The process of conveying the literary work to the reader and its evaluation cannot be explained by only the processes between the author and the work. There is a social environment which has occurred regardless of the author and the work and therefore the work is included in this environment after it is published. There are some directing concepts between the work and the reader at this stage. Reputability of the author and his/her environment, competence of the work, opinions of the critics, social, political and economical structure, dominating cultural authorities and many other factors create a “canon” literally. Kemal Tahir is an author who has sparked a debate in the Turkish novels not only for the content of his works but also for his relations with canonical structure. His efforts to find the ore of the Turkish people in his works resulted in discussions on “Turkish novel”. Conflicting with the ideological methods in Turkey in these discussions, Kemal Tahir has also a position to provide information on the formation of Turkish novel canon in this regard. This study questions the position of Kemal Tahir within the Turkish novel canon and aims to develop interpretations on the formation process of the canon.

Anahtar Kelimeler
Kemal Tahir, Turkish Novel, Ideology, Novel Canon.