This edited volume brings together contemporary perspectives in Turkish literary and cultural studies, demonstrating the depth that literary research achieves when textual interpretation is integrated with conceptual, historical, linguistic, and cultural inquiry. By presenting four chapters that range from Ottoman divan poetry to modern Turkish verse, and from onomastics to the academic mapping of the ilmihal tradition, the book offers a coherent snapshot of interdisciplinary possibilities within the field.
Chapter 1, titled “Usûlî Dîvânı’nda Cân ve Ten Kavramlarının Kullanımı” (The Use of the Concepts ‘Cân’ and ‘Ten’ in Usûlî’s Dîvân) by Bilal Elbir, focuses on the symbolic and Sufi-inflected semantics of the concepts cân (soul/essence) and ten (body/corporeality). The chapter foregrounds how such concept-pairs function as metaphysical axes in classical poetry, shaping the poem’s meaning-making processes through layered cultural and mystical codes.
Chapter 2, “İlmihal Geleneği Üzerine Hazırlanmış Lisansüstü Tezlerin İncelenmesi” (An Analysis of Graduate Theses Prepared on the İlmihal Tradition) by Bilal Elbir and Yusuf Aydın, provides a comprehensive overview of graduate-level academic production regarding the ilmihal tradition. By surveying existing theses to identify thematic and methodological trends, the chapter frames ilmihal not only as a genre of practical religious instruction but also as a cultural-historical phenomenon with pedagogical and sociological dimensions, while simultaneously pointing toward underexplored research directions.
Chapter 3, “İzmir’de Bir Yeradı ‘Yalınayak’ Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme” (An Evaluation of the Place Name ‘Yalınayak’ in İzmir) by Merve Yorulmaz Kahve, examines the İzmir/Tire toponym “Yalınayak” through the lenses of onomastics and toponymy. The analysis illustrates how a single place name can encapsulate linguistic structure, local narratives, historical settlement patterns, and cultural memory, thereby necessitating a multi-source interpretive strategy.
Chapter 4, “Cahit Külebi’nin Şiirlerinde Deniz” (The Sea in Cahit Külebi’s Poems) by Yusuf Çopur, analyzes the sea as a recurring poetic image in the work of Cahit Külebi. The chapter argues that the sea functions as a multi-layered motif—oscillating between loneliness and refuge, memory and place, and hope and vitality—thus revealing the poet’s affective and symbolic architecture.
Collectively, this volume demonstrates that contemporary literary scholarship benefits significantly from connecting close reading to broader cultural and linguistic contexts, offering readers methodological variety and new interpretive pathways for future research.