Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University
Assistant Professor, PhD in Philology
Tbilisi, Georgia
mzisa.buskivadze@tsu.ge
Abstract
In contemporary Turkish literature, the question of female identity emerges as one of the most significant areas of inquiry. Particularly in the twenty-first-century Turkish novel, woman is represented not merely as the bearer of a social role, but as a subject situated at the center of psychological, cultural, and traumatic experiences. From this perspective, the novels The Night of the Color Green and My Mother’s Sleepless Nights by the contemporary Turkish woman writer Ayfer Tunç are of particular interest, as they offer an in-depth portrayal of women’s inner worlds, social pressure, and crises of identity.
In both novels, the female protagonist appears as a character in conflict with herself, her past, and society. The author pays particular attention to inner loneliness, alienation, and traumatic memory, all of which play a significant role in the formation of female identity.
In The Night of the Color Green, the crisis of female identity develops primarily against the background of social perception and public judgment. The main character constantly sees herself through the eyes of others. In society, a woman’s value is determined by her physical appearance, social status, and relationships with men, which leads to the protagonist’s inner fragmentation.
In the novel, woman frequently becomes a victim of objectification. Her body, appearance, and private life are turned into objects of public judgment. As a result, the protagonist gradually loses her individual sense of self and is compelled to conform to a role constructed by society.
In this text, Ayfer Tunç offers a critique of contemporary society. The author demonstrates that a patriarchal and materialistic environment distances women from their own identity and ultimately leads them to profound inner loneliness.
The novel My Mother’s Sleepless Nights is more psychological in character, and the crisis of female identity is associated with memory and familial trauma. In the novel, the past constantly intrudes upon the present. The characters are unable to forget, and consequently their traumatic experiences affect both their everyday lives and their self-perception.
Particular importance is attached to the mother-child relationship, which develops against a background of love, silence, pain, and alienation. Here, female identity is shaped not only by the social environment, but also by emotional memory and familial experience. The author shows that the inability to free oneself from the past intensifies inner crisis.
In both novels, the crisis of female identity constitutes a central theme, although its causes differ. In The Night of the Color Green, the crisis is primarily the result of social and cultural pressure. Woman lives under the influence of public judgment and the patriarchal system. In My Mother’s Sleepless Nights, by contrast, the fragmentation of identity is connected to inner trauma, memory, and family relationships.
Despite these differences, in both texts woman is represented as an alienated and internally fragmented subject who strives to rediscover herself.
Keywords: contemporary Turkish literature; woman author; Ayfer Tunç; trauma; alienation; female subjectivity.