The Museum of Innocence
Encyclopedia
The Museum of Innocence is a novel by Orhan Pamuk
, Nobel
-laureate Turkish
novelist published on August 29, 2008. The book is a long and detailed account of the obsessive love that Kemal, a wealthy businessman, bears for Füsun, a lower class shop girl 12 years Kemal's junior, for over 30 years starting in 1975. Kemal loves without regard to the interests or situation of Füsun. Oblivious to his own selfishness
, Kemal first refuses to give up his fiancée to be with the love of his life, and then becomes an obsessive collector of the artefact
s of his life with Füsun. This is a relationship that is both lengthy and increasingly bizarre as Kemal objectifies
Füsun and becomes a collector intent on satisfying his emotional obsession with his object of desire (Füsun) rather carrying on a healthy human relationship with his beloved. The book is filled with references to butterflies, a caged bird and other collectibles and collectors as Kemal carries out the fetish
ism of a collector. Kemal, while enthralled by Füsun, can’t in the end treat her as a subject, rather than an object – a human being rather than a thing.
But Kemal is not the only person that treats the beautiful young shop girl as an object: most of the men around Füsun desire her without regard for her own interests or feelings, but as an object of their lust. In the end, just as Hardy’s Tess of the d'Urbervilles
or Flaubert’s Madame Bovary
, Füsun becomes the victim of the constraints of the desires of the men around her.
Pamuk said he used YouTube
to research Turkish music and film while preparing the novel.
An excerpt, entitled Distant Relations appeared in The New Yorker
on September 7, 2009.
The English translation, by his long-time collaborator Maureen Freely
, was released on October 20, 2009 by Alfred A. Knopf
.
, Istanbul
, and will display a collection evocative of everyday life and culture of Istanbul during the period in which the novel is set. Originally, the museum was scheduled to be exhibited at Frankfurt
’s Schirn Kunsthalle in October 2008, during the annual Frankfurt Book Fair
, but the exhibition was cancelled. It is now hoped that the museum will be opened in 2011. The project is supported by Istanbul 2010 – European Capital of Culture
.
Orhan Pamuk
Ferit Orhan Pamuk , generally known simply as Orhan Pamuk, is a Turkish novelist. He is also the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches comparative literature and writing....
, Nobel
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
-laureate Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
novelist published on August 29, 2008. The book is a long and detailed account of the obsessive love that Kemal, a wealthy businessman, bears for Füsun, a lower class shop girl 12 years Kemal's junior, for over 30 years starting in 1975. Kemal loves without regard to the interests or situation of Füsun. Oblivious to his own selfishness
Selfishness
Selfishness denotes an excessive or exclusive concern with oneself, and as such it exceeds mere self interest or self concern. Insofar as a decision maker knowingly burdens or harms others for personal gain, the decision is selfish. In contrast, self-interest is more general...
, Kemal first refuses to give up his fiancée to be with the love of his life, and then becomes an obsessive collector of the artefact
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
s of his life with Füsun. This is a relationship that is both lengthy and increasingly bizarre as Kemal objectifies
Objectification
Objectification is the process by which an abstract concept is made as objective as possible in the purest sense of the term. It is also treated as if it is a concrete thing or physical object...
Füsun and becomes a collector intent on satisfying his emotional obsession with his object of desire (Füsun) rather carrying on a healthy human relationship with his beloved. The book is filled with references to butterflies, a caged bird and other collectibles and collectors as Kemal carries out the fetish
Fetish
Fetish may refer to:* Fetishism, the attribution of religious or mystical qualities to inanimate objects* Sexual fetishism, sexual attraction to objects, body parts, or situations not conventionally viewed as being sexual in nature....
ism of a collector. Kemal, while enthralled by Füsun, can’t in the end treat her as a subject, rather than an object – a human being rather than a thing.
But Kemal is not the only person that treats the beautiful young shop girl as an object: most of the men around Füsun desire her without regard for her own interests or feelings, but as an object of their lust. In the end, just as Hardy’s Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented, also known as Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman, Tess of the d'Urbervilles or just Tess, is a novel by Thomas Hardy, first published in 1891. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British...
or Flaubert’s Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert's first published novel and is considered his masterpiece. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life...
, Füsun becomes the victim of the constraints of the desires of the men around her.
Pamuk said he used YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
to research Turkish music and film while preparing the novel.
An excerpt, entitled Distant Relations appeared in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
on September 7, 2009.
The English translation, by his long-time collaborator Maureen Freely
Maureen Freely
Maureen Freely is a U.S. journalist, novelist, translator and professor.-Biography:Born in Neptune, New Jersey, Freely grew up in Turkey and now lives in England, where she lectures at the University of Warwick and is an occasional contributor to The Guardian and The Independent newspapers. Among...
, was released on October 20, 2009 by Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
.
An actual museum
Pamuk is working on establishing an actual "Museum of Innocence", based on the museum described in the book. It is to be housed in a building in the Çukurcuma neighbourhood of BeyoğluBeyoglu
Beyoğlu is a district located on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city by the Golden Horn...
, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, and will display a collection evocative of everyday life and culture of Istanbul during the period in which the novel is set. Originally, the museum was scheduled to be exhibited at Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
’s Schirn Kunsthalle in October 2008, during the annual Frankfurt Book Fair
Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. As to the number of visitors, the Turin Book Fair attracts about as many visitors, viz. some 300,000....
, but the exhibition was cancelled. It is now hoped that the museum will be opened in 2011. The project is supported by Istanbul 2010 – European Capital of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
.