Affiliations, Aversions and Assertions: Memory, Identity and Amnesia in Elif Shafak’s The Bastard of Istanbul

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the nexus between memory, identity, and amnesia in Elif Shafak’s The Bastard of Istanbul. The proposed study will examine how collective amnesia inflicted by the state, aids in the erosion of historical memory of violence and inhumanity among its denizens. Memory of the past shapes a person’s life in a plethora of ways. It is a source of personal as well as collective identity. Memory travels across generations and links one’s past and future. It is created, destroyed, and recreated. The loss of memory or amnesia performs a crucial role in what one remembers, how one thinks of their self, and how one acts. The study contextualizes memory as an important source of one’s personal as well the collective identity. The loss of memory or amnesia performs a crucial role in what one remembers, how one thinks of their self, and how one acts. The study concludes that not everything can be remembered and not everything can be forgotten. After all, a little remembering and a little forgetting never hurt.