Unveiling the Veiled: An Islamic Feminist Study of Orhan Pamuk's Snow

Pamuk’s works are characterized by a confusion or loss of identity due to a clash between the Eastern and the Western values. His novel titled Snow delves deep into the complexities of modern Turkey. The country is torn between the Islamic fundamentalists and the secularists. Snow tells the story of Ka, a poet and political refugee, who returns to Turkey after spending more than a decade abroad. He travels to Kars, far in the east, at a time when the city is boiling with many socio-cultural, political and religious issues. One of them is a recent spate of suicides by young girls banned from wearing headscarves to school. While trying to learn more about the suicides, he finds himself drawn into a more significant conflict. The present paper examines how Pamuk portrays the female struggle for identity amidst religious and secular ideologies. It also aims to take into account the concept of Islamic feminism and the question of individual choice and freedom.