The image of the West in Orhan Pamuk's novels

This research analyzes the image of the West in the novels of Orhan Pamuk. In particular this work investigates how the Turkish identity was influenced by Western world. The question of Turkish identity is one of the main themes in Pamuk's novels. Since his first work, Cevdet Bey and His Sons, in his stories Pamuk has deeply explored the identity crises of characters belonging to a world pending between East and West. Nowadays Turkey is often seen as a bridge between Eastern and Western culture. Pamuk himself mixes with great virtuosity literary genres belonging both to the Eastern and the Western tradition. However, the dilemmas of his characters show a more complex reality: individuals appear to be troubled in finding a balance among the tensions coming from these two different worlds. This research uses an interdisciplinary approach, which brings together anthropological theories and literary criticism, with the purpose to point out the ideas, the values and the concepts associated with Western world in Pamuk's novels.