WAR-THEMED POEMS BY SOLDIER POETS AND WESTERN GARRISON POETS IN THE 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES

Abstract

Wars, and consequently military service, have always held great significance for the Turkish nation. This reality has also influenced Turkish literature, notably affecting Turkish Folk Literature. This study examines the impact of wars on Âşık (Minstrel) Literature in the 16th and 17th centuries, focusing on prominent soldier-poets and poets from the Western Garrisons of that period. The term "Western Garrisons," or "Maghreb Garrisons," refers to the Ottoman Empire’s term for Algeria, Tunisia, and Tripolitania in the 16th and 17th centuries. There were various conquest troops deployed by the Ottoman Empire, primarily janissaries, assigned to conquer these regions. Among these troops, a unique group of minstrel poets emerged—referred to as Western Garrison Poets or Maghreb Garrison Poets. This group expressed not only the excitement of conquests and the glory of victories but also the pain of separation from their homeland, the longing, the hardships of war, and their yearning to return home. In this study, the role and importance of the Western Garrison poets and other notable soldier-poets of this era in Turkish War Literature and Âşık Literature are analyzed through the theme of war.