How to Read a Novelist by John Freeman

Author:John Freeman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Non-fiction, literary criticism
ISBN: 9781921961106
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company
Published: 2012-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

In some people’s eyes, Shafak is a walking contradiction: a radical feminist Muslim Turk who writes about sex and slang, a leftist on some issues who believes in the power of religion. Every point of her identity is politicised, even the types of words she uses.

‘Turkish as we speak today is very centralised. We took out words coming from Arabic origin, Persian origin and Sufi heritage. And I think, in doing so, we lost the nuances of the language.’

Born in France, Shafak spent her childhood shuttling between Germany, Jordan and Spain, with stops along the way in Turkey. She earned a graduate degree in international relations and titled her PhD thesis ‘An Analysis of Turkish Modernity Through Discourses in Masculinities’.

Since 2003, she has lived in Turkey and travelled to the US to teach. She calls herself a commuter, not an immigrant.

‘There is a metaphor I like very much in the Koran, in the Holy Book, about a tree that has its roots up in the air. When my nationalist critics say, “You have no roots, you are a so-called Turk,” I say, “No, I do have roots; they are just not rooted in the ground. They are up in the air.’”

In popular conception, Istanbul is the great meeting bazaar between East and West, but Shafak says the city remains uncomfortable with that role.

‘One thing that worries me is that there is no geographical mobility between the classes. There’s not that kind of mobility—east and west, north and south—that you have in the States.’

And yet, the city remains a source of endless inspiration for her. For all her frustrations with it, the city is her home. It is where she is raising her child.

‘For anyone, especially after 9/11, who is asking herself how Western democracy and Islam can co-exist side by side, how seemingly opposite forces can be juxtaposed, for anyone asking these questions, Istanbul is a very important case study.’

As for how she is going to manage, given the controversy surrounding her work and the real security issues that poses for her, she is up for the challenge. ‘My relationship with the city has been like a pendulum. I am deeply attracted to it, but sometimes suffocated by it. So I need to take a step outside of it and then go back.’

August 2007

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.