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The Question of Polygamy: Halide Edib’s Approach

Pelin Güllübağ (Dokuz Eylul University) [BIO]

Email: pelin.sulha@deu.edu.tr

 

ABSTRACT:

Marriage is a fundamental social institution, deeply rooted in all societies. No matter what their religion, culture or tradition is, societies have always agreed on the nature of marriage. However, it goes without saying that diverse cultures have different views of marriage and as societies become more complex, definitions and opinions of the proper function of marriage continue to change creating new forms of relationships.

This study is about a well-known Turkish writer and novelist Halide Edib (1882–1964), one of the most influential figures in the emancipation of Turkish women. It will probe into the first volume of her memoirs, originally written in English during her exile period, namely Memoirs of Halide Edib (1926). It focuses on her childhood and her first marriage years within the framework of polygamy. In her Memoirs Edib narrates her paradoxical upbringing and family tensions resulting from this custom and reveals the sorrows and sacrifices of women living behind the lattices.

This study attempts to reveal in what ways Edib’s perception of the polygamy custom has affected her writing. It claims that if Edib had not strongly opposed polygamy, the liberation of Turkish women would have taken place in a comparatively long period of time.