Today in 1920s Turkey: 3 September 1928 (Famous Person Charles Dickens)

(Snippet about Charles Dickens, Cumhuriyet or “Republic,” 3 September 1928, no. 1552, page 3.)

English
Famous People: Charles Dickens
One of the most well-known English novelists, he was born in 1812 and died in 1870. He was quite prolific. He would portray evil-hearted people with ruthless sarcasm. His work entitled David Copperfield is his magnum opus.

Comments:
The newspaper Cumhuriyet regularly featured a mini column about famous thinkers, writers, historical figures, and artists hailing from both Western and non-Western civilizations alike. There is, however, an especially heavy emphasis on introducing renowned individuals from the Euro-American sphere to a modern Turkish readership for the purpose of exposing them to the figures who have made significant contributions to Western civilization.

Another detail that should strike the reader is the employment of the “New Turkish Letters” (i.e., the Latin alphabet) for the transcription of the text. Over the course of the summer of 1928 a new alphabet was being devised to replace the Arabic letters in Turkey. In August 1928 the new letters to correspond to the Turkish language were determined. From August until December 1, 1928—the official start date for publishing exclusively in Latin letters—the nation was called to embark on a literacy “mobilization” (seferberlik). To aid in this process, newspapers such as Cumhuriyet began gradually printing in Latin letters. Short pieces like this were ideal for complete Latinization. As the Latinization date approached Cumhuriyet increasingly incorporated Latin titles, captions, and short articles in addition to instructional columns on how to read the new alphabet.

(Note: Modern speakers of Turkish will notice that some of the peculiarities of spelling have not yet been fully worked out...)

Today in 1920s Turkey has covered various aspects of the alphabet reform as it unfolded over the course of the second half of 1928. Examples of content dealing with this reform can be accessed through the below links:

Disseminating Knowledge of the New Alphabet (17 September 1928)

The War on Ignorance (24 September 1928)

Happy Republic Day, Turkey! (29 October 1928)

A New Alphabet for the New Year (3 January 1929)

This article has been updated and modified from its first iteration published right here on Steemit on 3 September 2016. For the original version see:
16. Today in 1920s Turkey: 3 September 1928 (Famous Person Charles Dickens)