Approaches to Teaching the Works of Orhan Pamuk

Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006, Orhan Pamuk is Turkeys preeminent novelist and internationally recognized figure of letters. Influenced by both Turkish and European literature, his works interrogate problems of modernity and of East and West in the Turkish context and incorporate the Ottoman legacy linguistically and thematically. The stylistic and thematic aspects of his novels, his intriguing use of intertextual elements, and his characters metatextual commentaries make his work rewarding in courses on world literature and on the postmodern novel. Pamuks nonfiction writings extend his themes of memory, loss, personal and political histories, and the craft of the novel. Part 1, Materials, provides biographical background and introduces instructors to translations and critical scholarship that will elucidate Pamuks works. In part 2, Approaches, essays cover topics that support teachers in a range of classrooms, including Pamuks use of the Turkish language, the political background to Pamuks novels, the politics of translation and aesthetics, and Pamuks works as world literature.