Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Middle Eastern Studies, 2025 (SSCI, Scopus)
This article examines Hayat (Life, 1926–1929), a widely circulated cultural journal of the early Turkish Republic, as a platform where the ideological foundations of the new nation were articulated. Focusing on the socio-political profiles of its most prolific contributors, the study analyses how Hayat articulated a reformist and nationalist discourse that sought to shape the moral and intellectual character of the new Republican citizen and society. It highlights the heterogenous intellectual landscape within the journal, in which diverse strands of nationalist thought coexisted. Integrating Benedict Anderson’s concept of print capitalism with Antonio Gramsci’s notion of cultural hegemony, the article conceptualizes Hayat as a case study in Republican nation-building and cultural policy–an instrument through which intellectuals sought to consolidate ideological consensus and promote a modern secular ethos. Finally, it argues that while Hayat provided space for several women writers, their contributions were largely confined to fiction, poetry and translation, revealing the persistence of gendered hierarchies of authorship within the very structures of cultural production that underpinned the Republican modernization project.