Thus the novel is an exemplary work of mainstream literature that serves simultaneously as revisionist fiction. The implicit criticism of current events and ideologies in the novel goes beyond the scope of religion, linking Sufism directly with politics. Arguably the depiction of Shams and the representation of his murder are an implicit criticism of recent events (the murder of Hrant Dink and the debates surrounding the minorities in Turkey) that are related to contemporary disputes related with ethnic identities. In this vein, Sufism as the novel’s main motif implicitly hints at the author’s interest in identity politics.
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As Ernst rightly argues, ‘in the contemporary situation, Sufism has been officially pushed into a dubious and marginal posture, while still providing spiritual and intellectual tools that hold their appeal in many diverse and irreducibly local contexts related to religion and politics’ (Ernst 2009: § 30). 4 Sufism is presented as a medium for and an alternative to the question of identity, and Bab-ı Esrar proposes looking at one’s inner self as a means of separating religion from politics.
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In so doing the novel presents an unconventional solution to the contemporary question of secular and religious identity, which is historically rooted in the Kemalist-Islamist dichotomy of the early Republic. 4 Kemalism and Islamism have been two opposing ideologies, which have also caused polarization in Tu (.)ĤThis article stems from the idea that Bab-ı Esrar offers an alternative cultural memory with its handling of Shams as well as his murder and relationship with Rumi.Moreover, it argues that this device segments the storyline so one can identify the individual aspects of Sufism’s contribution to the conventions of crime fiction, the recurring manifestations of Sufi philosophy, and the ways in which these themes contribute to the creation of alternative cultural memory. As the scope of these topics is greater than the length of this paper, this article will be limited to the discussion of how the incorporation of Sufism is a major literary device in Bab-ı Esrar. For these answers, one must address broader issues such as the influence of globalization on literary trends, the changing position of Islam in Turkish culture, the role of literature in identity politics, and in the construction of cultural memory. Thus this article proposes viewing Bab-ı Esrar as an exemplary work in which Sufism manifests itself in everyday secular Turkish culture (as depicted in the novel), and also aims to explore the novel’s conventions and ideology in relation to Sufism.ģThere are of course myriad questions one could explore in relation to why Sufism appears in modern Turkish crime writing, such as how and why mysticism in general and Sufism in particular became one of its main motifs, and how the marketing of history and mysticism has become a feature of tourism. Through using various narrative techniques, Ümit has created a multi-layered thriller, which consist of fantastic elements as well as political and ideological criticism while forcing the reader to question Shams’ murder and what it allegorically stands for. These multiple perspectives are presented through Karen Kimya’s dreams, hallucinations and several fantastic events that happened during her stay in Konya, including becoming Shams of Tabriz himself and experiencing what he had gone through firsthand. The novel also functions as a revisionist historical novel, which presents the reader with multiple perspectives on the relationship between Shams and Rumi and Shams’ murder.
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As readers, we witness the protagonist Karen Kimya’s life changing experiences in Konya, where she investigates a hotel fire and a murder in the present time. The story revolves around two main secrets one is the ‘secret of a passion spanning over seven centuries: a flame first lid between Jelalledin Rumi and Shams of Tabriz’ and the other is the ‘secret behind a seven hundred year old crime: the murder of Shams of Tabriz’ (back cover The Dervish Gate, 2011). 3 ‘ is more than a thriller, it is a book of secrets’ is written at the back cover of its English translation. 2 Its popularity indicates widespread popular interest in the book, which is linked to both its genre as well as its subject matter, which is Sufism and the relationship between Rumi and Shams. 3 Jalal ad-Din Rumi, also known as Mevlana in Turkey, ‘was born in Balkh in present-day Afghanistan (.)ĢPublished in 2008, Bab-ı Esrar is one of the most prominent examples of contemporary Turkish crime fiction and has remained one of the best-selling novels since that time.2 Ümit was the second best-selling author in 2010, after Elif Şafak (Retrived in ).