ALBANIAN TRADITIONS IN BESA PLAY OF SEMSETTIN SAMI

Abstract

Semsettin Sami, the writer of Taassuk-i Talat ve Fitnat which is regarded as the first Turkish novel, was the second son of Halit Bey the owner of a manor in Fraser near the Berat in south Albenia. Besides his famous novel, Semsettin Sami wrote two plays, seven books in Turkish, several student books which are called "Cep Kitaplari" (Pocket Books) about various topics. The authors of the Tanzimat suggested the idea of focusing on history, culture and their lives writing in the novel and the theater of Ottoman society. Ahmed Midhat, in the preface of translated, version of Konak ; Abdulhak Hamid, in epilog of his play, Duhter-iHindu; Namık Kemal, in Evrak-i Perisan handled lives and historical actions of Turkish and Islamic great men. Semsettin Sami, in his play, Besa Yahut Ahde Vefa1, handled "besa" which is an important tradition of Albenian people. He also evaluated some collective traditions in Turkish and Albanian cultures, such as marriage and revenge in this play. In this work, critics and evaluations will be detected in this play of Semsettin Sami.