Townspeople and Peasants in the Unmanned City by Orhan Hançerlioğlu/ Orhan Hançerlioğlu’nun İnsansız Şehir’inde Köylüler ve Kentliler

Orhan Hancerlioglu (1916-1991) was a writer who served in civil service positions in Istanbul, Anatolia and Thrace. Although at the present day he is usually remembered with his philosophical works, he had contributed to the Turkish literature with his novels and stories, in which he had told his observations about the places where he had lived and observed depending on people, nature and tradition. In particular, his stories which were published between 1946 and 1953 drew attention with his observations about the people living in Istanbul together with the details about Turkish villagers from the point of view of a townsman who had to serve away from the city. The contrast depending on a townsman who live in a village creates an astonishing and strengthening effect of the perception about rural settlement. Depending on the features of Turkish peasants and townsmen which were presented by Hancerlioglu in his Unmanned City, which was published in 1953, this essay seeks to commemorate him on the 30th anniversary of his death, examine the various aspects of Turkish people’s abilities in rural and urban life through the possibilities of fictional structure and remember his place in Turkish literature.