ORIENTALISME ET ALTERITE DANS LE ROMAN ISTANBUL, SOUVENIRS D’UNE VILLE D’ORHAN PAMUK

Abstract

Orientalism is « the assimilation of Eastern elements into Western culture » according to the german author Harald Siebenmorgen. He asserts that there are two types of Orientalism. The first sees the East as agressive and hostile, while the second sees it as attractive and seductive through its exotic features. With this in mind, it seems appropriate to examine this notion in the light of the theory of otherness in Orhan Pamuk's novel Istanbul, Memories of a City. Obsessed with the idea of the double, the writer challenges the doxa relating to his culture, which oscillates between an aspect of alla turca on the one hand and alla franca on the other. He is convinced by the idea of dualism that inhabits his city and its objects, and assumes that it possesses « two souls : Eastern and Western ». This dualism was accentuated by the influence of French writers such as Nerval, Gauthier and Flaubert. In fact, he devotes separate chapters to these three orientalists. Our starting point will therefore be an overview of the concepts of Orientalism and otherness. We will then attempt to discern the aspects of the dialogue between East and West through Orhan Pamuk's Western upbringing.