In Turkish bibliography, the period during which texts in Turkish (that is, from Oral Transferred Literature) first appear until the time when Turkish literature presents works under the influence of Western Literature (that is, until the Tanzimat period, 1839), is called Old Turkish Literature.

The period from the Tanzimat until today is called New Turkish Literature. Throughout its historical course, Turkish Literature is divided into three major cycles, three long-lasting periods: - Literature before the Islamization of the Turks, - Literature under the influence of Islam, - Literature under the influence of the West.

In each of the aforementioned periods, and depending on the position of the head of state or the prevailing political situation, there were time intervals during which literature aimed and centered on the people, thus the trend was: "Art for the people" and others where, due to the restrictions imposed by the state, topics were "painless" and the trend was: "Art for Art's sake".

Throughout this entire duration, the works of Popular or Vernacular Literature maintained the use of simple (colloquial) Turkish. However, there was also a long period of diglossia, during which Ottoman Turkish was created, the language of the palace, with strong influences from Persian and Arabic. Ottoman Turkish was established as the official language of the state and was used by scholars and writers for a long period.

Of course, the history of Turkish Literature cannot be fully detailed in a single volume. In this book, our goal is the continuous presentation of Turkish literature. The presentation begins from the era when works of oral transferred literature first appeared and extends to 1940. From this date onwards, the existing material should constitute a second, if not a third, volume.