Abstract
SPACE AND EVIL: PEYAMI SAFA’S ZIPÇIKTILAR
Istanbul’s Şişli district is often depicted as a place of evil in the Turkish novel; consequently the area has assumed a correspondingly negative connotation. This article considers why Şişli was presented as a place of evil in Peyami Safa’s novel Zıpçıktılar, first published as a book in 1925 under the pseudonym Server Bedi. Specifically, this portrayal of Şişli will be explained in connection with Lefebvre’s views on the social, ideological, and political production of space. As with everything else in life and its ongoing struggles, space is political. People and objects that fill space organize its political content by means of signs and codes. Space, which is in a constant state of transformation parallel to social and historical events, also has “memory.” Therefore, when a person is included in a new space, his/her memory is shaped accordingly. In Zıpçıktılar, Şişli’s social structure, architectural elements, and representations of power add malign forces to the space. People who erase their past to live in Şişli must still face the concrete and abstract images of the place. Simultaneously, they find themselves in the middle of an ongoing struggle for fame, respect, and money. Achieving belonging in Şişli, where everything changes rapidly, is only possible through victory in this struggle.
Keywords
Şişli, evil, Peyami Safa, space, change.