My Mother Tongue is My Homeland: The Existential Value Of Circassian

Abstract

The language that Heidegger describes as the House of being, lies at the core of human existence. What distinguishes man from other living things is that his being aware of his existence. Human with awareness creates his own universe of meaning with his language. The mother tongue, which the Turkish language Institution describes as “the language acquired by the child’s family and the community he / she lives in”, is based on two important institutions: family and society. Language will develop under the influence of these institutions. The deprivation of these institutions will also eliminate language, the home of human.

Human who spatially separated from the home longs for his home. Separation, whether voluntary or compulsory, evokes the feeling of “being expatriate.” on the concrete level what the individual misses is his Homeland, land, sea, parents, spouse. These beings are essential parts of it, but it would be wrong to limit this to only person and place. There are other belonging that make up human. Language awareness is among these belonging. The individual who lives in his country where his native language is spoken is “inside”and belongs to. What about those who are “out there,” who can’t speak their native language? How do they form universes of meaning?

The novels of Circassian writers living in Turkey deal with deportation, displacement of Russian atrocities, difficulties of adjustment, and faltering experiences. The other thing the works have in common is that they draw attention to human existence through mother tongue. Characters of the novels novel need their own language to say “I’m here, I’m human, I’m Circassian”, because language is what shapes them. In some works, distancing from the mother tongue and being aware of it / not being able to understand it are discussed.

Even though man has mastered a foreign language, “Man can only wail in the face of danger with his mother tongue.”, as Nazım Hihmet emphasizes in his sentence, he describes himself in his best native language. Circassian writers also process characters who experience the pain of not using language. In this study, the authors ‘understanding of the language expulsion of Circassians living outside the homeland and their view of the importance of mother tongue in their existence will be examined.

Keywords: Mother language