Full Description
Right to the City Novels in Turkish Literature from the 1960s to the Present analyses the representation of rural migration to Istanbul in literature, placing Henri Lefebvre's concept of the right to the city at the centre of the argument. Using a framework of critical urban theory, the book examines Orhan Kemal's Gurbet Kuşları [The Homesick Birds] (1962); Muzaffer İzgü's Halo Dayı ve İki Öküz [Uncle Halo and Two Oxen] (1973); Latife Tekin's Berci Kristin Çöp Masalları [Berji Kristin: Tales From the Garbage Hills] (1984); Metin Kaçan's Ağır Roman [Heavy Roman(i)] (1990); Ayhan Geçgin's Kenarda [On the Periphery] (2003); Hatice Meryem's İnsan Kısım Kısım, Yer Damar Damar [It Takes All Kinds] (2008); and Orhan Pamuk's Kafamda Bir Tuhaflık [A Strangeness in My Mind] (2014) in the historical context as regards rural migration to Istanbul, urbanization of migrants, and anti-migrant nostalgia. Situating these works as a counterpoint to nostalgic novels and categorising them as right to the city novels, the book aims to offer a conceptual framework that can be implemented on internal as well as international migration in other global(ising) cities; and on cultural products other than literature, such as film.
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction: Right to the City Novels in Modern Turkish Fiction.- Chapter 2 From the Barricades to the City as Art: The Idea of the Right to the City.- Chapter 3 Passionate Belongings and Intense Longings: Tracing the Right to the City in Istanbul.- Chapter 4 Istanbul Meets Its New Members: An Overview of Istanbul's History as Regards Migration.- Chapter 5 'Istanbulites' and 'Non-Istanbulites' in Turkish Novel: Creation of the Corpus.- Chapter 6 The Homesick Birds: An Empathetic Look at the Urbanites of the Future.- Chapter 7 Uncle Halo and Two Oxen: A Sarcastic Look at Rural to Urban Migration and Its Discontents.- Chapter 8 The Homesick Birds and Uncle Halo and Two Oxen: A Comparative Analysis.- Chapter 9 Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills: A Satirical Look at Uniform Urbanity.- Chapter 10 Heavy Roman(i): An Alternative Urbanity in the Dionysiac City.- Chapter11 Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills andHeavy Roman(i): A Comparative Analysis.- Chapter 12 On the Periphery: Existence in the Grim City.- Chapter 13 It Takes All Kinds: The Istanbul Forgotten in the 'Varoş'.- Chapter 14 On the Periphery and It Takes All Kinds: A Comparative Analysis.- Chapter 15 A Strangeness in My Mind: A Love Story of a Man and His City.- Chapter 16 Conclusion.
