Mountain Air is 100 years old

Sinan ŞANLIER

The poems, writings, plays, scenarios, stories, novels, translations etc. of Nazım Hikmet, a subject that has not yet been collected, compiled and completed by researchers and publishers, can sometimes cause confusion among researchers and those who write about Nazım Hikmet. His works, which were previously published in any media but have been forgotten over the years, are presented as if they were discovered for the first time, or they are lost again without being considered because of the signature at the bottom of the work. However, of course, these re-emergences have many benefits: The fact that Nazım Hikmet's writings and poems written under the pseudonyms MN, Ahmed, Orhan etc. in the years when Arabic-lettered Turkish was used are included in the books published today is the result of such work or coincidences. We can be sure that the total of these works in Arabic-lettered Turkish sources, which have very few enthusiasts, will be a few hundred pages.

The Havası of the Mountains, published in 1925, also has such an adventure. After being published as a serial in Akbaba magazine, one of the longest-running publications in Turkey, published by Yusuf Ziya Ortaç, it was published as a book after a while. Since Dağların Havası, which did not have any signature on it, was written down to Yusuf Ziya Ortaç for years because it was from Akbaba Publishing, no one gave it the necessary importance. However, as a result of the findings of both Kemal Sülker and Haluk Oral, the book was recorded in Nazım Hikmet's house. Kemal Sülker states that when he met with the poet after his release from prison in 1950, Nazım Hikmet asked him for publications, books, etc. from his long prison years and from his past, and also asked about his articles in Akbaba magazine. Years later, Kemal Sülker visited Yusuf Ziya Ortaç to have one of his books signed, and Nazım Hikmet's articles also came up. Kemal Sülker explains the subject in his article written in 1982, based on his memories:

"... On my second visit, he was examining a few cartoons and legends in his possession. He remembered the subject. He told me interesting things. I had taken notes of what he said, but I could not find them. However, it was a story decorated with subtle jokes and metaphors. The main parts of his words, which I cannot remember exactly now, that remain in my memory are as follows: Nazım gave his verse novel to Yusuf Ziya. But the roof of Akbaba magazine was always built two or three issues in advance. The article given could have been included in the magazine to be prepared ten days later at the earliest. Moreover, a verse novel by a famous poet like Nazım should have been introduced and announced to the reader at least three or four issues after each other... When he was preparing the last issue of February and was standing in front of the introduction of Nazım's novel, when rumors circulated that Ankara would establish an extraordinary court, Yusuf Ziya tore up that introduction. He put the novel in a file, put it away, and erased Nazım's name from it."

As is known, the first half of 1925 was the days of the Sheikh Said Rebellion. Ankara was on alert, and the press was anxious. Indeed, after a while, martial law was declared, and arrests, trials, and punishments began. Some newspapers and magazines were closed, and Nazım Hikmet was tried in the Ankara Independence Court with his friends because of his articles and poems published in the Aydınlık magazine, but he was spared from going to prison because he had already left Türkiye. Naturally, due to such a process, Nazım Hikmet did not know or remember how Dağların Havası developed. He saw that the novel was neither serialized in Akbaba magazine nor published as a book.

While determining that "Sureyya, the hero of Nazım Hikmet's verse novel Dağların Havası, was Şevket Süreyya Aydemir," Haluk Oral gives information about the content of the novel and also conveys the following about the train journey:

The story begins at Haydarpaşa Train Station. Leman, a "modern young girl", is going to Ankara to visit her father. She thinks of this journey as entering a movie and is excited about the adventure she will experience. In the carriage she is traveling in, there is a young man who is reading a book non-stop. Leman rejects the young man's offers on the grounds that they have not met. However, as the night progresses, she softens and falls asleep. When she wakes up with a jolt, she sees that the road is closed due to snow, and the young man is preparing to get off the train. Fearing to be alone, Leman introduces herself to the young man:

-Here, get to know me: My name is Leman...

My father is a rich merchant...

-My name is Sureyya,

I am a village teacher with a full mind but empty pockets!

Another character of the book, Leman, is Şevket Süreyya Aydemir’s first and only wife, Leman Hanım. The reason why Nâzım Hikmet chose to talk about these people should be sought in the common past of Nâzım Hikmet and Şevket Süreyya Aydemir. They shared the same ideology and breathed the same air in Yeni Hayat, which was published in the early 1920s, in Moscow’s KUTV (Communist University of Eastern Workers) and in Aydınlık magazine.

Dağların Havası was serialized in Akbaba magazine for 9 issues from March 5, 1925 to April 2, 1925, under the Kartal signature. One or two drawings were used in each issue in which the work was published, and Dağların Havası was published as a book shortly after its serialization. Akbaba magazine made many announcements at frequent intervals before and after the work reached the reader both as a serial and as a book. There is no line on the cover indicating who it belongs to. There are only the explanations "Akbaba Neşriyatın 1, Dağların Havası, Verse Novel ". The work, which can be considered small-format, is about 32 pages long. Years have passed since the first publication of Dağların Havası, which is now included in today's publications by Nâzım Hikmet, and Dağların Havası has turned 100 years old.