Turkey's patriarchal laws systematically discriminate against women: Writer Elif Shafak

NEW DELHI: She shattered the silence over the Armenian genocide in Turkey, raged against gender violence, lifted the veil on child abuse and relentlessly challenged the Turkish establishment that, in her own words, embodies "populist nationalism".

Not surprising then that Elif Shafak, the prolific author of 17 books, including 11 novels, believes that storytelling is about "swimming against the tide of the times".

For the 47-year-old Turkish-British writer, whose latest novel "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World" was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, fiction is essentially "a manifestation of calm resistance".

"Fiction brings the periphery to the centre, makes the invisible visible, the unheard a little bit more heard. It helps us to understand that there is no 'us versus them'. There is no 'other'," Shafak told PTI in a wide-ranging email interview on her latest novel, the art of storytelling, the sense of belonging, friendship and solidarity.

"The art of storytelling is about swimming against the tide of the times. In this sense, fiction is and has always been, a manifestation of calm resistance. I like that combination very much: peacefulness and rebelliousness, side by side," said the London-based Shafak.

Her new book is based on the premise that human brain can function for as long as 10 minutes and 38 seconds after death, and unravelling what possibly goes on in the mind in those final moments is her prostitute protagonist -- Tequila Leila.

Leila has been deemed a "fallen woman" by the culture, the courts, the police and her own family, and through her story Shafak exposes the "deeply rooted hypocrisy" in Istanbul, particularly on issues of gender and sexuality.

The writer said people were simply in denial of the fact that "Istanbul had become a major crossroad for sex trafficking in the last decades".

"The society loves to condemn what they see as 'fallen women' but never wants to admit its own role in destroying individuals' dreams and hopes," she said.

Writing about politics is not easy, Shafak, who moved to London in 2013, admitted.

In 2006, the author was put on trial and eventually acquitted by the government of Turkey for "insulting Turkishness", because a character in her book "Bastard of Istanbul" described the mass killing of Armenians in Turkey during the first world war as a "genocide".

She said her lawyer in Turkey had to defend not just her, but also her Armenian fictional characters in the courtroom.

But Shafak is not one to cower. Being apolitical or non-political was not luxury writers could afford, particularly those coming from "wounded democracies", she said.

"We cannot say, 'I am only going to write my stories, I don't want to know what's happening outside my window.' If a lot is happening outside the window, you have to go and look. If you see, you have to speak up," she said.

She has repeatedly called out the Turkish government on its "patriarchal laws that systematically discriminate against women", and its Ministry of Religious Affairs which "stigmatizes and targets LGBT in their sermons".

"The Turkish government should stop trying to pass despicable laws that offer to reduce the sentence given to rapists, should therapists agree to marry their victims. It should repeal the controversial 'mufti law', which made everything worse for women and girls and increased both polygamy and the number of child brides across the country.

"It should stop saying outrageous things, such as that they do not believe in gender inequality, and that women who are not mothers are 'incomplete' and 'deficient'," she said.

Leila is also not first of Shafak's protagonists who is a misfit or a social pariah.

There's 19-year-old Asya from "Bastard of Istanbul" (2006), Pembe from "Honour" (2011), and Peri from "Three Daughters of Eve" (2016).

"I think as a writer I have always felt more at home in the periphery, in the margins. I believe storytellers are drawn not only to stories but also to silences," she said.

Shafak was in the Turkish government's line of fire again in May this year, when some of her works, including her latest, and her 2000 novel "The Gaze" -- both of which deal with subjects like child abuse, trafficking, and sexual harassment -- were put under investigation for "obscenity".

"As authoritarianism and Islamism and ultra-nationalism increased, so have sexism and homophobia in Turkey. Violence against women increased by 1,400 per cent in the last decade. One thousand four hundred per cent increase! Instead of dealing honestly with these urgent problems, the authorities are investigating fiction writers who dare to write about the problems," she said.

While Shafak's books might deal with extremely difficult issues, they are also remarkably emotional and build on human relationships of all kinds.

For instance, in "10 minutes 38 seconds in this Strange World", Leila, abandoned by her blood relations, finds herself a new family of friends.

Shafak calls it Leila's "water family".

"Especially in societies where democracy is lost and diversity is not appreciated, it is hard to be different. But interestingly, sometimes outcasts find outcasts, build the most beautiful friendships, become each other's family, home and homeland. Sometimes water can run thicker than blood," she said.