This was a selection offered by our Turkish group. It is about a young Italian scholar who is captured by the Turks at sea and brought back to Turkey as a slave. He is able to make his captivity a little better by posing as a doctor and using his Western knowledge to become an asset to the Turks.Refusing to convert to Islam, the Italian is eventually sold to another scholarly man who bears a close resemblance to him, Hoja. Hoja demands to know everything the Italian knows. Together, they work on projects to save lives during the plague, create fireworks, and build an ultimate "weapon."
Somewhere in the balance, the Italian and Hoja get so close that they begin to become each other. In the end, they even switch places. The book cover of my edition states, "Orhan Pamuk's exploration of identity, of the strained relations between a devout, superstitious East and a "rational" West."
As this book is written by a Turk, you would think that the concept of "Orientalism" would be minimized...but I as a reader felt uncomfortable at times because the narration is by a foreigner of the West. I felt at times that the portrayal of the Turks was at times crude. The Sultan was sometimes portrayed as a not so smart leader. Hoja was a sort of crazy, ruthless slave holder, and several there seemed to be a lot of corruption and brutality.
In the end, the Italian seems to assimulate to this new world, and maybe even enjoy it. As a reader, I don't know if I at the end of the story develop a greater affection or respect of the Turks. I think that is what bothered me. If you are looking for literature that promotes a greater understanding of the modern culture of Turkey, I don't think this is the best book. I enjoyed it for what it was, although it could be confusing at times.
I guess the author is exploring the relation of East and West in an historical context. The same with _My Name is Red_, which I also read. No pun intended.
ReplyDeleteWe had a great conversation in our group over this being a novel of identity and could be taught in a high school classroom as such. I think that is your ultimate goal in looking at this post-colonial literature. These works can enter the classroom canon to diversify the perspective of universal themes such as identity. They don't have to be segregated into their own heading as works from a foreign land, that we are just visiting to say that we are more aware.
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