İhsan Oktay Anar

İhsan Oktay Anar is a major figure in modern Turkish literature, known for combining philosophy, history, and imagination into rich and layered narratives. Born in 1960 in Yozgat to a Tatar family whose ancestors migrated from Kazan, his personal history reflects movement, memory, and cultural layering themes that later appear in his fiction.

He studied philosophy at Ege University, completing his undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees in the same department. He later taught philosophy there until his retirement in 2011. This academic background is not decorative; it shapes the structure of his novels. Rather than explaining philosophical ideas directly, Anar embeds questions about existence, reality, time, and perception into stories that unfold through dreams, legends, and unreliable narrators.

One of the core ideas in his work is the belief that reality is not fixed or stable. Inspired by Descartes’ famous statement “I think, therefore I am,” Anar proposes an alternative vision: existence is grounded in imagination and dreaming. In his novels, the reader is often unsure whether events are real, imagined, remembered, or invented. This uncertainty is intentional and central to his style.

Anar’s language is one of his most defining features. He does not write in standard modern Turkish. Instead, he blends Ottoman-era vocabulary, old Istanbul slang, maritime terminology, musical concepts, philosophical terms, and everyday speech. This creates a dense but carefully constructed language that reflects the historical and symbolic worlds he builds. Reading his work often requires patience, rereading, and attention to rhythm and tone rather than speed.

Structurally, his novels are built like layered boxes. Stories appear inside other stories. Characters reappear across different books. Narrators cannot always be trusted. Historical settings, especially 17th-century Istanbul, are presented not as accurate reconstructions but as imaginative spaces where myth, religion, science, and fantasy overlap. A recurring character, Uzun İhsan, is widely seen as a guiding figure within this fictional universe and as a reflection of the author’s own intellectual presence.

Anar is also a visual thinker. The mechanical drawings and technical sketches found in Kitab-ül Hiyel are drawn by the author himself. This visual precision comes from his early work as a sign painter and supports his interest in craftsmanship, machines, and human invention.

Despite his influence, İhsan Oktay Anar avoids public visibility. He does not give interviews, attend literary events, or participate in social media. After retiring from academia, he has continued a quiet life in İzmir, focused on reading, thinking, and writing. This distance from the literary market has reinforced his reputation as a writer whose work stands apart from trends, popularity, or self-promotion.

Books 

Puslu Kıtalar Atlası (1995)

A philosophical novel set in an imagined version of the Ottoman world. The story follows characters who move between dreams, maps, and hidden knowledge. Reality is uncertain, and truth often appears as a riddle. This book introduces Anar’s main themes: imagination, identity, and the limits of human understanding.

Kitab-ül Hiyel (1996)

A novel about inventors, machines, and human ambition. Inspired by old mechanical traditions, the book tells the stories of people who build strange devices to change their fate or gain power. The author includes his own technical drawings, making the book both a literary and visual work.

Efrâsiyâb’ın Hikâyeleri (1999)

A collection of interconnected stories that feel like legends or old tales. Many of the stories take place between life and death, where characters bargain, remember, or reflect. The tone is calm, poetic, and symbolic rather than dramatic.

Amat (2005)

A dark and atmospheric novel set on a ship at sea. Using rich maritime language, the story explores guilt, fear, faith, and destiny. The sea becomes a closed world where characters face both physical danger and inner judgment.

Suskunlar (2007)

A novel centered on music, silence, and sound. Through the lives of musicians and thinkers, the book explores how sound can express meaning beyond words. It reflects on memory, loss, and the spiritual power of music in Ottoman culture.

Yedinci Gün (2012)

A complex novel that brings together time, technology, belief, and creation. The story questions how the world began, how it might end, and what role humans play in between. Past and future overlap, and certainty is never fully possible.

Galîz Kahraman (2014)

A rough and humorous novel focused on street life, violence, and social masks. Written with heavy use of slang and dark humor, it questions traditional ideas of heroism and honor. The tone is sharper and more direct than in Anar’s other works.

Tiamat (2022)

A later-period novel set largely beneath the sea. The story is claustrophobic and philosophical, dealing with survival, power, and fear in an enclosed world. It reflects Anar’s continued interest in limits: of space, of knowledge, and of human control.