Displacing Fictions of Orhan Pamuk: Beyond the Bridge

Displacing Fictions of Orhan Pamuk: Beyond the Bridge questions the prevailing relevance and violence of the bridge metaphor for literature through new readings of Orhan Pamuk. This book argues that despite its association with connection, dialogue, and reconciliation, the bridge is an inherently violent structure that controls movement by regulating it. Drawing on deconstruction and Derrida, the author argues for a rethinking of the intrinsic connection between the bridge and the writings of Orhan Pamuk. Exploring Pamuk’s significance as an author of the world literature canon, this book investigates the history and theory of the discipline as a bridge. Identifying new metaphors in Pamuk’s work, Hande Gürses shows the political potential of moving beyond the bridge. As people, lands, and ideas keep moving, Displacing Fictions of Orhan Pamuk argues for an urgent need for new metaphors to understand and represent the realities of our contemporary world.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Of Bridges: Histories, Stories, and Crossings Chapter 2: In Search of Stories: The White Castle Chapter 3: Death, Love, and Art: My Name is Red Chapter 4: Topographies: Istanbul: Memories of a City Coda: Moving Futures Bibliography About the Author

About the Author :
Hande Gürses is instructor at Capilano University.

Review :
Gürses’s book is a wonderful addition to the literature on Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk (b. 1951) and on Ottoman and Middle Eastern studies in general. In the expansive introduction Gürses not only encapsulates a review of the literature of the Nobel laureate’s life and works but also provides a meditation on Orientalism and a summary of Ottoman literary history—an impressive sweep of information that provides context for this study of Pamuk. Gürses elects to use the bridge as a site of contestation, as opposed to (re)-conciliation, to capture continuous movement of peoples and ideas. He asserts that the objective of his work is to “demonstrate the limits and violence of the bridge metaphor through the study of the new symbols of Pamuk’s work” (p. 27). He is artful in achieving his objective. In four well-crafted chapters Gürses establishes the foundation for his study and critiques The White Castle, My Name Is Red, and Istanbul: Memories of a City. The coda brings a satisfying close to the complicated ideas advanced by the author. The bridge as symbol of violence speaks to displacement of those in exile as well as notions of home. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.