Abstract
The Tradition of “Refutation” in the Turkish Commentary (Sharh) Literature and The Example of Sudî-i Bosnevî There is a Critic in The Commentator
Turkish Commentary Literature, as an umbrella term,
encompasses the commentary texts in which Persian-
Arabic classics and sufic poetries are evaluated. Commentaries
are invaluable resources not only because they
provide invaluable insights and information about the
original work, but they also provoke the emergence of
literary discussions. Since 16th century, these discussions
have led some commentators to criticize and refute other
commentaries on a specific work. This literary tradition,
which is called “refutation/reddiye”, enables the tracking
of the competetive behaviour amongst various commentators
by means of the “text”. One of the most important
representatives of this tradition is Sudî-i Bosnevî, a
16th century commentator. Sudî, not only commented
Gülistân, Bostân and Divan-ı Hafız but also criticized
and refutated other commentators who commented the
same works. The current article first discusses the tradition
of refutation in the Turkish Commentary Literature
and then describes Sudî’s understanding of refutation in
terms of content and style by providing respective
samples from his work.
Keywords
Sudî, Commentary of Gülistân, Commentary of Bostân, Commentary of Divan-ı Hafız.