Abstract
A Mukeyyifat (Pleasure-Inducing Substances) Debate Written on December 9, 1737: ‘Hikâyet-i Cemiyyet-i Mükeyyifât-ı Âlem ve Mübâhase ve Mücâdele’
The literary debate genre is one that has been widespread and popular in Turkish literature, as it has been in so many other literary traditions around the World. The most original and striking examples of this genre in Turkish literature are the pleasure-inducing substance debates in which substances such as opium, bersh, cannabis, boza, wine, arrack, coffee try to claim and prove their superiority over each other with the help of personification and vocalization art. While most of these debates have been published, there are still unpublished ones. This article deals with such a pleasure-inducing substances debate named Hikâyet-i Cemiyyet-i Mükeyyifât-ı Âlem ve Mübâhase ve Mücâdele which is mentioned in the related sources but has not been studied independently to date. Hikâyet-i Cemiyyet-i Mükeyyifât-ı Âlem ve Mübâhase ve Mücâdele, which is among the 35b-49a leaves of a 182-leaf story collection in Taksim Atatürk Library and written in a mixed verse and prose, with its fourteen pleasurable items (opium, berş, marijuana, boza, tobacco, wine, glowing fire, müselles, mead, apple liqueur, mukim, maddetü’l-ferah, arrack, coffee) among the pleasure-inducing substances debates the number of pleasurable items is the largest one. The work is also in the class of inconclusive debates, unlike the other pleasure-inducing substances debates, as the struggle for superiority between coffee and wine was not concluded. In this article, the pleasure-inducing substances debate titled Hikâyet-i Cemiyyet-i Mükeyyifât-ı Âlem ve Mübâhase ve Mücâdele which stands out among the other pleasure-inducing substances debates due to its unique characteristics was discussed and the work was introduced to the world of science with its translated text.
Keywords
Classical Turkish Literature, Literary Debate, Pleasure-inducing Substances, Pleasure-inducing Subst