Introduction
Orhan Pamuk, the Literature Nobel Prize laureate of 2006 writes that “the history of the novel is a history of human liberation.” The question is what does he mean by this and how relevant is it really?
Elucidation
This statement of Orhan Pamuk is a reflection of his belief in creativity being the source of political protest. Novels encourage people to look into the past and relive their history, which is essential to the evaluation of what they were and what they have become. Thus rendering of history in a novel is seldom an exact replica of what took place, but rather a presenting history in a new light so as to enrich it and change it.
The creativity of the novelists causes the reader to imagine living in the book and walking in the shoes of the characters of the book and changing it based on the individual’s imagination and emotions. Such a journey makes richer the values individual and thus creates a vision of a fully liberated world free of the pain experienced and thus in every novel the path that human liberation has taken or has to take becomes clear.
In his book “Snow”, 2002, Parmuk takes the reader on such a journey with Ka, who is a poet that has just returned from Germany to his native Turkey. Ka takes the reader along into his investigation of a mass suicide by girls, who have been ordered not to wear headscarves alluring to the ban by Ataturk on the use of headscarves.
The strong character Ka in the novel moves the reader back in history and forwards to reality and along with Ka learn to value human resistance and the requirement to share new ideas with the world, as demonstrated by the newfound creativity in Ka’s poetry. In essence Pamuk in this novel refers to the increasing controversy between secularists and Islamists in Turkey and the value of human resistance for human liberation in helping Turkey overcome its current dilemmas. (1).
Such a characteristic of novels is not unique to Pamuk, but can be seen in other novelists too. In the novel “Close Sesame”, by Nuruddin Farah a similar journey into history is seen. The location of the novel shifts to troubled Somalia and Farah takes the reader through such a journey with Deeriye the main character of the novel. The reader through the experiences of Deeriye can imagine what life was like during the pre-colonial period, the colonial period, and the post-colonial period.
The clear picture of the discontinuity and disruption that Somali cultural traditions have encountered as a result of the various forms of imperialism gets forged in the mind of the reader. The linkages of the three forms of imperialism experienced in Somalia come through the journey with Deeriye into the past and the present. These experiences of Deeriye help in understanding the lessons from the past and its relevance to modern Somalia in overcoming the difficult times faced by it. (2).
Conclusion
Novels do help people to understand their past and through that come to how a painless world with liberated humanity is possible.
Works Cited
- Pamuk, Orhan. Snow. Vintage Books, Random House: London, 2005.
- Farah, Nuruddin. Open Sesame. Graywolf Press: Saint Paul, Minnesota, 2006.