Melancholy and identity in Orhan Pamuk’s Istanbul: Memories and the city

Abstract

Orhan Pamuk’s Istanbul: Memories and the City is an extraordinary addition to the literature on melancholy. Istanbul in his account is a humanized city suffering from an incurable even pathological sadness, which transmits its mood to its inhabitants. Pamuk uses the word, huzun, denoting a melange of melancholy, sadness and tristesse, to unite the city, its past and its present within a lasting as well as transnational feeling. This article analyses his approach to huzun, which allows him to enter into dialogue with some of the most important Turkish and French artists, who, in various domains and in different times, portrayed Istanbul, helping Istanbullus shape their view of the city and their sense of belonging to it. This discourse dilates and enriches the puzzle of artistic and historical references the book encompasses, making Pamuk present Istanbul’s neighbourhoods from multiple perspectives.