Turkish Author Erendiz Atasu
The Other Side of the Mountain, Feminist Lit in Modern Turkey
Aug 12, 2007
Most western bibliophiles know little about modern Turkish Literature beyond Nobel Prize-winning Orhan Pamuk. This is a shame because some literary gems are available in translation. For a female outlook on life in 20th Century Turkey, pick up The Other Side of The Mountain by Erendiz Atasu.
Part fiction and part autobiography, Atasu tells the story of a mother and daughter whose identities are shaped by the Turkish Republic's history. After the death of her mother, Vicdan, the narrator sifts through letters and memories of her family's past. Readers are transported to the early 1900's to see Vicdan study at Cambridge, work with fervent patriotism to establish Western-style education in Turkey, and even meet Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the visionary founder of the Republic.
These are true events and the narrator's life is closely tied to the real life of the author. Some minor characters are fictional but the major historical events are not, so this is a helpful read to understand Turkey's history from a personal perspective.
A key theme is the gap between the naïve optimism of Vicdan's era and the cynicism of the conflicted generation that followed. The Kemalists (those of Vicdan's generation who supported Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's Westernization) were full of hope for the Turkish Republic's future, but the children of the 40's lived through the Korean War, multiple coups and the deterioration of Ataturk's social order. Atasu says of her generation: "We have gone through very troubled times. We would have been different people if we had lived somewhere else." (Quote taken from IWP interview with Steve Unger)
The Other Side of the Mountain was quite a success in Turkey and won the prestigious Orhan Kemal Novel Award in 1996. After teaching Pharmacognosy in Ankara for almost 30 years, Atasu quit to become a full-time writer of experimental stories and a respected feminist thinker. To find out more about Erendiz Atasu, go to the author's website. The Other Side of the Mountain is her only novel currently available in English.
Atasu collaborated with Elizabeth Maslen on the English version and their translation reads like poetry. The book itself is like a long poem; the parts are juxtaposed semi-chronologically to create a rhythm of images and emotion. Atasu has admitted to being "obsessed with the conception of time... what it brings to humanity and what it takes away." (Atasu's IWP interview)
Whether you're reading up on Turkish culture or just expanding your literary horizons, The Other Side of the Mountain is a good choice. Erendiz Atasu's interweaving of national and personal narrative speaks as much to the basic human experience as it does to Turkish history, making her novel accessible to book lovers worldwide.
To read more about modern Turkish literature, go to the Suite article on Orhan Pamuk.
Atasu, Erendiz. The Other Side of the Mountain. London: Milet Publishing, 2000. ISBN 1-84059-113-7.
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