Right to the City Novels in Turkish Literature from the 1960s to the Present

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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. Acknowledgements Praise For Right to the City Novels in Turkish Literature from the 1960s to the Present Contents Abbreviations 1 Introduction: Right to the City Novels in Modern Turkish Fiction The Right to the City Right to the City Novels Objectives of the Book The Methodology Organisation of the Book Explanation of the Quotations from Novels Bibliography 2 From the Barricades to the City as Art: The Concept of the Right to the City Paris After Haussman The Flâneur Alienation in the Metropolis The Right to the City Citizenship in the Urban Context Bibliography 3 Passionate Belongings and Intense Longings: Tracing the Right to the City in Istanbul Istanbul’s Complex Phases Urbanisation or Pseudo-Urbanisation? Multiple Urbanities Laying Claim to the City Women: “The Locomotive of Migration” Bibliography 4 Istanbul Meets Its New Members: An Overview of Istanbul’s History as Regards Migration The 1950s and the 1960s The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s The Late 1990s and the 2000s The Year 2010 and After Bibliography 5 Imagining the Migration Experience: A Humanist Approach The Homesick Birds: An Empathetic Look at the Urbanities of the Future The Tabula Rasa Migrant The Gendered Portrayal of Migration Conclusion Uncle Halo and Two Oxen: A Sarcastic Look at Rural to Urban Migration and Its Discontents ‘Citizens’ Intimidated in the Public Realm Conclusion The Homesick Birds and Uncle Halo and Two Oxen: A Comparative Analysis Bibliography 6 Insider’s Knowledge: Survival in the Jungle of Istanbul Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills: A Satirical Rebuttal to Normative Urbanity An Uneasy Encounter: Shanty Community vs the Radical Left Who Is More the Migrant in the Struggle for Survival? Conclusion Heavy Roman(i): An Alternative Urbanity in the Dionysiac City Women of Kolera Cosmopolitan Kolera Conclusion Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills and Heavy Roman(I): A Comparative Analysis Bibliography 7 Istanbul’s Threshold: Alienation and the Experience of the Periphery On the Periphery: Existence in the Grim City The Other Istanbul Life in Taşlıbağ Idling in the City Conclusion It Takes All Kinds: The Istanbul Forgotten in the ‘Varoş’ Urbanity Through Consumption Identifying Kozluk Conclusion On the Periphery and It Takes All Kinds: A Comparative Analysis Bibliography 8 Changing Migrants, Transforming Istanbul: A Strangeness in My Mind as a Love Story of a Man and His City Mevlut’s Endless Walks A Home in the City Stigmatised Neighbourhoods: Between Fiction and Factuality Men and Women in the City Conclusion Bibliography 9 Conclusion: Reading the Right to the City Novels in a New Istanbul Bibliography Index