An Unknown Text by Aka Gunduz as an Example of Ottoman-German Joint War Propaganda During the First World War

Abstract

The aim of this study is to unearth an unknown text by Aka Gündüz published in Germany in the in the second morning edition of 1 January 1915 of the 'Frankfurter Zeitung und Handelsblatt'. This text titled "O Young German!" is an example of German-Turkish joint war propaganda during the First World War. The text was handwritten and signed by Aka Gündüz. In the introductory part of the newspaper text, "The most important Turkish poet of our age, Ata Gündüz wrote a poem to the Germans at our request. [...] We have added a photograph of the original text in Ottoman (i. e. Turkish) language next to the German translation." note is included.According to archive records, Aka Gündüz did not publish it in Turkey. The text published in the 'Frankfurter Zeitung und Handelsblatt' was translated from Ottoman into German by Dr. Fr. Schrader. When the handwritten version is compared with the one published in the newspaper, it is revealed that there are some (intentional or unintentional) translation errors. Although the name of the poet was written as 'Ata Gündüz' instead of 'Aka Gündüz' at the beginning of the text, when the signature in the text is compared with the signatures in other texts by Aka Gündüz, it is seen that it belongs to him. It was written in a bespoke manner to show the German people the friendship and unity of the Turkish allies. The text was created with idyllic landscapes and an emotional atmosphere. Some sentences such as "You are nice and humane…", "As long as you and my Hungarian brother live, we will make this world strong", "Let's move on to war. Come on, so that there will be no savagery, no hatred, no enmity in the world" reveal the propaganda purpose of the text. This text is important in terms of both war propaganda studies and the identification of an unknown text in terms of Turkish literary history.