It is a pity that literary contributions of Pamuk remains limited in Turkish public. It is surprising to see that anti-Pamuk front has a wide range of membership. I resist to comment on his recent political manouvres, some of which are annoying if i have to state, but i need to underline how important he is in my own reading tastes. When I first began to read his novels, I finally had confidence to think that there could be 'good' Turkish novelists. Of course, there are many and I eventually discovered others but this does not overshadow Pamuk's significance in the history of Turkish novel. Anti-Pamuk strategy has always been meant to use his political remarks to obscure his literary talent. If this was the case for the recent media coverage, I would admit that there could be some truth for the anti-Pamuk front, but this has always been like this. The day I know Pamuk, I began to hear anti-Pamuk commentaries... that was years and years ago... Why is this the case? I don't have any ready answers. I can only speculate. For instance, I believe, he is well beyond the gatekeepers of Turkish literature, that is, he is difficult to classify and analyze. He is successful, he managed to be a best selling but unread novelists. So there must also be an element of jealousy. He does not have any particular political allegiances. He is too elite to be liked by leftists, too modern to be liked by islamists, too liberal to be liked by Kemalists, too westernist to be liked by nationalists... OK. enough for tonight!
Posted by erkan at December 17, 2005 02:19 AM