Bilge Karasu Symposium Held
Prof. Aron Aji delivered the keynote speech at the Karasu Symposium
Bilge Karasu, prominent author of 20th-century Turkish literature, was commemorated and appreciated with a one-and-a-half day symposium, "Altı Ay Bir Güz" ["Six Months An Autumn"], held by the Center for Turkish Literature on December 13th and 14th. The opening address was given by Prof. Talat Sait Halman, dean of the faculty of humanities and letters at Bilkent University. The keynote speech was delivered by Prof. Aron Aji, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at St. Ambrose University, Iowa, U.S.A., who has translated Karasu's Troya'da Ölüm Vardı [Death in Troy] and Göçmüş Kediler Bahçesi [The Garden of Departed Cats].
The symposium consisted of five sessions, one of which one was devoted to reminiscences by Karasu's friends and associates in such diverse fields as literature, philosophy, art, and music including Pulat Tacar, Yıldırım Arıcı, Mustafa Arslantunalı, Sıtkı Erinç, Sedat Örsel, Mustafa Şerif Onaran, and Müge Gürsoy Sökmen. The contributors to the four sessions were Doğan Hızlan, Alain Mascarou, Burcu Çetin, Levent Kavas, Tansu Açık, Berna Yıldırım, Hasan Erkek, Mehmet Nemutlu, Neslihan Demirkol, Doğan Yaşat, Laurent Mignon, and Servet Erdem, who presented papers on Karasu's literary works.
The final speech of the symposium, given by Prof. Semih Tezcan, put emphasis on the fact that the academic practice adopted by the department of Turkish Literature at Bilkent University, from the very beginning to present, has been and is to approach the phenomenon of Turkish literature from new, scholarly points of view.