WOMEN’S EDUCATION IN TURKEY (1860-1950) AND ITS IMPACT UPON JOURNALISM AND WOMEN’S JOURNALS Valerie Margaret Smallwood School of Oriental and African Studies London University PhD July 2002 ProQuest Number: 10672729 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672729 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT This thesis explores certain under-researched aspects of the sociocultural development of late Ottoman Turkish and early republican women from the 1860s until 1950. By concentrating on females, the research aims to produce a more inclusive picture of how society developed in this period. In order to attempt this, the research focuses on four main topics which are presented in the following format: an introduction, four chapters, conclusions, appendix and a bibliography. The introduction sets the research within a historical framework and states its broad aims. Chapter One looks at various attempts to broaden female State education, culminating in a study of the Koy Enstitiilen (Village Institutes). Chapter Two consists of several profiles of female Turkish journalists, active from the late 19th century onwards, who had benefited from improved State education. Chapter Three is a survey of the Ottoman women's press from 1869 onwards and a case study of in ti magazine, published between 1919 and 1923. Chapter Four consists of a case study of Sabiha Sertel, a left-wing journalist who was active in Turkey from 1919 until 1950. The conclusion looks at the aims of the thesis and evaluates the material included in the four main subject areas. An appraisal of the educational reforms for women also includes a comparison with appropriate educational developments in England. The conclusion assesses both the value of journalism as an additional career path for educated Turkish women and their importance as role models. The Ottoman women’s press is appraised to gauge how far it reflected the social, economic and cultural development of not only women, but society in general. The importance of the writing of Sabiha Sertel to the history of Turkish journalism is assessed and, finally, suggestions are made as to where further research could add to the material included in this thesis. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page 1 Abstract 2 Table of contents 3 Acknowledgements 7 Foreword 8 Introduction: 9 An overview of the background in which the research is set and the paths which women took towards greater socio­ cultural and socio economic inclusion. 1 Chapter One: Education 12 1.1 Changes in educational policy in 19th century Ottoman Turkey 12 1.2 Foreign private schools in Turkey 14 1.3 Schools for girls 16 1.3.1 State schools for girls 16 ii Private schools for girls 19 1.4 Women's Teacher Training Colleges 21 1.5 University 26 1.6 Vocational courses for Turkish females 27 1.7 Debate, in various publications, about female educational provision from 1895 to 1918 29 1.8 Early republican experiments in education 35 1.9 The establishment of the Kdy Enstitiileri (Village Institutes) (1935-1946) 36 1.9.1 A short comparison of the Kdy Enstitiileri with a similar experiment in England during the same period 71 3 2 Chapter Two: 77 2.1 Journalism: A career option for educated females 77 2.1 .i Hatice Nakiye/Hatice/Zekiye 79 ii Nigar Bint-i Osman 81 iii Behice Ziya Kollar 84 iv Giilistan Ismet 84 v Rebia Tevfik Ba§ok<pu 85 vi Bellas §evket 87 vii Ay§e Sidika 88 viii Hiiviyet Bekir Bek (Ors) 89 ix Hasene Ilgaz 90 x Miikerrem Kamil Su 91 xi Miinewer Aya§li 93 xii Suat Dervi§ 94 xiii Melek Erip Erbilen 96 xiv Miizehher Va-Nu 98 xv Muazzez Aruoba (Kaptanoglu) 99 xvi Nu§in Kavukfuoglu 100 xvii Jiilide Goksan 101 xviii Melahat Faik Gokmen 103 xix Neriman Malko? Oztiirkmen 104 2.2 Summary of Chapter Two 106 3 Chapter Three: 109 3.1 Magazines for women and publications with women’s supplements 109 3.2 A survey of the Ottoman women’s press 113 3.3 In ci (Pearl) and Yeni tn c i(New Pearl) magazine: a case study 123 3.3.1 Childcare, health, medicine and food preparation 129 3.3.2 Social matters 136 3.3.3 Articles aimed exclusively at women 140 3.3.4 Politics 143 4 3.3.5 History 147 3.3.6 Technology and science 149 3.3.7 Culture 151 3.3.7.1 Art and Architecture 151 ii Craft 153 iii Flowers and Horticulture 153 iv Music 154 v Cinema 156 vi Theatre 157 3.3.8 Fashion 162 3.3.9 