The Politics of Turkish Language Reform | Emmanuel Szurek

Ottoman History Podcast

E290 | National language politics and the transformation of literacy have effected major changes in both spoken and written language over the course of the last century, but few languages have changed as dramatically as modern Turkish. The reform of the language from the 1920s onward, which not only replaced the Ottoman alphabet with a new Latin-based alphabet but also led to a radical transformation of the lexicon and grammar, has been described by Geoffrey Lewis as "catastrophic success" due to the extreme but unquestionably successful nature of this attempt to revolutionize language in Turkey. In this episode, we talk to Emmanuel Szurek about his research on the politics of the alphabet change, the language reforms, and the surname laws of the early Republican period. Our extended interview is followed by a brief conversation in French about the history of French Turcology. CREDITS Episode No. 290 Release Date: 4 January 2017 Recording Location: Paris, France Audio editing by Chris Gratien Music: from archive.org - Harmandali - Recep Efendi, Cemal Efendi; Baglamamin Dugumu - Necmiye Ararat and Muzaffer; Katibim (Uskudar'a Gider iken) - Safiye Ayla; Istanbul'dan Ayva Gelir Nar Gelir - Azize Tozem and Sari Recep; Special thanks to Erik Bullot for the "Alphabet March." This march was composed by Osman Zeki (Üngör) in Fall 1928 as a homage and incitement for the Romanization campaign. The partition was found by the cinematographer Erik Bullot and his team while preparing his film 'La révolution de l'alphabet' (Capricci 2014). For this recording (Ankara, September 2013), the conductor was Tuncay Doğu, while Kaan Yüksel was at the piano and the choir was composed of students from the Music Department of ODTÜ Üniversitesi. The sound recording was made by Jean-François Priester. Additional segments: "Talvasa" read by Seçil Yılmaz; "" with Aurelie Perrier and Emmanuel Szurek Images and bibliography courtesy of Emmanuel Szurek available at http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2017/01/turkish-language-reform.html