Halide' Edibs Turkish Nationalism

Halide Edib is a Turkish female who was born in the year 1884 in the township of Istanbul, Turkey. This was the period of the last times of the Ottoman Empire. She was educated at residence by a confidential instructor from where she gained knowledge on the European and furthermore on the Ottoman writing and the past. She also studied religion; in addition to this she learned philosophy and sociology. She temporarily did go to schools like the Greek institution in Istanbul where she gained knowledge of Greek foreign language. Halide grew up to be a solitary active and hardworking woman who fought for the modernization of the country during her time. Other than being a nationalist, she was also a journalist and an active play writer. Additionally, she was equally a novelist during her time where she wrote sets of literatures and novels. Other than that, she was able to serve as a female soldier in the Turkish military during the Turkish fighting of liberty.

This memoir unwraps by talking about the exploration for individual expression of a female trapped in the domineering dynamics of her polygamous family unit both in the parental and the nuptial. The book besides touch a lot on the events that took place for the achievement of the state liberty and the nation construction in the state of Turkey, where she played a lot of dynamic responsibility as an active nationalist. Halide tries hard to portray her key message by the way she uses diverse feminine characters in her writings. Her work furthermore talks of the stereotyping of the Muslim female. She further reminds us of the immerse bravery and complete devotion of the foremothers who struggled for the liberation at both individual and countrywide point.

Edibs’ nationalism is manifested through her literature work. She wrote a lot about the history of her country and the political issues and ruling that affected the population of Turkey. For example in the literature she wrote on the conflict of the people from the East and the population from the West, she talked about the issues that brought clash amid the inhabitants. The conflicts were majorly due to the material and the spiritual differences. Furthermore, evidence showing her nationalism trait to her country is manifested in the Halide’ autobiography. Consequently, the autobiography points widely about Edibs’ life history and her major influence to the Turkish people. The trait is further evident in the Ottoman history where she was known to have keen interest in the history of the Turkish ruling system by the Ottoman Empire.

One of Edibs’ main legacies was as a Turkish nationalist. This meant a lot to her and it is manifested in the fact that she played many roles in the modernization of the Turkey as a country. The fact that she grew up through the tough era of the Ottoman’s ruling and was proficient to scrutinize how difficult it was to modernize the Turkish political system and also the education system. She participated as one of the activists in enhancing a modernized system of governance. She practiced this when she was a mother as well as a wife. The main reason that led to her identity as a nationalist is influenced by the fact that she and the family members were affiliated with the Donmeh. This is a collection of persons who trained Islamic faith in unrestricted but behind closed doors practiced Judaism type which was called the Sabbateanism. Another major reason that leads to her recognition as a nationalist of the Turkish government is the fact that her father used to work as a secretary for the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid. Her identity with the Turkish ruling Empire was significantly influenced by the fact that she was brought up in a family which had a close link with the Ottoman Empire. The fact that her father worked as a secretary in the empire shows there was close association and interaction taking place between her family and the Ottoman Empire.

Other sources that lead to the manifestation of her nationalism were the fact that she was brought up in a household where intellectual activities were intensely practiced. This led to her participation in some of the intellectual events leading to her winning of the award Order of Charity. This award was given to her by the Ottoman Sultan thus showing how exposed she was to the issues affecting the Turkish people. Further evidence that shows her nationalist characteristics is the idea of writing a book about her country. Another thing that led to her identity as a nationalist is the way she talked of the interlectuals leader to the socialist leader and also to the ordinary agents from the peolple active during the process of the movement of independence. She states that the Turkish history is based mainly on the political history and the history of the leaders on the history of Turkey. Furthermore she mentioned  the way she had a very close relationship with the active political leaders like Pasha and furthermore Ataturk. Here she was able to retain a critical and independent mind to fight for salvation to the nation. She further manifests her nationalism by actively practising anticolonialism and critism. Accord%u0131ng to the  autobiography, she is a very active struggler for colonialism during the independence war of Turkey in the years 1919 to 1922.

Another factor showing her love for the turkish country, is the fact that she willingly left her country and she went to Balkan war in Egypt. This shows how intensily she was against any form of war %u0131n any country. Her nationalism trait is further revealed when she tried to unite the Western and the Eastern nations, materially  who were from the West and spiritually who were from the East nations. This was successful because the people from the West began to realize the superiority of the Eastern philosophy while at the same time the East nation started to act to improve their material lifestyle by observing the insufficient materials they possess as compared to the population from the West.

She further manifest this trait by wrirting on how the women in her society were considered to be of low status in the society. This made her critisize the women more because most of them were afraid of taking the lead in bringing change to this situation. Her determination to improve on the women status in the society is further manifested in the novels and strories she wrote highlighting mainly the central role of a woman in the fight for Turkish independence. Another characteristic learnt about Halide in her writing is the way she emphasizes in providing the reader with the insight into the major social issues of the time. She made women characters as one of her major heroes with significant responsibility in the tale. She talks of the nationalistic women, modernized women and also women who rise above the oppressions from the society. She also talks of the women who do their utmost best to be educated.

            Lastly, Edib displays a sense of nationalism and patriotism in the way she quoted herself in the literature work she wrote. She said that she has a very strong conviction that as long as a nation does their most excellent for the benefit, interests and success, then the whole global will envy and admire it. Other countries resolve to imitate their characteristics so as to achieve similar goals. Furthermore, she firmly alleged she is ready to die for her country by doing whatever possible to achieve its independence. In deed she died for her country as her words stated. This shows how passionate she was ready and willing to fight for her country’s modernization.

            In conclusion, the events that occurred during the time of Ottoman ruling are seen as an eye opener to the Turkish people. The efforts put by Halide are not considered fruitless because it led to the attainment of the freedom and modernization of the Turkish people. Therefore for a country to attain independence from any form of bad ruling, sacrifices ought to be made. Halide did this by coming out as an active ant colonialist without fear of gender biasness or criticism. Consequently for any country experiencing the same form of colonialism as the Turkish people, an active ant colonialist or even independence movements must be formed to rescue the country from this kind of ruling. Therefore the significance of the event is that for one to be considered as a true nationalist, major sacrifices must be made for the benefit of the country. The decisions made by the nationalist eventually led to the fruitful outcome of independence and modernization of both the political ruling system and the education system of the Turkish population. This shows a positive change for the country and a better future for the coming generations.