Orhan Pamuk's Snow: The Conflict between Secularism and Religious Fundamentalism

Abstract

Pamuk’sSnowportrays the very strong response of author to the conflict of sacred and secular world views. Ka, the western minded facing Islam, deliberately attempts to understand the conflict and confrontation with-in the Muslim society. Beyond the parameter of his world view, Ka explores the tension in Muslim society in face of secular modernity. Kars Muslim protests Turkish secularism that destabilizes Muslim identity. Secular nationalism in form of secular military imposes uniform national identity that hashomogenizing and hegemoniging effect at cost of authentic identity because of the secular revolution of the country. People panic at loss of Turkish dream returns to Islam to avoid ill of modernity. Furthermore, fundamentalism, today fights to restore theIslamic caliphate and the symbolic structure of Muslim society which Kemalism abolished. They question and protest Turkish modernization, therefore, challenge authorized version of Turkish statehood. Thus the conflict of polar forces, one for secular modern state and other committed to islamize the state, stand against each other with brutal hostility. One rejects existence of other. Ka, the central character is trapped in malign labyrinth with no way out but to self destruction that is metaphoric to Kars people who are being buffeted with in kemalism and fundamentalist Islam. So the ‘snow bound Kars’ stands itself for suffocating reality of Kars as prison cell where peoples’ free will comes freezing in severe cold. In reality, they are boiling and melting inside pressure cooker that needs whistling to get outward attention but remains unheard being buried in cold peace created by counter conflict. Thus, conflict creates tragic ends of unity, peace and freedom that result in disintegration of love, married life and happiness. People are divided