SOME DETERMINANTS ON CLASSIC-MODERN DISCUSSIONS FROM TANZIMAT TO SERVET-I FUNUN

18th century is the era that Ottoman Empire had been through a military, politic, economic and bureaucratic change while it questions itself on literature related fields, as well. The Classical Literature got stuck in this century, which was a precursor of a new / modern literature. In 1821, Tercume Odası was founded in order to carry out diplomatic relations properly. People who were educated in here did not only get in significant positions at government bureaucracy but also some of them had the chance to know the West and Western Literature. Some writers, such as Şinasi, Ziya Paşa, Nâmık Kemal, Ahmet Vefik Paşa, who were under the protection of Mustafa Reşid Paşa, study on modernization of the literature and reformation of the language. They stated their opinions in the articles and other works. The second generation of Tanzimat artists -Recaizade Ekrem, Muallim Naci etc.- followed the same path, even though they sometimes dissented from the others. Servet-i Fünûn artists, the followers of Tanzimat, tried to create an utterly Western literature. While some of the artists support a modern/new/Westerner literature, some others continued to take advantage of classical literature. Thus, there had been “classical vs modern argument” in the era that started from Tanzimat and included Servet-i Fünûn. The arguments above mentioned can be seen today in spite of the changes of content. Change is inevitable in literature as it is in science and art. In this study, “classical vs modern argument” is argued in the context of Tanzimat and Servet-i Fünûn. The former is the time that first concrete movements of modernization occurred in literature while the latter is the era that a Western understanding of literature was aimed. Through the arguments, we aimed to investigate the influence of the writers and intellectuals on the understanding of literature in this period of time as they experienced intellectual and cultural ups and downs for the sake of modern literature.