Contextual Reading of Orhan Pamuk’s Istanbul: Memories of a City

Abstract

Pamuk’s book Istanbul: Memories of a City is a review of significant moments of Turkeys’ history through which the writer addresses issues of national representation and identity. Pamuk’s work revises Turkish cultural memory at a crucial moment of the country history. Istanbul, in its geographical positions transforms it into boarder city, since it constitutes a great that connects Europe to Asia. Moreover, it has been under the rule of different peoples along history and has enjoyed a position of hegemony for several centuries. The centre of Istanbul, the greatness of the Ottoman Empire is taken into account. The book highlights the Turk’s internal vision as a nation when the maintenance of secular government and the wish to reach economic development with the financial support given by the European Union. Pamuk asserts his anxieties, his joys and his melancholy since he was a child. This special relationship with space makes Istanbul reflect not only the writer’s feelings, but also those of the collectivity. By acknowledging that Istanbul is his home, as the writer wanders through the city, recalling his personal memories, he transforms Istanbul into the nation’s home; in other words into a symbol that consequently embodies the nation’s identity. The writer presentation of Istanbul allows the reader to travel across time and led by the writer’s hand; discover the layers of civilizations that made Istanbul one of the most important capitals in world history. By visiting, painting and describing the Istanbul of the present through the remains of the past, Pamuk revises and rewrites Turkish official memory, making Turks and foreigners aware of the importance of the blend of the East with the West.