Turkish Literature and Cultural Memory ─ Multiculturalism As a Literary Theme After 1980

Turkey is a paradox to most Westerners. It is a secular country that is almost totally Muslim. The professed goal of the government is to produce Turkish-speaking nationalists who put country before any private beliefs. Due to wars and subsequent treaties as well as internal decisions, Greeks, Jews, Armenians and other minorities were expelled from the country or fled. Dufft, of the University of Giessen, and her contributors, most of them Turkish, examine this modern phenomenon and the way in which unpleasant events of the twentieth century have been downplayed within Turkey, especially in the schools and literature. The first third of the book consists of essays that explain the historical background and the determination of the followers of Ataturk to create a homogeneous society. The following essays discuss particular contemporary authors who either continue this amnesia or more often, confront it. Of the authors studied, Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk is the one most likely to be known in the West. Several of those writers considered are living in Europe, mainly Germany, which allows them some security in criticizing government policies. The question of "multiculturalism" is one that affects many nations other than Turkey. This study both opens a door into a rarely explored culture and invites comparison with similar issues in our own societies. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)