Metin Kaçan
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'''Metin Kaçan''' (b.[[1961]], Kayseri, [[Turkey]]) is a Turkish [[author]] who is best known for his [[novel]]s ''[[Ağır Roman]]'' (''Cholera Street''), and ''[[Fındık Sekiz]]''. ''Ağır Roman'' has been translated into [[German language|German]] (Kaçan 2003), and a movie (''[[Ağır Roman (movie)|Ağır Roman]]''), directed by [[Mustafa Altıoklar]] (1999), was based on it. Kaçan is also the author of a collection of short stories, "A ship to the Islands" (''Adalara Vapur'', Kaçan 2002), and a book written in a mixed style between prose and
poetry, entitled "The tiger at Withdrawal" (''Harman Kaplan'', Kaçan 1999).
Much of Kaçan's writings deals with life in [[Istanbul]], in particular its poor quarter [[Dolapdere]] (not far from Taksim square). To Dolapdere, he sarcastically gave the name "[[Cholera]]" (''Kolera'' in Turkish)
in ''Ağır Roman'', thereby recalling both its shabbiness and the fact that the greatest Polish poet [[Adam Mickiewicz]] died there from the cholera in [[1855]]. Mickiewicz´ museum at Dolapdere, still open to visitors today, figures in "Ağır Roman". The title of this novel plays ingeniously with the [[polysemy]] of the [[Turkish language|Turkish]] word ''Roman'', which means both
"[[gypsy]]" and "[[novel]]". Also, together with the adjective ''ağır'', which means "heavy" or "slow" in Turkish, ''Roman'' is the designation for a special kind of [[street music]], played by some of the novel's protagonists.
''[[Ağır Roman]]'' tells the tragic story of a young hero who grows up in ''Cholera'' quarter but finally fails and commits [[suicide]]. His failure parallels the failure of the quarter itself, whose ancient structures as well as its multi-ethnic and multi-religious composition disintegrate.<ref> See
Hess 1998b, Hess 2005 </ref>
''[[Fındık Sekiz]]'' tells a story about two cars, that appear sometimes as personified figures, and that take the semi-autobiographical protagonist Meto on a mystical journey. At the same time, Meto's conflict with a women, who manages to have him thrown into [[prison]] through fraudulent statements, is related, which might reflect some of Kaçan's own experiences.<ref> See Kaçan 1997
and Hess 1998b </ref>
Kaçan's style is heavily imbued with Turkish slang, which is called ''argo'' in Turkish (< French ''argot''). This choice gives his writings a non-conformistic, frequently vulgar, but overall extremely vivid and creative tone, which has been hailed, among others, by Yıldız Ecevit.<ref> Ecevit 2004 </ref> Other characteristics of his writing are the personification of natural phenomena
and inanimate items such as cars (in particular in ''[[Fındık Sekiz]]''), autobiographical details (Kaçan grew up in Dolapdere), the blurring of the limitations of poetry and prose, and references
to mysticism, in particular Muslim mysticism (Sufism).
Currently (2008), Kaçan is serving a prison term for torturing and raping his then girlfriend Güneş K. with the aid of TV news anchor [[Alp Buğdaycı]] in [[1995]].<ref> etin Kaçan cezaevinde ["Metin Kaçan in prison"; news report in the online edition of
Turkish ''Radikal'' newspaper].
[http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=194794] </ref>
==Literature by Metin Kaçan==
*Kaçan 1995. Kaçan, Metin: Ağır Roman]. 7th. ed. Istanbul: Metis Yayınları.
*Kaçan 1997. Kaçan, Metin: Fındık sekiz. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları.
*Kaçan 1999. Kaçan, Metin: Harman Kaplan. Istanbul: Gendaş Yayınları.
*Kaçan 2002. Kaçan, Metin: Adalara Vapur. Istanbul: Gendaş Yayınları.
*Kaçan 2003. Kaçan, Metin: Cholera Blues. Berlin: Dağyeli.
==Literature about Metin Kaçan==
*Hess 1998a. Hess, Michael Reinhard: Ağır Roman. ''Istanbuler Almanach'' 2 (1998). 64-66.
*Hess 1998b. Hess, Michael Reinhard: A Glance at the Wilder Side of Turkey: Ağır Roman. ''Orientalia Suecana'' 67 (1998). 55-67.
*Ecevit 2004. Ecevit, Yıldız: Türk Romanında Postmodernist Açılımlar [Postmodern Tendencies in the Turkish novel]. 3th ed. Istanbul: Iletisim Yayınları.
*Hess 2005. Hess, Michael Reinhard: The Turkish Car Novel on a Trip: fındık sekiz by Metin Kaçan. W''iener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes'' 95 (2005). 87-118.
*Metin Kaçan cezaevinde ("Metin Kaçan in prison"; news report in the online edition of Turkish ''Radikal'' newspaper).<ref>[http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=194794 Radikal-çevrimiçi / Türkiye / Metin Kaçan cezaevinde<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:People from Kayseri]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Turkish writers]]