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Mirjana Marinković

Images of Cultural Values in the Novel A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk

Abstract This article is based on the analysis of the images of cultural values in Orhan Pamuk’s latest novel A Strangeness in My Mind covering the development of Istanbul urban life from 1969 until 2012.

Dieser Artikel basiert auf der Analyse der Bilder kultureller Werte in Orhan Pamuks neuestem Roman Kafamda Bir Tuhaflık, der sich mit der Entwicklung des Istanbuler Stadtlebens zwischen 1969 und 2012 beschäftigt.

The novel, as it is said in the subtitle, tells “a story about the life of Mevlut Karataş, a boza seller, his experiences and adventures, daydreams and friends and the image of Istanbul life between 1969 and 2012; seen with the eyes of many characters.” So, the author has given the time and space framework for his story built on several levels and from the perspective of different heroes.

This period in the social history of Turkey and Istanbul in particular is full of social changes, marked by rapid industrialization, urbanization, migration waves from Anatolia to Istanbul and other cities. These processes have changed the face of Turkey so thoroughly that many parts of the country have become unrecognizable. In contrast to other ones of Orhan Pamuk’s novels the author is not occupied with the upper class in this novel, but he chooses his heroes among the migrants coming to Istanbul. They...