This project aims to identify the ways in which contemporary literature in Turkey challenges the country’s colonial relationship with its Kurdish citizens. To do so, the project initially identifies the colonial practices of the Turkish Republic through using Robert Blauner’s theory of internal colonialism and analyzing the history of the Turkish state with its Kurdish citizens through the scope of Blauner’s four elements of colonialism.

Beyond the establishment of this, the project uses the novel Snow by Orhan Pamuk and the short story anthology Dawn by Selahattin Demirtas. Through analyzing the contents of those literary works and relating it back to the history of Turkey, we can see that by criticizing the orientalist approach of the state and the Kemalist political foundations of Turkey, both
Pamuk and Demirtas shine a light on Turkey’s mistreatment of its Kurdish citizens.

These practices which the two authors criticize can also be seen in the present-day policies of the Turkish state. By identifying the colonial dynamic of the Turkish state, we can potentially move toward a solution for the Kurdish Question in Turkey that would allow for democratic governance and peaceful coexistence.

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