The Introduction of Modern Textual Criticism and Editing to Türkiye

Abstract

This article discusses the subject of the introduction of modern textual criticism to Turkiye. What has been said about this matter up to now is that no serious activity had occurred regarding textual criticism in Turkiye until Hellmut Ritter, who had taught at Istanbul University Faculty of Letters since 1936, and his student Ahmed Ates, who filled a huge gap in the field of philology with his 1942 article Metin Tenkidi Hakkinda [On Textual Criticism]. This article discusses the critical texts published between the Second Constitutional Era (starting in 1908) and 1941 in Turkiye. However, in order to put the period within its historical context, the article will also briefly touch upon the years before and after this period. Before the 1940s, an important corpus of critical texts can be seen to have formed in Turkiye from the works shown throughout the article. The most important cause of this was the nationalist movement that had increased among the Turks since the last quarter of the 19th century. Turkish scholars who'd followed Europe gave special importance to the publication of old works on Turkish culture in order to show that their nation was at a level that could compete with European nations in terms of civilization. Tarih-i Osmani Encumeni [The Council of Ottoman History] was active between 1909 and 1931 and had great influence on the introduction and popularization of publishing critical texts in Turkiye. Fuad Koprulu, who shined in the field of Turkology in the 1910s and had provided a great contribution to the introduction and settlement of modern science in the country, served in having people understand the importance of textual criticism. He carried out very important works, especially in the Turkiyat Enstitusu [Institute of Turkology], which he'd founded in 1924 and directed until 1939. The most prominent name of the period in terms of those producing critical texts was Kilisli Rifat Bilge, followed by Ibnulemin Mahmud Kemal Inal as another name to be remembered.