life shaped by works of various types and contents. The time he started writing corresponds to the interim period, between what literature historians call second generation and Servet-i Fünun generation. The flexibility that dominated this interim period affected Necip, too, and he got engaged in those days’ hot topic of romanticism-realism conflict. Necip’s booklet Tebessüm (1889) is an outcome of his attempts to imitate Mustafa Re？id’s novel G？zya？lar？ (Tears). The booklet is composed of one introduction part and four short stories, and characterized by the theme of smile. In the introduction, titled ‘Several Words before Starting’, Necip handles this theme with a perspective different from the ones in the rest parts. This preference made the booklet Tebessüm such a work that includes both romantic and realistic elements, and thereby also positivist thoughts which were represented by Be？ir Fuad. This study deals with Fazl？ Necip and his booklet Tebessüm. The aim of this study is to shed light on the literary atmosphere of that period through the author himself and his work, as well as to multiply the resources about the development of positivism in Turkey by examining its reflection on literary works