His Place in the Turkish Literature

Kemal Bilbaşar is considered one of Turkey's key writers of short stories and novels of the period after the Second World War. 

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Behçet Necatigil

Edebiyatimizda Isimler (Names in Our Literature), 1980:

"Bilbaşar sets his stories in Anatolian small towns.  Beliefs, traditions, customs, conflicting interests are treated with traditional sensitivity and descriptions are nourished with local color as the story explores causes and consequences.  He pursues with satire and strong realism the art of rural story writing which started with Refik Halit.  "

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Tahir Alangu

Cumhuriyetten sonra Hikaye ve Roman (Short Story and Novel after the Republican Era), 1965:

"Kemal Bilbaşar is one of our avant-garde story writers.  His art is descriptive, observative, critical, realistic.  Of all our writers, Bilbaşar sets his stories in the largest variety of environments, writes in the widest variety of styles.  His stories are filled with villagers of the Anatolian steppes with scorched faces and bitter looks in their eyes, who hide behind a silence, with hatred from continuous injustices soaring from inside, who are on the brink of revolt.  As he stresses the discomfiture of the social order, the author traces down to the roots their causes instead of accusing anyone."

 

Doğan Hızlan

Hürriyet Gösteri (Daily Hürriyet 's Art Magazine), 1983:

"From a literary and sociological viewpoint, Bilbaşar's works carry a priceless contribution to the valorization of  the small town element in literature."

 

Olcay Önertay

Cumhuriyet Dönemi Türk Roman ve Öyküsü (Turkish Novel and Short Story in the Republican Era), 1984:

"In his writings Kemal Bilbasar wrote about the daily problems and lives of the people, their beliefs and customs, often with humor but never deviating from critical social realism.  He preferred to write about poverty-stricken people who make up the large majority of our society. With his choice of subjects, settings and characters, he wrote in a pure language often colored with local dialects, in short sentences, in a clear and brisk style."

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Dogan Hizlan

Newspaper Hurriyet 2008:

"There are authors who, through their observations and writings, represent an essential source not only for history of literature but also for political and social history. Kemal Bilbasar tops these names."

 

Yasar Aksoy

Newspaper Hurriyet 2008:

"Kemal Bilbasar is one of our proficient writers who gained the respect of the country by exposing in his novels the system of exploitation set up by fuedal lords, by criticizing the warped socio economic structure of our country in his short stories. Without reading him and absorbing his message, it would be really difficult to know our country."

 

Feridun Andaç

Site Edebiyathaber.net 2015:

"The essential message of a writer like Kemal Bilbasar is the necessity of knowing the society in which we live, of understanding the realities of people/society and of recognizing the hows and whys in which they should be told. According to him, without understanding the people and the society, one cannot live nor write."

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Dogan Hizlan

Newspaper Hurriyet 2020:

"A book must always bear certain conditions for its readability at all times. The town is a very important social unit for me. Situated between the village and the city, it has gained a distinctive identity

If you want to learn the decisive influence of the town in Turkish society and politics, you should read Bilbaşar's Yesil Golge (Green  Shadow). I think this novel is a guide for analyzing today's way of life, where politics and politicians come from and what they think."