Novel
Tante Rosa
Not translated into English
Sevgi Soysal · 1968
Synopsis
Fourteen linked stories follow Rosa, a Bavarian woman who has lived through the Second World War. According to the presentation of the French edition, she one day leaves her family, leaving behind a letter, three children including an infant, a house with a wooden staircase and a husband who goes to Mass on Sundays. Bianet shows her rebuilding her life through successive upheavals, and the Turkish presentation says she is set against the rules and limits of existence. Ayşe Nur Özdemir sees in it a coming-of-age novel in reverse, in a tone that is at times burlesque.
Context
The text first appeared in the review Dost, from 1966 to 1968, according to Ayşe Nur Özdemir, then in book form in 1968; it was the author's second book, according to Çatlak Zemin. Bianet states that she drew it from the personality of her aunt Rosel. Critics read it sometimes as a collection of short stories, sometimes as a short novel. When it appeared, it was reproached for not being national and for sounding like a translation, and Bianet reports the debates on the place of a German story in Turkish literature. Işıl Özgentürk made from it the film Seni Seviyorum Rosa. The French translation by Claire Simondin appeared from Intervalles in 2016.
Who it is for
A short book, translated into French, whose chapters follow a single woman from episode to episode.
Prizes and reception
Little noticed when it appeared according to Çatlak Zemin, it was later reread by feminist readers who recognised themselves in Rosa.
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