Dossier | Sabahattin Ali

"The Devil Within" can be read as a life lesson book. There are many pages which
point out how obscure politics can cause people to destroy one another. This kind
of politics never permits the individual to develop and treats those who wish to
leave the ‘herd’ of believers in a pitiless fashion. Selim İleri, foreword for ‘The Devil
Within’ published by Yapı Kredi Publications 1998.
The Devil Within
İçimizdeki Şeytan
Ömer, a twenty five year old young man , living in Istanbul, has a job at the Post
Office and is an occasional student at the university. On a summer day, he meets an
elderly woman, Emine, from his hometown, and Macide, a young relative. Ömer
falls in love with Macide, who has great passion for music and attends a conservatory
in Istanbul. When her father dies, Macide is deprived of the money for her
lodgings. Feeling unwanted, Macide packs her belongings and leaves. Ömer takes
her to his boardinghouse and they start living together. Ömer, in a milieu of
right wing pseudo-intellectuals who have leanings towards fascism, damages his
personal life and his relationship with the woman he loves. They encounter Bedri, a
young piano player. Bedri, an old friend of Ömer, happens to be Macide’s music
teacher at high school. He becomes a friend of the family, supporting them morally
and economically. Ömer, a well intentioned but weak character, steadily deteriorates
within a milieu where he doesn’t fit and in a dramatic fashion ends up in
prison. The day he is to be released Bedri visits him and tells of his relationship with
Macide. After a long conversation Ömer decides to leave them to each other. The
novel describes the social and political tendencies of the university and art milieu
before the Second World War. It is a criticism of the intellectuals of the époque.
Inspired by the events of his own life, Sabahattin Ali describes the life of the
Istanbul bohemians in a distinctly unromantic manner. The character Ömer, even
as he belittles those aspiring poets and journalists who do their utmost to besmirch
their ostensible political opponents, can’t divorce himself from them and their
bohemian life style. He neglects Macide and enters into increasingly dubious
relationships. To escape from poverty he commits a crime and then attempts to
blame the ‘devil within’.
Fokke Joel - Neues Deutschland
With the novel ‘The Devil Within’, the writer moves from Anatolia to Istanbul.
Before the 2nd World War, the ideological conflict between the university intellectuals
of Istanbul; the consequent arguments, the social and political direction of
thinking that began in artistic circles and depressions sparked by arguments, were
reflected within a love story. Sabahattin Ali described the intellectual circles.
Olcay Önertoy
In ‘The Devil Within’, Sabahattin Ali maintains that we all have a propensity to
have a devil within and a capability of doing evil. An example is Ömer. Without a
doubt this is not a general rule and surroundings are influential too. For this reason
Nihat, Prof Hikmet and his friends are given as examples of his circle of friends.
Sabahattin Ali was a realist and used the political events of his time. While he
exposes the inner dynamics of the subjects he deals with, their mistakes and
dishonourable acts. He takes Ömer as his subject matter and charts the changes he
goes through. Although a member of the group, he is not actually part of it.
Atilla Birkiye, Yazko Literature Magazine
Greek:
French:
German:
The book has done five editions in Turkey in the last twelve months.
(25,000 copies)