Skip to content
Who's in the Video
Orhan Pamuk is a Turkish novelist who in 2006 won the Nobel Prize in Literature. He is the author of novels including The White Castle, The Black Book, The New Life, My Name Is[…]

While writers have a moral obligation to address all of humanity in their works, Orhan Pamuk is skeptical of the aesthetics of avoiding categorizations entirely.

Question: Is it possible to be a global writer?

Orhan Pamuk: Well, it may be. Maybe I am like that, perhaps, but I don't identify myself with that concept. That we should address all humanity, that writers should transcend their national audience, I agree with. In fact, it is a moral obligation not to write for the national audience, and it also makes you shift your point of view. But on the other hand, global writer is not, you know, esthetically something I like, and I don't want to refer to myself as such

Up Next

Related