О Турции
Красивый текст Орхана Памука о Турции. Именно красивый - в данном случае для меня - добрый и гармоничный. (Впрочем, я видела его только в Фейсбуке на прошлой неделе, но нигде больше, ни в нововстях, ни в блоге Памука это кажется не цитировалось.)
THE ORIGINAL TEXT ORHAN PAMUK WAS SENT TO THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA:
As someone who has suffered from political speech in the past, I thought I would never again speak out about events in my country, Turkey. But with every passing day, the lump in my throat grows bigger, and I feel compelled to write my own opinion about what is happening, and why. But first I must warn you that we novelists are used to creating fictional characters to hide behind, and I am not used to speaking in directly to my readers. The last time I did that I was ridiculed, threatened and mocked. I trust that the Turkish people are readier to appreciate my honesty, as it is at times like these that we need it the most.
I would like to talk about religion. 10 years ago I gave an interview to a Spanish newspaper and stated that I was an atheist raised in an atheist household. I was lying, not to the interviewer, but to myself. For a long time, I was convinced that I was an atheist. You see, for a young artist whose role models were Sartre and Hemingway, to believe meant being weighed down by an existential burden. You either had fun in this life and suffered in the after-life, or sacrificed now for eternal pleasure. At least that was the conception of religion that I had in my mind after reading European writers and being exposed to the conservative elements in my country. But I still struggled to believe. In university, my "liberal" friends and I spent sleepless nights talking about god and metaphysics. We were too curious, too skeptical to fully believe; and we thought that that religion was binary. Either you believed fully or you did not believe at all. Either you were a Muslim or a secular Kemalist.
But with time I found my own kind of Islam. One in which I drank wine, made love before getting married and collected paintings. But also one in which I fasted, and gave "zekat" to the poor, and lived in a strong sense of community. I always savour the spiritual pleasure of listening to the ezan, and I have many different friends from a different religions. I use words like 'Eyvallah' and "Allah korusun" and "Insallah", and I pray And because I found my path by myself, it is much more strong than one that would be imposed on me.
Many of the protestors in these riots have the same sense of individual Islamic spirituality. They are not godless and degenerate people who believe in nothing but their own desires, as they are accused of being by the president Tayyip Erdogan. They are tolerant individuals who want the freedom of deciding how to balance their desires with their responsibilities. They had been sleeping for years because of very subtle manipulation by the media and various interests. (I know that sounds vague, but I am not a journalist and prefer to focus on people rather than theories.)
I have witnessed a transvestite helping an ultra-nationalist "bozkurt" get away from a pepper gas attack. I have witnessed children with their parents and parents with their children's grandparents. I have seen famous film actors and homeless people sitting side by side. I have talked to avid fans and primary school drop-outs, and what they all want is the same: To be given the opportunity to care for each other. To have their opinions and views respected by others, and to show the same respect to others.
Turkey is in the midst of an incredible change. And what has astonished me the most is how human the protestors have managed to stay. They are being confronted with the worst police brutality since the 1982 coup d etat, and they are making jokes, showing acts of altruism, and proving that one must not need to belong to a certain group to believe in god, to believe in Turkey, to believe in solidarity. Now that a big part of the country has been oppressed by institutions of authority so blatantly, they understand the plight of the Kurdish minorities, of LGBT individuals, and religious Muslim's more. Our ability to feel empathy toward countrymen different from us has been enhanced dramatically. Whatever happens, no one will discriminate other minorities. This week, we showed that we all stand together.
ORHAN PAMUK
Честно, меня Турция никогда не интересовала. Ну, Каппадокия и Византия - да. И еще Руми. И еще два фильма - "Дорога" и "Счастье". А оказывается - там вон как интересно. Удачи им.
Все, что помню из Стамбула пятнадцатилетней давности - моя сверстница в автобусе, вся закутанная и с книжкой Ницше.
THE ORIGINAL TEXT ORHAN PAMUK WAS SENT TO THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA:
As someone who has suffered from political speech in the past, I thought I would never again speak out about events in my country, Turkey. But with every passing day, the lump in my throat grows bigger, and I feel compelled to write my own opinion about what is happening, and why. But first I must warn you that we novelists are used to creating fictional characters to hide behind, and I am not used to speaking in directly to my readers. The last time I did that I was ridiculed, threatened and mocked. I trust that the Turkish people are readier to appreciate my honesty, as it is at times like these that we need it the most.
I would like to talk about religion. 10 years ago I gave an interview to a Spanish newspaper and stated that I was an atheist raised in an atheist household. I was lying, not to the interviewer, but to myself. For a long time, I was convinced that I was an atheist. You see, for a young artist whose role models were Sartre and Hemingway, to believe meant being weighed down by an existential burden. You either had fun in this life and suffered in the after-life, or sacrificed now for eternal pleasure. At least that was the conception of religion that I had in my mind after reading European writers and being exposed to the conservative elements in my country. But I still struggled to believe. In university, my "liberal" friends and I spent sleepless nights talking about god and metaphysics. We were too curious, too skeptical to fully believe; and we thought that that religion was binary. Either you believed fully or you did not believe at all. Either you were a Muslim or a secular Kemalist.
But with time I found my own kind of Islam. One in which I drank wine, made love before getting married and collected paintings. But also one in which I fasted, and gave "zekat" to the poor, and lived in a strong sense of community. I always savour the spiritual pleasure of listening to the ezan, and I have many different friends from a different religions. I use words like 'Eyvallah' and "Allah korusun" and "Insallah", and I pray And because I found my path by myself, it is much more strong than one that would be imposed on me.
Many of the protestors in these riots have the same sense of individual Islamic spirituality. They are not godless and degenerate people who believe in nothing but their own desires, as they are accused of being by the president Tayyip Erdogan. They are tolerant individuals who want the freedom of deciding how to balance their desires with their responsibilities. They had been sleeping for years because of very subtle manipulation by the media and various interests. (I know that sounds vague, but I am not a journalist and prefer to focus on people rather than theories.)
I have witnessed a transvestite helping an ultra-nationalist "bozkurt" get away from a pepper gas attack. I have witnessed children with their parents and parents with their children's grandparents. I have seen famous film actors and homeless people sitting side by side. I have talked to avid fans and primary school drop-outs, and what they all want is the same: To be given the opportunity to care for each other. To have their opinions and views respected by others, and to show the same respect to others.
Turkey is in the midst of an incredible change. And what has astonished me the most is how human the protestors have managed to stay. They are being confronted with the worst police brutality since the 1982 coup d etat, and they are making jokes, showing acts of altruism, and proving that one must not need to belong to a certain group to believe in god, to believe in Turkey, to believe in solidarity. Now that a big part of the country has been oppressed by institutions of authority so blatantly, they understand the plight of the Kurdish minorities, of LGBT individuals, and religious Muslim's more. Our ability to feel empathy toward countrymen different from us has been enhanced dramatically. Whatever happens, no one will discriminate other minorities. This week, we showed that we all stand together.
ORHAN PAMUK
Честно, меня Турция никогда не интересовала. Ну, Каппадокия и Византия - да. И еще Руми. И еще два фильма - "Дорога" и "Счастье". А оказывается - там вон как интересно. Удачи им.
Все, что помню из Стамбула пятнадцатилетней давности - моя сверстница в автобусе, вся закутанная и с книжкой Ницше.