Halide Edip Adivar “Fire Shirt” Book Review

Abstract

In this study, the novel "Ateşten Gömlek" (Shirt of Flame) is examined, which is intertwined with social history and offers a significant opportunity for interpretation. The novel has a historical and imaginary backdrop and is loaded with symbolic elements that materialize in its title. Through the analysis of discourse, the study reveals how the struggle for embodiment in society is portrayed through the characters, their stories, and their struggles in the novel.

The embodiment struggle marked with the title "Ateşten Gömlek" explains the idealization of those involved in the struggle and the marginalization of those against it, as well as how the contradiction between substitution and old biography is concretized through imitation and actions. Homeland is a concept that constitutes people's national identity and strengthens their allegiance to the flag. Therefore, individuals who bravely and faithfully defend their homeland play a crucial role in instilling national identity consciousness in future generations. This is the most common way to give a community a national identity, and literature is one of the most important tools used for this purpose. Regardless of being rural or urban, civil servant or intellectual, child or elderly, female or male, those who strive for the War of Independence are the individuals who bring national spirit to society during the National Struggle.

Halide Edip Adıvar is a brave and loyal Turkish woman who fought in the struggle. Adıvar's novel "Ateşten Gömlek" revives the Turkish spirit and plays a significant role in the formation and strengthening of national identity in Turkish literature. Adıvar, who experienced all the pains of war on the front lines during her education, took a pioneering role in the construction of national identity by writing National Struggle novels like "Ateşten Gömlek".