A POSTMODERN STUDY OF IDENTITY AND MEMORY IN “THE BASTARD OF ISTANBUL”

Abstract

Elif Shafak’s The Bastard of Istanbul (2006) presents a layered narrative that interrogates questions of identity, memory, and collective history within the context of Turkish and Armenian diasporic experiences. This study employs a postmodern theoretical lens to analyze the construction of personal and collective identities, exploring how memory functions as both a source of fragmentation and continuity. The novel’s multi-narrative structure, shifting perspectives, and intergenerational storytelling reflect postmodern techniques that destabilize linear histories and challenge fixed notions of identity. The study focuses on the interplay between individual and cultural memory, investigating how past traumas, familial secrets, and societal silences shape characters’ self-perception and communal belonging. Methodologically, a qualitative textual analysis is conducted, examining key characters, narrative strategies, and thematic motifs related to memory, identity, and cultural hybridity. Findings reveal that Shafak’s novel embodies postmodern skepticism toward grand narratives, emphasizes the multiplicity of subjectivities, and foregrounds memory as a site of both conflict and reconciliation. By situating the novel within postmodern literary discourse, this research contributes to scholarship on diasporic literature, trauma studies, and identity formation, offering a nuanced understanding of how fiction negotiates the intersections of personal and historical memory in shaping selfhood.