Yaban

Yaban is a Turkish word that means "wild" or "the wilderness." As a noun, it refers to wilderness areas outside cultivated lands, remote countryside, or untamed nature. As an adjective, it is used in compounds to describe things that are wild or untamed, such as yaban hayatı (wildlife) or yaban bitkiler (wild plants). The term can also carry metaphorical meaning, denoting outsiders or foreign lands in literary or historical contexts, as in phrases that contrast civilized centers with the yaban.

In Turkish literature and culture, yaban features as both a descriptive theme and a title. The best-known modern work is the novel Yaban (1932) by Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu, often translated as The Wilderness. The novel uses the motif of the wilderness to explore tensions between modernization and traditional rural life in the early years of the Turkish Republic, reflecting social change, class dynamics, and national identity.

In contemporary usage, yaban remains common in everyday speech when referring to wilderness territories, nature reserves, or wild nature. It also appears in expressions describing non-domesticated flora and fauna, for instance yaban hayatı (wildlife) and yaban hayvanları (wild animals).