An intersectional approach to the literary universe of contemporary Turkish author Menekşe Toprak

Contemporary Turkish writer Menekşe Toprak is primarily known for her short stories; her first collection, Letter in the Suitcase (Valizdeki Mektup), was published in 2007. Following her second collection, Which Language is Love (Hangi Dildedir Aşk), she shifted to novel writing with The Children of July (Temmuz Çocukları, 2011), followed by The End of Lament (Ağıtın Sonu), The Whisper of Bees (Arı Fısıltıları), and Déjàvu. From her early stories onward, Toprak has created introspective characters and focused on themes such as gender, identity, and the experiences of migrant women. This article analyzes the female protagonists in Menekşe Toprak’s fiction through the lens of intersectionality. Intersectionality provides a framework for exploring how intersecting structures of power—such as gender, migration status, and cultural affiliation—simultaneously influence her characters’ inner lives and social positions. By employing thematic close reading, the analysis explores how these overlapping axes of identity are narratively constructed, emotionally expressed, and structurally encoded in Toprak’s work. As a migrant woman writer herself, Toprak not only reflects transnational experiences in her protagonists but also offers nuanced literary insights into the interplay between personal and collective forms of displacement, belonging, and agency. This interdisciplinary approach thus illuminates the emotional, political, and psychological dimensions of migration in Toprak’s fiction, thereby positioning her as a significant voice in contemporary migration literature.