Writing about Istanbul

It has been a great pleasure for me to write about this city and the things I have seen and done. From the moment I got off the plane I was immensely inspired to describe this mysterious world to those of my friends who could only imagine it. I wanted to share it with others, but I also wanted to understand it myself.

I have learned that I am by no means unique in this sentiment. I have discovered that there is a rich tradition of writers who have felt moved by this city, and as such have been inspired to either write about it or paint it (of course they did not have digital cameras). Aside from the guide books that I have used to navigate through the labyrinth of streets, I have picked up a couple of other books worth mention. The first since I have been here was John Freely’s History of Istanbul. In his early eighties, Freely is a professor of the history of science at Bogazici University. He has written a vast number of books in such various fields as travel, history and science, the History of Istanbul being one of them. It was a useful albeit dry book covering the main points of the city’s 2600 year old history. It helped me put the vast history of the city in context, as well as helped me place the cities numerous monuments in their proper historical context.

After Freely’s book I picked up a book called Istanbul: Memoirs of a City by a notorious writer named Orhan Pamuk. Pamuk has become well known and well hated by many Turkish citizens for speaking out on the Armenian genocide. Today one of my students told me that Pamuk was a flat out liar and that he would have imprisoned him (Pamuk was acquitted on charges pertaining to his statements about the genocide issue). The book that I am reading has nothing to say about the genocide, but is a wonderful work on the city from the perspective of a sensitive person who lived here during the city’s darkest times following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire to the population explosion that has occurred over the last 50 years. What he does that is a bit different from the other books that I have seen is talk about the soul of the city, not simply its attractions and monuments. He describes the way it has been understood and written about for the last 150 years by Europeans and Turks alike. With this I have been able to understand why I am so compelled to use my inclination to write to articulate some of the wonder I have experienced while being here.

As informative and insightful his book has been, there is one overused cliché that he and many other people I have heard use that I would like to take a few lines to comment on. Istanbul is often referred to as caught somewhere between the east and the west. Although this is geographically true, it lacks the necessary specificity to be a useful description of the sense that I get from being here. What is blended here in what is perhaps a truly unique way is the overlap of medieval (denoted by the faith), modern (denoted by secularism and technology) and post modern (denoted by a rejection of everything). When I say medieval I a referring to the vast Muslim population who not only hold many beliefs that are more compatible with a medieval mindset, but to a way of life that corresponds to that faith. It is a simple life where people accept their lot in life, walk almost everywhere they go (which means that they don’t go far), maintain customary dress and traditions, and pray reverently five times a day. The modern world here is quite recognizable and is manifest in the fascination with things European/American such as big business and cell phones. I gather that this modernizing impulse is still relatively new here, perhaps only a hundred years old where as in the rest of European based countries it has been gradually making its way since the 17th century. Thus when writers are talking about the tendency for many to want to look towards the west and to see the east as keeping the country back, I believe that what they really mean is that there are still many who are not yet sold on the promises of modernity and are inclined to keep the traditions of their ancestors, regardless of whether a lack of prosperity is the byproduct. On the other hand they just might not know better and will change their mind when the opportunity arises as so many Europeans and North Americans have.

Yet, as I mentioned, on account of the vast exposure to European and American media, there is a growing discontent with the promises of modernity from those whose parents had embraced it. As I write this there is heavy metal blaring into my room from the neighboring window, a sign of the growing influence of specifically English pop music. This sentiment, like the one that is strongly felt in North America, does not seek any productive response, rather only seeks various forms of self-annihilation.

As a result of this it is possible to be in certain parts of the city and feel that one could very well be in any city in Canada and the United States. Ultimately the reservation to plunge into modernity and off the cliff into post modernity may well result in sluggish economic and social growth, but may also act as an emergency brake that will keep the country from slipping into the darkness that is felt to overwhelm many in the more developed countries.

Thus what fascinates me about what is referred to as the tension between the west and the east in Turkey is the presence of the powerful tendency to modernize with the two counterbalancing responses on either side. It will be interesting to see how well the medieval aspect of this culture is able to maintain itself in the years to come and whether this will be a conscious choice to avoid the failings of modernity that once embraced can only lead to the nihilism of post modernity. On the other hand, Will the maintenance of medievalism degenerate into the lower aspects of that mode of though, that of religious violence. Either way, I hope to continue to keep my eye on this country as certain aspects have touched my soul and are bound to be a part of me for the rest of my life.