147. Today in 1920s Turkey: 23 April 1927 (Early “National Sovereignty and Children’s Day” Illustration)
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Today Turkey celebrates one of its most important national holidays, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day (Hakimiyeti Milliye/Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı). 23 April marks the establishment and opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara in 1920. It is with the power vested in this institution that the War of Independence was fought and successfully concluded in 1922. After being accepted as a national holiday on 2 May 1921, the first celebrations took place on the two-year anniversary of the auspicious event on 23 April 1922. Initially recognized only as “National Sovereignty Day” its designation as “Children’s Day” was added in 1927.
Today’s illustration is from the first year of the holiday’s new and final iteration on the seventh anniversary of the Grand National Assembly’s opening. It consists of a eight figures gathered in the foreground and saluting a sun which is rising from behind an indiscriminate, mountainous landscape. The sun is the focal point of the composition and as such it is picked out in red and bears the label “Salvation” or Halas — referring to the War of Independence victory that lead to the establishment of the new state. All of the figures in this image constitute types that comprise Turkish society except for Karagöz who is the journal’s mascot and a popular shadow theater character (second from left). The types, which are almost exclusively male, include a soldier, sailor, farmer, city-dweller, a little girl, and a little boy. The two children are the illustration’s only reference to the holiday’s new “Children’s Day” angle as the text makes no explicit reference to children per se. The transcription and translation of the text is below:
Türkçe
Bugün Büyük Millet Meclisinin İlk Toplandığı Tarihi Günün Yıl Dönümüdür
Karagöz: Ey genç Türkiye’nin genç amelesi, genç talebesi… Bugün saltanat istibdadına nihayet verip hakimiyeti elimize aldığımız ve istiklal için el ele verdiğimiz günün yıl dönümüdür. O günkü azim ve karar bizi helas ve istiklale götürdü. Bugünü hatırlarken azmin, sebat ve ittihadın daima kuvvet yaptığını bir kere daha öğrenelim!English
Today is the Anniversary of the Historical Day When the Grand National Assembly First Gathered
Oh young Turkey’s young worker, young student… Today is the anniversary of the day that we put an end to the sultan’s despotism, took sovreignity into our own hands, and united for independence. The determination and resolve of that day took us to salvation and independence. While remembering today let us learn once again how determination, perseverance, and union always create strength!
(Comments continued)
The children seem almost incidental to the occasion especially since they are not mentioned in the text. Perhaps by using the text to address “the youth” the cartoon was making an attempt to associate it with this demographic. Nevertheless, there is a disconnect between the “worker youth and student youth” of the text and the people represented in the image. It is possible to read the “downplaying” of “Children’s Day” as being a symptom of the novelty of the concept or a lack of any developed iconology to accompany the holiday’s new form. Moreover, how does one incorporate children into a national holiday about a government institution? At the very least, the association between the two entities is far from obvious. Of course, not all early holidays become permanent, some become dead ends if they do not resonate with the people or if the state apparatus fails to adequately promote it. Thus, it is unrealistic to expect a robust set of symbols and association to appear in a holiday’s infancy. Other papers such as Cumhuriyet (“Republic”) were more careful to mention the newly adopted full name of the holiday in their front-page editorials covering the significance of the occasion during this early iteration but completely neglected to incorporate any child-related imagery in the accompanying illustration.
Also see: “Çocuk Günü,” and “Bugün Milli Türk Devletinin Kurulduğu Günün Yıl Dönümüdür,” and “Çocuk Bayramı,” Cumhuriyet 1062 (23 April 1927): 1–2.
Originally published at https://steemit.com on April 23, 2018.
