Vision And Sound:Polyphony In Orhan Pamuk’s My Name Is Red

As one of the most famous writers in contemporary Europe,Orhan Pamuk’s works occupy a unique and important position in modern European literature with their sensitive creative themes,sophisticated artistic styles,and strong Turkish regional colors.Pamuk won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006 with his representative work My Name Is Red because“in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city”,he has discovered “new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures”.Many scholars and critics at home and abroad have paid attention to the theme and form of this novel,or the relationship between the two.This is very natural due to the rich content and unique narrative form of the work.However,the polyphonic characteristics contained in the novel are also worthy of in-depth study.The polyphonic theory properly presents Bakhtin’s extraordinary wisdom as a cultural philosopher.Pamuk,on the other hand,skillfully combines different characters and stories through polyphony,so that various dialogues,characters,content structures,and theme connotations in the work embody the features of“multi-voicedness”,which not only helps to construct the novel,but also expresses rich and profound ideological connotation.Therefore,based on Bakhtin’s polyphonic theory,the present thesis tries to analyze the polyphonic artistic characteristics of this work from the perspectives of vision and sound,mainly starting from subjectivity,counterpoint,and dialogism to explain the unique creative form of the novel and its relationship with the theme.The main parts of this thesis are Chapter 4 to Chapter 6.Chapter 4 starts with the Islamic traditional miniature painting,introducing its history,its selection of themes,its characteristics of composition,and their representation in the novel,so as to lay the groundwork for the explanation of the perfect integration of painting and language art in this novel,as well as the exploration of polyphonic art of the work from the perspectives of vision and sound.As the traditional ancient art of Islamic religious countries,miniature painting is the carrier and symbol of their cultural spirit.Pamuk fully explores the ancient characteristic of this art in the novel,conveying his deep respect for this art as well as his country.Chapter 5 mainly explores the polyphonic writing in this work from the perspective of vision.In the polyphonic analysis of color images and the study of the composition techniques from the triple angles of dots,lines and planes,this thesis combines the subjective characteristics of Bakhtin’s polyphonic theory with the discussion of how Pamuk dispels his own authority,endows the protagonists with a relatively independent and equal subject status,and how the protagonists publicize their own subjective consciousness.They try to get rid of the construction of others and control their own emotions and thoughts,reflecting a distinct sense of subjectivity.A majority of seemingly independent chapters and stories in the novel are actually linked closely.There are subtle and secret connections between one story and another,and what connects them lies in the free flow of character consciousness and the common emotions of mankind.Pamuk intends to reveal the voices of the marginal people in My Name Is Red.In the time and space of constant leaps and changes,he has constructed a mysterious and romantic picture with intertwined fantasy and reality.Chapter 6 discusses the polyphony of voice,or the dialogue between multiple subjects in and out of the text.The multi-voiced dialogic world in the work is analyzed from two aspects,that is,the macro dialogue and the micro one,so as to illustrate the dialogic features embodied from content to structure.The confrontation of different subject consciousness,the intertextuality between this text and previous works,the multi-voiced hybridity within the language,and the contradictory dialogue between the characters and their inner hearts,all invest the novel with the aesthetic characteristics of multiple coexistence in connotation,reflecting the collision of traditional and modern ideas,and the intersection and integration of Eastern and Western cultures.The pluralistic thinking mode and equal dialogism embodied by Orhan Pamuk’s polyphonic writing have given the neglected marginal people the opportunity to “sing with many voices”.The polyphonic nature of My Name Is Red enables readers to take greater initiative to participate in the process of interpreting and constructing the text.Pamuk does not try to instill ideas or thoughts into the readers,but displays his unavoidable loneliness and incomprehensible confusion to the readers with sincerity,which provides the work with unique spiritual healing effect and humanistic care,as well as opens up the channel for continuous dialogue between the author and the readers through the work,and this is also the true value of My Name Is Red as a polyphonic novel.