On the Term ‘Qita’ in Turkish Tezkires of the 16th–19th cc.

This article attempts to describe how the authors of Turkish tezkires of the 16th–19th centuries interpreted the term ‘qita’ and to trace changes of the term during the mentioned period. The Arabic for ‘qita’ is both ‘fragment’ and a ‘special kind of poems’. The lack of Turkish poetical treatises was the main reason to focus on the materials of the tezkires that, like the medieval treatises, are nothing but literary introspection. Furthermore, materials of tezkires help estimate the popularity and fruitfulness of the qita form. The survey is based on the materials of more than ten tezkhires written by Sehi (?–1548), Latifi (?–1582), Ahdi (?–1593), Beyani (?– 1597), Riza (?–1671), Gufti (?–1677), Belig (?–1729), Salim Efendi (?–1743), Esrar Dede (?–1797), Shefkat Bagdadli (?–1826) Esad Efendi (?–1848) and Fatin (?–1866). The paper focuses on the poetical fragments which were named ‘qita’ and analyses the rhyme system and length of these fragments, since these characteristics had been mentioned in Persian treatises and are believed to be the most significant features of various poetical forms. Moreover, using the method of contextual analysis the article surveys the context that surrounded the term ‘qita’. During the 16th–17th centuries, the term ‘qita’ was applied to both fragments of poems written in the qita-form and fragments of other poetical forms. Beginning with the 18th century, the term ‘qita’ was used only to indicate fragments of poems written in the qita-form. Therefore, ever since the term lost its meaning of ‘fragment’ and started denoting only the form of qita. The rhyme system of the qita-form used in everyday practice differed from the rules which were written down in the treatises on poetics. Though according to Persian treatises the first two lines of qitas should stay unrhymed, Turkish poets often rhymed them and authors of tezkires recorded many examples of such rhymed versions of qitas. The length of qitas put down in the tezkires varies from 2 to 11 beyts, the length of the most widespread qitas is 2 beyts. In spite of the fact that authors of tezkires often recorded only fragments of poems, the results of analysis of tezkire materials correspond to the results of the survey based on the materials of divans of Turkish poets created in the same period.

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