• Original research article
  • January 30, 2025
  • Open access

Architectonics of the detective novel “Time of Predatory Birds” (2024) by Ahmet Ümit

Abstract

The article analyzes the artistic structure of the latest novel by the renowned Turkish writer Ahmet Ümit, “Time of Predatory Birds” (2024). The study argues that this novel is written at the intersection of popular literature (formulas and clichés) and fiction (problematics and psychologism), which determines its unique place within the author’s novelistic paradigm. The detective intrigue revolves around issues relevant to modern Turkey: the special military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in the southeastern regions of the country, and the illegal oil trade by ISIS bandit groups (an organization recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia) in northern Syria. Furthermore, the detective plot is combined in the novel with the emotional drama of a detective who suddenly lost his wife and daughter. The psychological depth of his character is also enhanced by a new love, which inspires the hero’s coexistence with a desire to start a new life. The aim of the study is to prove that, in terms of its architectonic features, this novel fits within the author’s detective paradigm. The article analyzes the plot and compositional features of the novel, focusing on plot collisions and the system of imagery. The scientific originality of the research lies in the fact that A. Ümit’s novel under consideration is becoming an object of analytical study in Russian Turkic literary criticism for the first time. For the first time, this novelistic structure is analyzed from the perspective of formulas and clichés that manifest at the problematic-thematic, temporal, and imagistic-character levels, which gives an idea of the author’s very special style (“a writer for his own circle”), distinguishing A. Ümit from other representatives of contemporary Turkish detective fiction. As a result, it is proven that the poetics and plot of the work correlate with the genre of the intellectual detective story, which A. Ümit is pioneering in Turkey.

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Funding

The study was conducted under the state assignment of Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Author information

Mariya Mihaylovna Repenkova

Dr

Lomonosov Moscow State University

About this article

Publication history

  • Received: December 18, 2024.
  • Published: January 30, 2025.

Keywords

  • массовая литература
  • беллетристика
  • детективный роман
  • Ахмет Умит
  • роман «Время хищных птиц»
  • popular literature
  • fiction
  • detective novel
  • Ahmet Ümit
  • novel “Time of Predatory Birds”

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)
© 2025 Gramota Publishing, LLC

User license

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)