When I travel around in the United States and have an opportunity to speak about Turkey with children, you can bet one of the first questions they ask is about Turkish delight. Is there really such a sweet?After all, wasn’t it Edmund who succumbed to the temptation of gluttony by eating too much Turkish delight?
I have always wondered if C.S. Lewis ever visited Turkey, or if perhaps he had a father who had visited the faraway magical land and upon his return to Britain he told him about it as a boy.
We know for a fact that Agatha Christie visited İstanbul. You can even visit the Pera Palace Hotel in Tepebaşı and see the chair she sat on and the desk where she wrote a few notes…
I am pretty sure if it was certain that Lewis had been to Turkey, the room where he stayed would be made available for the public to visit and see as well. There is no clear evidence that C.S. Lewis ever visited Turkey, but I reckon that because he was a Christian scholar he probably came to visit the wonderful Biblical sites here, such as Ephesus.
If you are not familiar with the book or movie, basically it follows four English siblings who enter the enchanted land through a wardrobe. The theme and elements are very evident in the movie. The children discover talking animals who await the return of the lion king, Aslan, to free the animals from the tyranny of Jadis, the White Witch, who has turned their kingdom into perpetual winter. When Aslan returns to Narnia, he is to be killed by the witch, and I cannot tell you any more.
The other day we had light snow in İstanbul, and early in the morning the outdoors in places like Kemerköy or Çamlıca looked almost magical -- like Narnia. I couldn’t help but think of Narnia.
Whether or not Lewis ever visited the magical land of Turkey, he wrote some of the greatest children’s fantasy novels and used symbols found in Turkey today.
People are always fascinated when they hear that three of the elements which are used in Narnia are directly related to Turkey. If you have read the book “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” either in English or Turkish you’ll remember that in the book Lewis has a character named Aslan, who happens to be a lion, as I mentioned earlier. When I tell people that the Turkish word for a lion is “aslan” they begin to see the Turkey connection. Then I explain about a little boy, Edward, who becomes addicted to Turkish delight. Finally, I tell them about the legend of a Father Christmas, who could be referring to the original Turkish Saint Nicholas.
Also, but less clear, is the fact that the witch is called Jadis, which sounds very much like the Turkish word for witch “cadı” -- which is pronounced like jadur.
You can see at some of the tourist Turkish delight confectioneries across Turkey mustached men in white coats and caps slinging thick, gummy ropes in the air like taffy, then slapping it down on a counter and with candy-cutting scimitars they slash the long strands into small cube pieces, roll them in powdered sugar, and sometimes put some ground pistachios, or coconut on each piece.
A memorable scene in Narnia is one in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” when Edmund gobbles up lots of Turkish delight in one sitting and still wants more. The evil White Witch used the soft candy to lure young Edmund to her side.
I wonder how many of us foreigners who first tried Turkish delight have shoveled down as much Turkish delight as Edmund could, and fell into the same trap of the more he ate the more he wanted to eat.
Just as in “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,” in which the four young siblings use a wardrobe to travel from wartime England to a mythical land that brought much delight and intrigue to them, Turkey continues to draw tourists and bring them much delight as they visit the country today and enjoy the magic of the Bosporus, the ancient ruins and the people.
Note: Charlotte McPherson is the author of “Culture Smart: Turkey, 2005.” Please keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman’s readers. Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com
