THE TALE TELLER WHO KISSED MOUNTAINS AND MADE FISH SPEAK

Mavisel YENER

Translated by Ülkün Tansel

It is a sunny afternoon on a day in May of 1987 in İzmir when there is a knock on

the door of my clinic. As soon as the door is opened, the arriver starts shouting: “Hope,

ahoy! Blue on the horizon. Fear no longer, my teeth!” In order to understand what is

going on one needs to have read Oğuz Tansel of course. Tansel has been visiting the

clinic for the treatment of his teeth for a long time now. Each time he comes, there is

jubilation. He is disappointed; because, shortly after his arrival I invite some other

patient for treatment. He says: “We have not come all this way merely to have our teeth

treated. Won’t there be any splashing of words. So tell me, blue girl…” Later on I

reduced the number of patients on the days he is to come. I know that he cannot do

without drinking “strong blue tea.” I know that he is the only “patient” I cannot help allow

smoking and that he will want to chat in the bluest tones. Reminiscences are endless.

Let us slowly move on. Let this be a promenade through life and works of the maestro

who said, “I crammed myself full with blue.” Tansel was born in 1915, in the village of

Meyre, on the Western portion of the Torus mountain range. He makes a point of

pronouncing it “Torus” rather than the generally used “Toros,” by explaining that in the

Turkish language one does not find the wovel “o” in two consecutive syllables in

accordance with the speech sounds rules. By pronouncing it “Torus,” this proper noun

thus assumes a Turkish character. He attended the primary school in the close by

Bozkır township and studied further to graduate from İstanbul Davutpaşa Middle school

and Pertevniyal high school in İstanbul. Following studies at the Faculty of Literature he

took up teaching (1938) which lasted until 1969. His first poems were published in the

periodicals Servet-i Fünun and Varlık. He studied under Prof. Pertev Naili Boratav. He

recorded Turkish folk tales. Those folk tales which he recorded in the Amasya province

did get references in the Catalog of Turkish Folk Tales prepared by Prof. Boratav and

Prof. Eberhart. He demonstrated the richness of the Turkish language in all his works of

folk tales, poetry as well as in the Dervish Bektashi Gems which he poetized jointly with

Metin Eloğlu. In 1977 he was awarded the Children’s Literature Award given by the

Society of the Turkish Language. His works have been translated into English, French,

German, Danish, and Korean. In his poems as well as in his folk tales one notes a keen

sense of economy on words and a mathematical approach to language and a

meticulous workmanship of narration. Oğuz Tansel passed away in 1994 leaving behind

ten volumes.

Those folk tales which he recorded in the Amasya province are much valuable

with regards to Turkish folklore and tale narration. He is an intellectual of the Republican

era who has reflected his folkloric research upon his works. In the folk tales which Oğuz

Tansel recorded for the children he reflected enlightenment, benevolence and beauty

onto the mirror of his words. He nourished himself and his reader from the purely and

transparently running river of the Turkish language. The Turkısh language offered him

shelter and he, in turn, provided shelter for the Turkish language.

Oğuz Tansel, this unique voice among the generation of poets of the 1940’s, has

a heart full of “love” and “blue.” He reflects this ”love” and “blue” in his narratives for the

children. He begins narrating his tales by the introduction saying, “Once upon a blue

time, ever since time eternal,” The expression, “blue,” along with other usual metaphors,

heralds revolutionary change in Tansel’s works. For instance, in his tale titled The Blue

Bride, “days chase after months along the blue time; three white pigeons sail down from

the blue sky; the blue bride and the blue groom,” finally converge. In his tale The

Talking Fish and the Lonely Girl, watch how the tale begins: “In blue time with no

beginning, in the midst of deepest blue, in one of those blue years, there was a land of

sun.” In this tale, the man “with blue hair and blue moustache speaking the fish

language,” is none but Oğuz Tansel himself.

His special vocabulary is based on the Anatolian vocabulary. In the tale titled The

Three Fairies he ties the knots of a carpet with such skill that one feels admiration: “All

the different carpet designs such as karagündüzlü, benlikara, çakmaklı, eliböğründe,

dallıayak, gönlüorta, parmaklı, kocaoya, aylıgülizar, seviçengeli, toramanlı, kurtizi were

displayed on this carpet.” Many of the words we have placed in “intensive care” breathe

in his works. It is imperative that we go through all his woks and carry out an intensive

research. I shall here be content with pointing out to the necessity of young researchers

focusing on his language and quote some of the words which he used frequently:

Korkalamak, giyit, yontu, sakırga, us, esenlik, kındam, sur, uruk, iye, tez, zeyrek,

esenek, tozak, sayrı, eneze, duyarga, sevi, ınlamak, ırlamak, nen. Oğuz Tansel is a

laborer of language who in his works, creates unique venues. His extraordinary

expressions shine like diamonds in our Turkish.

His two volumes of folk tales titled Al’lı ile Fırfırı which was given the award for

Children’s Literature by the Society of the Turkish Language in 1977 was also sighted

among the 100 Basic Works of the Turkish Literature. These two volumes of Al’lı ile

Fırfırı were published again by the Publisher Elips. The original Foreword written by

Oğuz Tansel has been preserved. The foreword to the new edition is written by his

daughter Prof. Dr. Aysıt Tansel. Aysıt Tansel says: “At all ages we were allowed to

explore our parents’ library and thumb through or read any book that interested us until

we were bored. If we were bored and gave up reading it was not due to any fault of

ours…That is what our Dad told us.” For the first edition which appeared among Yaz

Publications Al’lı ile Fırfırı was the title used. The first volume was subtitled Çobanla Bey

Kızı and the second volume was subtitled Konuşan Balıkla Yalnız Kız. Oğuz Tansel’s

essay concerning his work and the sources of the folk tales is included in the end. The

decision to Include drawings by Seniye Fenmen in the first edition, once again in the

new edition is proper and fitting; however, it is difficult to say the same for the book

covers. Cemil Eren is an important artist; but, drawing for a children’s book requires a

different approach. The book covers of the 1980’s and those of 2009 have been

included for the reader to compare them. The reader should decide as to which would

please the child reader and create an aesthetic awareness. What would you say?

With a feeling of blue, I would like to commemorate the researcher, the writer and

the poet Oğuz Tansel, sensitive to humanity and language use, who depended on the

refined Turkish language to make fish speak, kiss the mountain, and fight the witches.

Cumhuriyet Kitap (2009) no. 1020, September 3, p. 24.

Tansel, Oğuz (1976) İstanbul: Yaz Yayınları; (2009,20012) İstanbul: Elips Kitap.