Mavi Sürgün by Halikarnas Balıkçısı as a Testament to the Reporter’s Discovery of the Mediterranean Sea for Turkish Literature
Keyword(s):
Mavi Sürgün [Blue Exile] by Halikarnas Balıkçısı is a memoir published in 1961, describing the events of 1920–1947. Its hybrid form contains elements of autobiography and reportage, and the leitmotif is an attempt to introduce the Mediterranean Sea into Turkish literature, and introduce Turkish literature itself into the circle of Mediterranean civilization. The article explains the phenomenon of such a late “discovery” of the Mediterranean Sea for Turkish literature and presents Halikarnas Balıkçısı, the Fisherman of Halicarnassus (his real name is Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı), as a person engaged in the literary, touristic, and cultural promotion of the Mediterranean Sea among Turks.