Email this article BLURRING THE BOUNDARIES: THE EAST-WEST PREDICAMENT IN PAMUK’S A STRANGENESS IN MY MIND
(1) Universitas Sanata Dharma, Indonesia
(*) Corresponding Author
Abstract
This research focuses on Orhan Pamuk’s A Strangeness in My Mind. Since the Ottoman Empire, a modernity that is represented by the West has become a threat and seduction. Due to the issue, this research is conducted to highlight the transformation of İstanbul, analyse Turkey’s political agenda which enormously affects İstanbul and its citizens’ identity formation process, and investigate the result of the East-West predicament towards the main characters. This research is a descriptive qualitative method which employs Homi Bhabha’s discourse on Postcolonialism to uncover the predicament of the oscillation. The findings unveil 1) how İstanbul’s cosmopolitanism and uniqueness have disappeared bringing such a grieve towards the life of the citizens; 2) the ambivalence that is caused by both Atatürk and Erdoğan’s political agendas; and 3) the east-west oscillation which has led to melancholy and confusion. In addition, Mevlut’s strange mind is a bridge that tries to connect his friends and relatives who have different political views. Importantly, he also tries to blur the boundaries and promote tolerance towards various groups, religions, cultures, and traditions.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Akcan, E. (2006). The melancholies of Istanbul. World Literature Today, 80(6), 39-43. https://doi.org/10.2307/40159243
Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (2007). Post-colonial studies. New York: Routledge.
Babayev, U. (2017). A funny and postmodern narrative in A strangeness in my mind and The white castle by Orhan Pamuk. International Peer-Reviewed Journal of Communication and Humanities Research, Issue 16, 213-233. https://doi.org/10.17361/UHIVE.2017.3.3
Bhabha, H. (1994). The location of culture. London: Routledge.
Brameswari, C. (2015). The irony of Turkish modern identity: Oscillation of the east and the west in Pamuk’s My name is red and The white castle. An unpublished Master Thesis.
Chengiz, N. B. (2021). Right to the city novels in Turkish literature from
the 1960s to the present. London: Palgrave Macmillan Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61221-4
Demirci, G. (2016). Decentred epical hero in Orhan Pamuk’s A strangeness in my mind. The Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, 4(6). Retrieved from https://nalans.com/index.php/nalans/article/view/37
Erol, S. (2011). The chronotope of Istanbul in Orhan Pamuk’s memoir Istanbul. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 43(4), 655-676. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/41308746
Helvacioglu, B. (2013). Melancoly and Hüzün in Orhan Pamuk’s Istanbul. Mosaic: A journal for the interdisciplinary study of literature, 46(2), 163-178. https://doi.org/10.1353/mos.2013.0019
Fischer, M. (2015). Orhan Pamuk explores inner, outer worlds in A strangeness in my mind. Jsonline, 16 October 2015 from http://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/books/orhan-pamuk-explores-inner-outer-worlds-in-a-strangeness-in-my-mind-b99596886z1-333300381.html.
Göknar, E. (2004). My name is Re(a)d: Authoring translation, translating authority. Translation Review, 68, Issue 1, 52-60. https://doi.org/10.1080/07374836.2004.10523873
Hezam, A. M. M. (2020). The protagonist and the city: Istanbul in Orphan Pamuk’s A strangeness in my mind and The museum of innocence. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ). 4(3). Retrieved from Hezam, Abdulrahman Mokbel, The Protagonist and the City: Istanbul in Orphan Pamuk's a Strangeness in My Mind and the Museum of Innocence (October 29, 2020). Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) 2020, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4356255
Jain, S. (2019). Negotiating history and literature in Orhan Pamuk’s A strangeness in my mind. dialog: A bi-annual peer-reviewed Journal, 34. Retrieved from https://dialog.puchd.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/16.Sunaina-Jain-Negotiating-History-and-Literature-Orhan-Pamuk.pdf
Karadağ, M. (2020). Ecocritical approach to Istanbul in Orhan Pamuk’s novel A strangeness in my mind. Journal of Liberal Arts and Humanities (JLAH). 1(5). 53-61. Retrieved from https://jlahnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/7.pdf
Kumari, S. (2022). Postmodernist interpretation of Orhan Pamuk’s A strangeness in my mind. The Criterion: An International Journal in English, 13(3). 273-282.
Loomba, A. (2005). Colonialism/Postcolonialism. Second Edition. Oxon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Özel, S. (2007). Turkey faces west. The Wilson Quarterly, 31(1), 18-25. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/40262169
Pamuk, O. (2006). İstanbul: Memories and the city. New York: Vintage International. trans. Maureen Freely.
_______. (2008). Other colours: Writing on life, art, books, and cities (M. Freely, Trans.). London: Faber and Faber Limited.
_______. (2016). A strangeness in my mind (E. Oklap, Trans.). London: Faber and Faber.
Şenyiğit, Ö. & Tuğba, G. (2019). Hermeneutic text reading in approach of understanding and interpreting architecture-city (analysis of the novel A strangeness in my mind). Çukurova Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 48(1). 397-418. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/cuefd/issue/44511/466216
Tekin, K. (2017). Patients and healers in Zaabalawi by Naguib Mahfouz and A strangeness in my mind by Orhan Pamuk. Uludağ University Faculty of Arts and Sciences Journal of Social Sciences, 18(33), 619-630. https://doi.org/10.21550/sosbilder.297751
Yalkin, C & Yanuk, L. K. (2018). Entrenching geopolitical imaginations: Bbrand(ing) Turkey through Orhan Pamuk. Journal of International Relations and Development, 23, 339-358. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41268-018-0153-1
Vadivukarasi, R. & Geetha, C. (2020a). Pamuk’s vision for the link between the west and the east in A strangeness in my mind. International Journal of Research, 31(6).
_______. (2020b). Conservative and liberal citizens of Istanbul in Aa strangeness in my mind. Mukt Shabd Journal, 9(5).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/ijhs.v6i2.4930
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2023 Catharina Brameswari
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Indexed and abstracted in:
IJHS Sinta 3 Certificate (S3 = Level 3)
International Journal of Humanity Studies (IJHS) has been nationally accredited Sinta 3 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia based on the decree No. Surat Keputusan 158/E/KPT/2021. Validity for 5 years: Vol 4 No 1, 2020 till Vol 8 No 2, 2024
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA.
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
p-ISSN: 2597-470X (since 31 August 2017); e-ISSN: 2597-4718 (since 31 August 2017)
Notice: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the editorial team or publishers.
International Journal of Humanity Studies (IJHS) is a scientific journal in English published twice a year, namely in September and March, by Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.