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.