Department of English Associate Professor Iclal Vanwesenbeeck was invited to write a chapter in the upcoming collection, "Tales from His Father’s Suitcase: Essays on Orhan Pamuk," to be distributed by Columbia University Press.
Vanwesenbeeck's article, entitled "A Strangeness in the Mind: Land, Rent, and Enclosures in Pamuk’s Istanbul,” looks at the question of rent, ownership, and enclosures that has shaped modern Turkish identity. It also discusses Pamuk’s unique juxtaposition of a spiritual entrepreneur, and the many missed opportunities that new urbanization trends and enclosures Istanbul offers with the world of new wage earners and moguls that change the skyline of Istanbul.
From the evolution of the family unit to the Anatolia-Europe dichotomy, to modernity, urbanization, and aesthetics, to the rise of capitalism, Vanwesenbeeck’s article explores the intricate nexus between class and Turkish identity.
