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- Title
THE WRITER AS DERVISH: SUFISM AND POETRY IN ORHAN PAMUK'S SNOW.
- Authors
Pederson, Joshua
- Abstract
For the Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, religion and poetry are analogous pursuits and both can potentially draw the individual into an intimate relationship with God. This essay contends that Pamuk's Snow is the author's deeply personal exploration of the religious quality of poetry. It further suggests that in the novel, Pamuk creates a writer-protagonist Ka who composes poetry that is demonstrably similar to Sufiverse in its content, style, and mode of composition. Accordingly, the essay explores the recent history of Turkish Sufism, relevant examples of Sufipoetry (of which there are many), and Pamuk's own longstanding interest in that popular, mystical brand of Islam. The essay also argues that Ka is a hypothetical alter-ego for the author who lives out religious and writerly possibilities unavailable to Pamuk himself. As such, the article engages Pamuk's unique religious life--which he describes in terms of "spiritual ambivalence"--and suggests that this phrase is a helpful key to understanding religious material in Snow and elsewhere in the author's oeuvre.
- Subjects
DERVISHES; SUFISM; POETRY writing; PAMUK, Orhan, 1952-; SNOW (Poem)
- Publication
Religion & Literature, 2013, Vol 45, Issue 3, p133
- ISSN
0888-3769
- Publication type
Article