reading Orhan Pamuk's literary cityscape Almas, HE

194 Pages·2017·3.13 MB·English

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Capitalizing Istanbul: reading Orhan Pamuk’s literary cityscape
Almas, H.E.
Publication date
2011
Document Version
Final published version
Link to publication
Citation for published version (APA):
Almas, H. E. (2011). Capitalizing Istanbul: reading Orhan Pamuk’s literary cityscape. [Thesis,
fully internal, Universiteit van Amsterdam].
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Download date:23 Feb 2023

Capitalizing Istanbul: Reading Orhan Pamuk’s
Literary Cityscape

ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT
ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor
aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus
prof. dr. D.C. van den Boom
ten overstaan van een door het college
voor promoties ingestelde commissie,
in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel
op donderdag 22 September 2011,
te12:00 uur
door Hacer Esra Almas
geboren te Istanbul, Turkije
Promotiecommissie

Promotor: Prof. dr. M. D. Rosello

Overige leden: dr. M. Aydemir
prof. dr. D. Doltaş
prof. dr. C. P. Lindner
prof. dr. A. Rigney

Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen
To my family;
to the one I was born into,
and to the one that happened to me over the years
II
Acknowledgements

Writing this thesis on Istanbul, my home city, in Amsterdam involved multiple journeys.
Along the path I had the support of inspiring friends, colleagues, and students, and meet
inspiring people whose presence enriched my experience of the city and the university. Here I
would like to thank some of them.
I had the privilege to start my journey as part of the Literary Studies Department and
ASCA. For all that, I am grateful to Mireille Rosello, whose research and supervision has
been a constant source of inspiration during this study. She not only helped my project find a
new home in Amsterdam and funding, but she also encouraged me to explore and discover
the different paths it took. In ASCA, I would like to thank Christoph Lindner for his practical
and academic advice and for opening up a new avenue for my project. I would also like to
extend my thanks to my colleagues in the Literary Studies Department, notably Esther Peeren
and Murat Aydemir, who gave full support both in my teaching and in my shift to research
later.
My work benefited from participating in the ASCA Theory Seminars and the drinks
afterwards, the Cities Project, and the Utrecht University Postcolonial Initiative. Dilek
Doltaş, Emily Apter, Jale Parla, Maureen Freely, and Sandra Ponzanesi provided valuable
insight into my work in its various stages.
The rules and regulations of the university have been a pleasure to find out thanks to
Ania Dalecki, Eloe Kingma and Jantine van Gogh, who have always been there with their
sunny smiles. An important part of my experience was co-organizing the 2009 ASCA mini
conference and ASCA 2010 International conference; I would like to thank Erin LaCour,
Melanie Schiller and Lara Mazurski for making it work. Niall Martin, Thijs van den Berg,
Rob Allen, and Hanneke Stuit were great office-mates, ready to share their work and ideas
and to try the cafés around Bungehuis.
III
My heartfelt thanks go to to Anthony Pavlik for helping me mount my ideas into a full
proposal; to Sinan - Zeynep Erbelger and Tuliz Eyüboğlu for their support when changing
countries; to Seda Müftügil for being a fellow soul; to Erinç Salor and Canan Maraşlıgil for
the best risotto and for making me at home in their house; to Margreet Vermeulen and
Marjan Nijborg for always being up for cocktails after work; to Tim Yaczo for being a great
flatmate and for cleaning up my work, and to Oğuzhan for the layout. Lara Mazurski has
been a true friend and a great colleague, without her my stay in Amsterdam and my work
would not be the same. Finally, I would like to express my love and gratitude to Jago
Philippens for being there for and with me; and to my parents, my sister Cemile Baştımar,
my cousins Sibel-Tülin Almas, Vedat Aybar and my extended family, who have inspired,
encouraged and supported me in every step of my life.
IV
Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................II
Contents................................................................................................................................III

Introduction...........................................................................................................................1
Literary Capital.................................................................................................................3
World Literature................................................................................................................4
Translation........................................................................................................................6
East-West..........................................................................................................................7
Politics...............................................................................................................................8
Chapters..........................................................................................................................10
Chapter 1 - ‘Bridging’ the East-West Divide: Reading the Pamuk Controversy through
Istanbul’s Bridges...............................................................................................................15
Section I - Bridges over Istanbul’s Water(s)................................................................16
Bridge One: Galata Bridge ............................................................................................18
Bridge Two: The Bosphorus Bridge.............................................................................22
Section II - Pamuk as the Bridge...................................................................................28
Bridge One: Pamuk’s Work...........................................................................................28
Bridge Two: The Pamuk Case.......................................................................................33
Conclusion......................................................................................................................39
Chapter 2 - A Labyrinth: The View of the City in The Black Book..................................41
The Labyrinth..................................................................................................................41
The View(er)....................................................................................................................43
The Walker......................................................................................................................50
Urban Odyssey...............................................................................................................53
Labyrinthine Narrative...................................................................................................55
Protean Self ....................................................................................................................60
Conclusion......................................................................................................................63
Chapter 3 - Homelessness, Identity, and the City in Istanbul: Memories and the City 65
Autobiography and Alterity...........................................................................................66
Autobiography and the City..........................................................................................70
Inventing: Self and the City...........................................................................................73
Autobiography through the Other................................................................................78
Homelessness and Identity...........................................................................................83
Conclusion......................................................................................................................89
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Chapter 4 - A Melancholy of My Own: Melancholy of Pamuk’s Istanbul.......................91
Contrapuntal reading.....................................................................................................92
Melancholy......................................................................................................................94
Melancholy in Pamuk’s work ......................................................................................100
Hüzün: the Names of Melancholy in Istanbul............................................................102
Conclusion....................................................................................................................111
Chapter 5 - Bosphorus Mists: The Repository of the City’s Spirit...............................113
London’s fogs...............................................................................................................114
Mist-ifying the Bosphorus...........................................................................................119
Pamuk’s Haze...............................................................................................................124
Pamuk’s Bosphorus.....................................................................................................127
Black-and-White Photographs....................................................................................130
Mist-ifying Istanbul.......................................................................................................135
Conclusion....................................................................................................................138
Chapter 6: Framing My Name Is Red: Reading a Masterpiece.....................................141
Frame 1: Publicity ........................................................................................................143
Frame 2: The Master-Writer.........................................................................................144
Frame 3: IMPAC Citation: a Vantage Point................................................................146
Frame 4: Framing a Murder with Masterpieces.........................................................148
Frame 5: Anachrony.....................................................................................................155
Frame 6: Multiple Voices and Literary Style..............................................................158
Frame 7: Islam..............................................................................................................160
Frame 8: Writing Miniatures........................................................................................164
Conclusion....................................................................................................................166
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................169
Works Cited.......................................................................................................................175
Summary............................................................................................................................191
Nederlandse Samenvatting..............................................................................................193

VI