That the cities begin to lose their identities, traditions and cultures in the last period of the Ottoman Empire is almost simultaneous with the attempts towards Westernization/modernization. Both Ottoman and Republican modernization affects particularly the social life in Istanbul directly. The effect of modernization attempts on life in Istanbul has also been the subject of many literary works written since the Tanzimat. Having constructed the cases in her novels in Istanbul generally, Halide Edib Adıvar addresses the impact of socio-cultural and economic changes on place, particularly upon Westernization, as in many of the Tanzimat and early Republican novels. Transferring the socio-cultural changes in Istanbul to the fiction in the context of both moving away from cultural values and destroying the civilization reserves of the city, the author interprets the disembodying of the architecture and cultural elements, which constitute the dynamics of the city, within the framework of an imitative Westernization. In this article, the relationship between city and identity, culture, civilization belonging and Westernization will be examined in a sociological perspective in Halide Edib’s novels.

Anahtar Kelimeler
Halide Edib, İstanbul, tradition, Westernization, culture, civilization.