Abstract

Sevgi Soysal’s Tante Rosa which is regarded as a collection of stories by some critics and is considered a short novel by the others has been published serially in Dost magazine (1966-68). Writer created Rosa who based on her aunt Rosa and is antagonist of her book which consists of fourteen related stories. According to our opinion, this work is a kind of bildungsroman differentiating from usual bildungsromans. It is a genre firstly appeared in German literature and we name it also “development novel” dealing with subjects such as material and spiritual elements which contribute to antagonist’s development, the stages which have been experinced by him/her and the ideal personality he/she has eventually reached. At the centre of the novel, there is a story based upon a development process. Writer handles Rosa who has an unusual personality and a life with full of failure in this novel and the process of turning into an adult in Tante Rosa occurs in contrast to similar novels. While the character is expected to obey the society and its rules in bildungsromans, Rosa has difficulty in adapting herself to society and defies it instead of being a part of it. In the work of Soysal the consecutive events which have been experienced by a person in his/her whole life is treated but these events and negative/positive experiences do not carry to him/her an ideal point. On the contrary Rosa always attacks the ideal concept and sometimes subverts it with colorful scenes. Rosa never reaches an ideal point and turns into a “completed personality”, an “adult who found the meaning of life.” It would not be wrong to name her as an anti-hero. Moreover, although the novel includes a “development story” it hasn’t been fictionalized in accord with the typical features of genre. This work may be regarded as a parody or a kind of “anti-bildungsroman”. In this article, possibilities of how Sevgi Soysal’s Tante Rosa could be read as an “anti-bildungsroman” will be discussed on the basis of these assumptions.