El discurso literario como análisis social. El ejemplo de Nieve de Orhan Pamuk

Abstract

Orhan Pamuk's novel Snow 1 uses fiction as an instrument of social analysis. It attempts to comprehend the complicated situation contemporary Turkish society is exposed to in consequence of its persisting efforts on behalf of modernization, which is a key condition for its future integration into the European Community. This process, initiated almost 90 years ago by Kemal Atatürk, finds itself opposed to the tenacity of both an ethnically multiform traditional culture and religious fundamentalism as strong ideological elements of distortion and violence within changing social relations and structures. The first part of the article discusses the sociological interest in a hermeneutic analysis of the contents and structures of communication as they are reflected in some of the most significant dialogues between Pamuk's actors. The text highlights the conflictive background of the cultural drama in the bosom of Turkish society. The second part interprets the literary treatment based on the political and sociological analysis by S.N. Eisenstadt (1987) and Gokhan Bacik (2003), which focused on the present situation of the Kemalist movement and its discourse in spite of the transformation of Muslim identity in Turkey.

Keywords:

• Turkey
• Orhan Pamuk
• literature and society
• Muslim identity

Acknowledgements

This article was previously published in Turkish in Birikim. AylIk Sosyalist Kültür Dergisi, 241 (2009), 94–104.

Notes

1. English version by Maureen Freely (2004).

2. Últimamente, M. Nuri Gültekin ha presentado un análisis de la influencia de la obra de Orhan Kemal en el individuo moderno y la vida cotidiana (Gültekin 2007).

3. Las citas bibliográficas del texto de la novela de Pamuk se refieren a la versión en español y se incluyen indicando sólo las páginas. Las citas en inglés no se traducen, y las procedentes de textos en alemán son traducidas al español.