Literary material 164 3.3.9.1 Agony aunt 164 ii Articles 165 iii Books 167 iv Criticism 168 v Dialogues 169 vi Interviews 170 vii Letters 171 viii Plays 172 ix Poetry 174 x Stories 188 xi Literary standards 196 xii Obituaries for literary figures 197 3.3.10 Competitions 198 3.3.11 Editorial comments 199 3.3.12 Education 200 3.3.13 Religion 202 3.3.14 Advertisements 203 3.4 Summary of analysis of in c i and Yeni in ci 210 5 4 Chapter Four: 216 4.1 Sabiha Sertel (1897-1968): a case study 216 4.2 Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963) and Resim li A y 241 4.3 The Tan Gazetesi (Dawn Newspaper) and Sabiha Sertel 254 4.4 Tevfik Fikret and Sabiha Sertel 264 5 Conclusion 271 6 Appendix 285 6.1 Gender/sexuality in Turkish text books from 1928 onwards 285 6.2 Examples of writing produced by girls for the Kdy Enstitiileri magazine 293 6.3 Poem by Dalmadi Gyozo and Cartoon by Simavi 295 6.4 Cartoons of suitable husbands by Simavi 296 6.5 Examples of front covers of Inci 298 6.5.1 Issue No 1, February 1919 298 6.5.2 Issue No 4, May 1919 299 6.5.3 Issue No 5, June 1919 300 6.5.4 Issue No 23, December 1920 . 301 6.6 Chronological list of Ottoman Turkish Women’s magazines 302 7 Bibliography 305 7.1 Books, Journals and Articles 305 7.2 Textbooks 314 7.3 Textbooks with unacknowledged authors 315 7.4 Newspapers and Magazines 315 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to Dr. Bengisu Rona for her guidance and patience throughout my work on this thesis. My thanks go to Ay§egiil Manav-Sungiir and her father Ibrahim Manav for their help with locating material, and to Dr. Yildiz Sertel, Pakize Tiirkoglu and Ferit Ragip Tun^or who were always generous with their time. Trevor Jaggar and Susannah Thomson have been loyal proof-readers, Caroline Walker has given me a home from home for almost a decade. My husband, Simon Smallwood, has been immensely creative with my computer, had his patience stretched to extremes and encouraged me during difficult and, often, frustrating times. 7 FOREWORD The content of the following thesis is the result of my own research save where the input of others is acknowledged. The majority of the source material is in the public domain but some is the result of private interviews and access to private archives. The opinions and views quoted from other sources are not necessarily ones with which I concur. The translations are my own except where otherwise acknowledged. The justification for numerous quotations in Turkish (followed by an English translation) is that, during the period covered by the research, the language was undergoing certain changes which would not have been evident from a translation, as the precise vocabulary employed would be lost. The Turkish alphabet is used for Turkish words. Turkish words appear in italics or, if giving the title of an article, a play or poem they appear in quotation marks. The titles of all books and magazines appear in italics as do other foreign words. Surnames were introduced by law in 1934 and, where appropriate, these have been added in brackets e.g. Abdulhak Hamid (Tarhan), Sabiha Zekeriya (Sertel). Although Ataturk adopted this name in 1934 he is referred to as Mustafa Kemal throughout. For words ending -ize or -ise Fowler’s suggestions have been followed. In the footnotes, the first reference to a work is complete and subsequent references are abbreviated to the author’s name, the date of publication and the relevant page number. The remainder of the publication details appear in the bibliography. 8 INTRODUCTION This thesis covers the period from the 1860s to 1950 during which the Ottoman Empire ended and many of the struggles to forge the modern Turkish Republic took place. The Empire gave way to the Republic, Constantinople, one of the most multicultural cities in the world lost its status as the political hub of a once vast empire. Ankara became the new capital city of the Republic of Turkey. What was once part of an imperial theocracy became a secular nation State. Sumptuary laws changed the appearance of the urban population. The Arabic alphabet was replaced with Latin script and language reformation continued. A new legal system replaced fikih (Islamic jurisprudence). Women were granted equal rights without having to resort to any of the more extreme activities witnessed in the United Kingdom.