Tradition Versus Modernity in Orhan Pamuk’s The New Life
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Department of English
Abstract
The present research analyzes the transformation of Turkish people from tradition to modernity illustrated in The New Life (Yeni Hayat in Turkish language) written by Orhan Pamuk. The central story revolves around the worthless and vain journey undertaken by the protagonist of the novel, Osman and other characters being influenced by a magical and all-impressive book written by Uncle Railman Rifki, which promises a new life full of freedom, autonomy and humanity, and free from narrow traditional constraints and restrictions. This journey is supposed to lead them towards civilization from barbarism but ultimately ends in apocalyptic bus wrecks and accidents aborting their main mission to reach their dreamland. The novel chronicles the mesmerizing events of the transcontinental country, Turkey – which lies in both Western Asia and Southeastern Europe - and its major towns thereby showing ‘the Great Conspiracy’ of the west to equate modernization with westernization and even with Christianization. The attraction and fascination of Turkish youths towards western and the so-called modern culture and civilization as illustrated in the mysterious book discarding their indigenous culture and civilization is paralleled and juxtaposed with the old people’s objection of the same. The oscillation of the events and ideas between tradition and modernity and Pamuk’s valorization of the Turkish original and indigenous culture and civilization are highlighted in The New Life leading him from the forefront of his country's writers into the arena of world literature.