Orhan Pamuk, secularism, and blasphemy : the politics of the Turkish novel

Orhan Pamuk, Secularism and Blasphemy is the first critical study of all of Pamuk’s novels, including the early untranslated work. In 2005 Orhan Pamuk was charged with "insulting Turkishness" under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code. Eighteen months later he was awarded the Nobel Prize. After decades of criticism for wielding a depoliticized pen, Pamuk was cast as a dissident through his trial, an event that underscored his transformation from national literateur to global author. By contextualizing Pamuk’s fiction into the Turkish tradition and by defining the literary and political intersections of his work, __Orhan Pamuk, Secularism and Blasphemy__ rereads Pamuk's dissidence as a factor of the form of his novels. This is not a traditional study of literature, but a book that turns to literature to ask larger questions about recent transformations in Turkish history, identity, modernity, and collective memory. As a corrective to common misreadings of Pamuk’s work in its international reception, __Orhan Pamuk, Secularism and Blasphemy__ applies various analytical lenses to the politics of the Turkish novel, including gender studies, cultural translation, historiography, and Islam. The book argues that modern literature that confronts representations of the nation-state, or __devlet__, with those of Ottoman, Islamic, and Sufi contexts, or __din__, constitute "secular blasphemies" that redefine the politics of the Turkish novel. Concluding with a meditation on conditions of "untranslatability" in Turkish literature, this study provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of Pamuk’s novels to date. Front Cover Orhan Pamuk, Secularism and Blasphemy Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments Preface Introduction: The Polemics of the Author The Interview The Ergenekon Conspiracy Overview of the Chapters The Death and Resurrection of the Author Part I: Tropes of “Turkishness” from Sufism to State 1. Literary Revisions of the Secular Modern Insulting Turkishness Pamuk as Dissident The Secular Masterplot of the Republican Novel Orthodoxies of Islam and State Mapping Pamuk’s Literary Modernities Conclusion: Secular Blasphemies 2. The Untranslated Novels of a Nobel Laureate The Empire-to-Republic Bildungsroman: Cevdet Bey and Sons (1982) Nâzım Hikmet’s “Revolution” in Literary Modernity: Human Landscapes (1965) The Silence of the Secular Modern: The Silent House (1983) Yaşar Kemal’s Mystification of Social Realism: Iron Earth, Copper Sky (1963) Conclusion: Making Din Legible to Devlet Part II: The Archive of Ottoman Istanbul 3. A Voice from the Ottoman Archive The Ottoman Legacy Early Modern Ottoman Istanbul: The White Castle (1985) Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s Poetics of Paradox: A Mind at Peace (1949) The Counter-Archive of Istanbul Conclusion: Postsecularism 4. Reimagining the Ottoman Legacy Orientalizing the Ottoman Legacy The Writer Manqué and the Writing-Subject The Art of the Book as Blasphemy: My Name is Red (1998) Halide Edib’s Gendering of Ottoman Modernity: The Clown and His Daughter (1935) Conclusion: Postorientalism Part III: The Literary Politics of the Secular-Sacred 5. Political Parody from Coups to Conspiracies The Literature of Conspiracy Conspiratorial Logic: The New Life (1994) Yusuf Atılgan’s Existential Crisis of Secular Modernity: Motherland Hotel (1973) Melodramas of Conspiracy, Burlesques of Coup: Snow (2002) Oğuz Atay’s Parody and the Dissidence of Metafiction: Misfits (1971–2) Conclusion: The Crisis of Homo Secularis 6. Novelizing Secular Sufism Black Bile, Black Humor, and Black Ink: The Black Book (1990) Mystical Melancholy, or Hüzün in Istanbul: Memories and the City (2005) A Novel of Objects: The Museum of Innocence (2009) Conclusion: The Hidden Symmetry of Secular Sufism Conclusion: The Blasphemies of “Turning Turk” Notes Bibliography Index Introduction: The Polemics Of The Author -- Tropes Of Turkishness From Sufism To State. Literary Revisions Of The Secular Modern -- The Untranslated Novels Of A Nobel Laureate -- The Archive Of Ottoman Istanbul. A Voice From The Ottoman Archive -- Reimagining The Ottoman Legacy -- The Literary Politics Of The Secular-sacred. Political Parody From Coups To Conspiracies -- Novelizing Secular Sufism -- Conclusion: The Blasphemies Of Turning Turk -- Appendix: What An Interview Can Unleash: Orhan Pamuk. Erdağ Göknar. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This book examines the literary politics of Orhan Pamuk’s novels within the framework of contestations over “Turkishness,” Islam, and secularization. Moving beyond a traditional study of literature, this book turns to literature to ask larger questions about Turkish history, identity, collective memory, and cultural practice. It concludes with an interview with Orhan Pamuk.