Istanbul Through the Eyes of the Underprivileged

It is well-known that the main character and source of inspiration for Orhan Pamuk in his most famous novels is, in fact, his birthplace, the city of Istanbul. In this regard, his latest novel, "A Strangeness in My Mind," which has recently been released in English, is no exception. However, in his ninth novel, instead of narrating the story of Istanbul from the perspective of the social class he belongs to - wealthy, educated, and secular individuals - Pamuk depicts his beloved city from the viewpoint of a marginalized street vendor who, like many others in our time, has left his birthplace in search of a better future in Istanbul. Pamuk states that he initially intended to write a short story about a man who loses his traditional family job due to widespread industrialization; however, the result is a novel of over six hundred pages that intertwines a love story with the events of Istanbul and the tumultuous lives of its migrants. The street vendor in the story, "Molot," comes from a village in western Anatolia (southeastern Turkey) - a place where tradition and religion still hold significant power - and he is forced to work two jobs to make a living in the capital. In fact, since the family business - selling a traditional drink called "boza" on the street - is no longer thriving, he is compelled to work as an electricity company employee during the day while trying to continue his father's business. Another aspect of the story is his burning love for a young girl, which takes a strange turn due to the intervention of the girl's brother. Pamuk narrates the story of the population explosion in his hometown of Istanbul over the past six decades and illustrates the struggles of marginalized migrants to provide for their basic needs and the cultural tensions arising from their encounters with the secular and modern atmosphere of the capital. It is easy to imagine that his account of the difficulties faced by migrants is not unique to Istanbul and could occur in the margins of any capital or megacity around the world. Critics testify that this novel, like the previous works of this author, is an attempt to understand the relationship and tension between the two worlds of "modern" and "traditional" or "Western" and "Eastern"; a duality that has split the thinking of many of us - even if we are reluctant to admit it. This duality, according to Pamuk, makes any certainty in categorizing phenomena and individuals as "modern" or "traditional" impossible and gives identities a gray and intermediate state. This contradiction is clearly seen in today's Turkey; a country that, on one hand, harbors aspirations of closeness to the European Union and, on the other hand, dreams of returning to the past and reclaiming the glory and power of the Ottoman Empire. Orhan Pamuk, who writes in his mother tongue, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006 and became the first Nobel laureate from Turkey. He delivered his speech at the Nobel Academy in Turkish, stating that the duty of literature in our time is to address "human fears," the fear of collective erasure and humiliation that exists in many non-Western societies, leading to "foolish" actions such as terrorism and violence. Additionally, he invited the Western side not to boast about its wealth and prosperity, adding that the sense of "pride" and "excessive self-importance" resulting from bringing "enlightenment" and "modernism" to humanity is, to some extent, as foolish as the reactions from the other side. Before winning the Nobel Prize, his novel "My Name is Red," published in 2000 and translated into 24 languages - including Persian - earned Pamuk the "International Dublin Literary Award" worth $127,000, significantly boosting his international fame. In Turkey, his novels had already set records as bestsellers even before the widespread acclaim following the Nobel Prize. However, not all people in Turkey view Pamuk and his works with pride and admiration; some consider the awarding of the Nobel Prize to him a "political act," likely because in early 2005, Pamuk touched upon a topic in an interview with a Swiss weekly magazine that enraged Turkish nationalists. He mentioned the lack of freedom of expression in his country, stating to "Das Magazin": "Thirty thousand Kurds have been killed here [in Turkey], as well as a million Armenians. But no one dares to talk about this; therefore, I will." Nevertheless, it does not seem that such troubles have pushed this writer towards conservatism. Mr. Pamuk, who currently spends his time in Istanbul and New York, recently criticized the recent attacks by the Turkish army on Kurdish areas in the country in an interview with an Italian newspaper, expressing concern about the fate that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's rule will bring to the country; as he believes Erdoğan has no interest in sharing power and "ultimately wants to rule alone at any cost." The Armenian genocide by the Ottoman government and the bloody suppression of Turkey's largest ethnic minority (the Kurds), which has continued since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey (1923), are considered taboo subjects in the country, and mentioning them can come at a heavy price. Although this was not the first time Mr. Pamuk addressed such sensitive topics, after these remarks, he received death threats and was taken to court on charges of "insulting Turkish identity" and "insulting the Turkish army." Speculation suggested that this writer could face up to three years in prison, but due to extensive follow-ups by human rights organizations and some European officials, Turkey - in its quest to secure the necessary votes to join the European Union - was forced to drop the case. Three years later (early 2008), a secret network with extreme nationalist tendencies in Turkey was discovered, and its members were arrested, apparently intending to assassinate Pamuk and several other prominent figures.