The Ideology of Liberal Nationalism and Halide Edip Adıvar’s Yeni Turan

Abstract This article discusses the novel Yeni Turan written by Halide Edip Adıvar during the Second Constitutional Era, within the framework of the liberal nationalism argument. Liberal nationalism is a conception of nationalism in which liberal values are dominant. Liberal nationalists work from the idea that the world is divided into nations, each with a unique personality and character that deserve respect. The liberal nationalist argument considers the preservation and development of national identities as important. According to liberal nationalists, this means that national identities should have the right to self-determination. Additionally, liberal nationalists see an environment that nurtures national identities as compatible with democratic practices if individuals share the same beliefs as those representing them, this indicates to the members of that nation that they are part of an active community. The clearest way to ensure this is for nations to have a government of their own choosing. This perspective sheds light on the relationship between nationalism and democracy. Thus, a political structure where sovereignty is shared under a federal umbrella would be a governance model aligned with the ideology of liberal nationalism. As a nationalist intellectual of the Second Constitutional Era, Halide Edip Adıvar, in her utopian novel Yeni Turan, written during the Balkan Wars, proposes granting “decentralization” to the elements within the empire in response to the state’s decline. In this novel, where nationalist elements are prominently featured, we witness Halide Edip Adıvar’s “liberal nationalist” ideas.