Sabahattin Kudret Aksal (1920–1993) and His Mastery of Short Story Writing

Sabahattin Kudret Aksal (1920–1993) was a versatile artist in Turkish literature who wrote in the genres of poetry, short story, and drama. Born in Istanbul, Aksal studied philosophy and worked as a teacher in various schools, as well as holding positions in municipal administration and serving as the director of a conservatory. The writer, who began his literary career with poetry in 1938, published his first work in 1940, and his first play was staged in 1948. Aksal’s short story writing was mainly shaped around the theme of the “ordinary person.” His characters are often middle-class individuals who strive to stand on their own feet and experience not only economic difficulties but also inner loneliness and existential concerns. In his stories, rather than external events, the inner world of the characters, nostalgia for the past, disappointment, loneliness, and the tendency to seek happiness in the past are predominant. For this reason, he is known as a “situation-state” storyteller; the conflict is mostly internal, drawing the reader into the psychological depth of the characters.