Volume-XII, Issue-V, September 2026 |
Politics Of Silence & Dissidence in Orhan Pamuk’s Black Book: A Qualitative Scientific Analysis Subhadeep Ganguly, Student, Jadavpur University, Jadavpur, West Bengal, India |
Received: 12.09.2026 | Accepted: 19.09.2026 | Published Online: 30.09.2026 | Page No: 309-313 | ||||
DOI: 10.29032/ijhsss.vol.12.issue.05W.395 | |||||||
ABSTRACT | ||
The Black Book. It posits a new term, "dissent through apparent silence," to describe a form of political dissent that is not direct but is instead hidden in the emotions, collective memories, and subtle defiance against hegemonic post-totalitarian structures. The paper begins by establishing a pedagogical and neurological basis for dissent, discussing the role of the Anterior Insular cortex in emotional awareness and the five levels of emotional awareness defined by Lane and Schwartz. Building on this foundation, it contextualizes dissent by referencing Romilla Thapar's definition and historical examples, including the Soviet and Indian spheres. A significant portion of the analysis uses Václav Havel's essay, "The Power of the Powerless," and the example of the greengrocer, to establish the politics of conformity, 'the other,' and 'living within the truth' as the context for Pamuk's work. It argues that The Black Book, while not overtly political, mirrors life's enigmatic nature, where protagonist Galip's search for his wife Rüya and the columnist Celâl becomes a search for a fundamental truth—a non-conventional, spiritual essence of contradictory selves. This longing and seeking, the paper conclude, is the very basis of a silent, powerful dissent that breaks from conventional societal norms. | ||
Keywords: Dissent, Silence, Romila Thapar, Post-totalitarian structures, The Black Book. |