Trial of Turkish Author Orhan Pamuk Symbolic for Muslim-West Relations
English translator of Pamuk novel says author's fiction "questions the very notion of a national identity based on a single ethnic, religious or cultural characteristic."
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Durham, N.C. -- On Friday, Turkish author Orhan Pamuk will go on trial in
Istanbul for “denigrating Turkishness,” in a case that has
attracted attention from the European Parliament, Human Rights
Watch and Amnesty International.
Duke University visiting assistant professor Erdağ Göknar, who translated Pamuk’s best-selling novel “My Name is Red” into English, said the trial is a harbinger for relations between the West and Muslim nations.
“For Turkey, a prompt acquittal will signal an affirmation of principles of free speech and a willingness to continue seeking its place in the E.U. and international community,” said Göknar, who teaches Turkish language and literature. (Turkey is currently in accession talks with the European Union.) “A guilty verdict, or even a long drawn-out trial, will be a victory” for those trying to thwart trans-national cooperation.
“Responses from within the E.U. during the trial will be symbolic, too,” Göknar said. “Politicians in E.U. countries could let Turkey work out its political freedoms or they could try to stir up resentment against Turkish immigrants in their countries and fuel jingoism.”
The charges against Pamuk stem from an interview with a Swiss newspaper in February 2005, during which he said, “Thirty thousand Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in Turkey,” and, “Almost no one dares to speak out on this but me.” The remarks refer to conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and Armenians during World War I and the Turkish government and Kurdish insurgents during the 1980s and 90s.
Göknar said the symbolism of Pamuk’s trial is enhanced by the content and popularity of the author’s novels.
Pamuk and Göknar shared the 2003 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for the English rendering of “My Name is Red,” and Pamuk’s “Snow” was among The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2004. This year, Pamuk won the French Prix Médicis literature prize as well as the German Book Trade’s Peace Prize literary award.
“His fiction questions the very notion of a national identity based on a single ethnic, religious or cultural characteristic, and often challenges overly nationalistic perspectives in his work,” Göknar said.
