Posthuman Possibilties in Osman Türkay’s Poetry


Karanfil B., Kocabıyık O.

Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, cilt.22, sa.4, ss.159-170, 2024 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

Osman Türkay (1927-2001), a celebrated poet of Turkish Cypriot origin, wrote extensively in Turkish and translated some of his works into English, rewriting some of them in that language. His poetic evolution spanned various phases, influenced by mythologies, Eastern philosophies, and Western literary traditions, earning him recognition as a “space-age poet.” During his lifetime, he also showed a tendency to write and publish his poems in English after he migrated to England where he studied philosophy and journalism. This paper explores the poetic production of Osman Türkay through posthumanistic lens, arguing that his works transcend the conventional human/nonhuman binaries, particularly focusing on two poems from his collection “Symphonies for The World”: “Variations of a Theme on Modern Man” and “The Sky-Tree with Branches Hanging on Earth.” Through this perspective, Türkay’s poetic style will be scrutinized and revealed.