A Phenomenological Viewpoint on a Literary Character: The Short Story Titled “Perili Köşk” by Ömer Seyfettin

Abstract

Generally known for the Maupassant style of short story writing, Turkish writer
Ömer Seyfettin does not explicitly provide an in-depth psychological analysis of the
characters he constructs in his works. Therefore, this endeavor falls to the readers of his
short stories. However, no instance can be expected to produce discourse independent of
their real-life experience or socially constructed teachings. Therefore, it is significant that
the philosophical and psychological aspects of the literary characters built by the writers
be analyzed in-depth. In this study, the actions and discourse of the protagonist Sermet
Bey are analyzed through Cartesian doubt besides phenomenological considerations to
uncover the psychological aspects of the character in the short story titled “Perili Köşk” by
Ömer Seyfettin, in which the social transformation of the era is recounted with an ironic
attitude to the superstitions held by the society. It is believed that the method employed in
discovering the character’s psyche in this study could guide the methodology of relevant
future studies. The analysis reveals the skeptical personality of the protagonist in the short
story, with the eyesight and sense of hearing supposed by the protagonist as providing
deceptive and misleading perceptions and the sense of touch adopted as the only medium
to rely on with a view to indirect experience. It is concluded that the skeptical attitude of
the protagonist does not bear a complete loyalty to the Cartesian doubt under mind-body
dualism due to the role appointed to the sense of touch as opposed to the sleep-wake
analogy of Descartes in which he rejects the reliability of this sense, rather the psyche
of the protagonist in this short story could be analyzed through the phenomenological
considerations and premises.