Kizil Goncalar, Significance of the Title
Upon reading the title, KIZIL GONCALAR, I immediately became interested in discovering the significance. Why a red bud ? My mind immediately went to the redbud tree; that amazing harbinger of spring which flowers all across the Mediterranean region. It did not occur to me that the red buds might refer to the bud of a red rose.
As more and more sites were referring to KIZIL GONCALAR by the title, THE RED ROSES, I felt some more research needed doing. So whilst I was correct that gonca, (goncalar in the plural ), is bud, it is commonly used in relation to a rose bud. Nevertheless, whether the bud is that of a rose or that of a redbud tree, the metaphoric significance of the bud to the eventual flower that it becomes is the same.
In literature, buds are used as symbols of hope and a promise of metamorphosis. The rose buds may be emblematic of the young girls, like Zeynep and Meryem, in her time, who are not allowed to naturally follow the cycle of growth and metamorphosis. Too early, these young girls are figuratively snipped or broken off the stem of a plant, or the branch of a tree before they have had the chance to develop fully and reach their potential.
The girls, like the buds, need to be allowed to mature. In time, mother nature transforms them into splendid clusters of flowers or single blooms which fill the senses with their beauty and aroma. However, the girls and the flowers are not just made for beauty. They have a much more important function. The eventual flowers provide nectar for the insects just as the girls who mature into women will feed and nurture their children.
The young girls, like the buds, are the hope and promise for the next generation. If you nip the bud too soon or cause it to dry up and fall off undeveloped from the stem or the branch, the order of nature is disturbed and the hope or promise of a flower is gone. In Sufism, the rose may represent divine grace and the manifestation of God. Whilst what has been described above is well known symbolism for buds in literary works, apparently, the red rose bud has come to be used by social movements in Turkey to represent freedom, revolution and women’s rights.
It makes perfect sense that the KIZIL GONCALAR creator and/or writer chose this title in order to spotlight how contrary to God and nature it is to hinder the growth of young girls. Like a flower nipped in the bud, never allowed to bloom. The symbolism of the title is a fine example of the well thought out motifs developed in this excellent dizi.