Hece Vezniyle Yazılıp Darülbedayi’de Oynanmış İlk Yerli Piyes Binnaz Telif mi Yoksa Adaptasyon mu?

Abstract

This study examines the literary relationship between Yusuf Ziya Ortaç’s play Binnaz, considered a significant turning point in Turkish theater, and Victor Hugo’s Marion de Lorme, one of the leading works of French Romanticism, through a comprehensive comparative analysis. The primary objective of the research is to clarify with strong evidence whether the work is an original creation or a systematic adaptation by revealing the literary origins of Binnaz through concrete data. In this direction, the plot, character archetypes, thematic patterns, and structural features of both plays have been analyzed in depth using a text-based method.

The comparative examinations conducted have clearly demonstrated that there are surprisingly substantial and structural similarities between the two works, ranging from the moral stances of the characters to the tragic turning points of the events. Critical fictional stages -such as the protagonist unwittingly saving his future rival from danger, receiving a death sentence after a conflict in a public space, seeking a pardon through influential figures, and ultimately walking voluntarily to his death by refusing the offered opportunity for a pardon- completely overlap in both plays. Reducing the fiveact French text to three acts led to certain technical flaws, logical inconsistencies, and dramatic disruptions in the process.

Consequently, in light of the findings obtained, it has been determined that Binnaz is a systematic adaptation of Marion de Lorme in terms of its plot and structure. In contrast, the work successfully combined this Western-based fictional structure with the Turkism movement’s ideal of linguistic simplification and the national meter, the syllabic meter. Holding the title of being the first domestic play staged in syllabic meter at the Darülbedayi, even though Binnaz is an adaptation by subject matter, it retains its pioneering, foundational, and unwavering value in the history of Turkish theater through this effort of cultural indigenization and formal innovation.

Citation: Akın, Hüsrev (2026). “Binnaz, the First Native Play Written in Syllabic Meter and Staged at Darülbedayi: an Original Work or an Adaptation?”, Erdem, June, Issue:90, pp. 1-22.