I have a very small comment to make that isn’t particularly revolutionary, but I would still like to point it out. What I appreciated about this book the most was the formatting of each chapter as if it itself was an illumination. A single miniature is not capable of describing at length an entire story. What miniatures attempt to do is allude to the complicated nature of the scene with transcendent motifs including color and body language. What it can do well is depict a single scene in clarity and detail in order to present the fullest picture of a single event.
The book’s small chapters act as small vignettes into the story in a similar manner as the illuminated miniatures. Pamuk writes in a exorbitant amount of detail into his chapters, with each chapter transforming into a miniature. As with a miniature, he provides only enough in each chapter that we as readers picture that which is being described in the image, but are reliant on the next chapter for another detailed image to weave into the one another. Motifs like the image of an unlucky dog transcend the boundaries of the chapter ends, binding the story together and grounding the plot and characters within a greater symbolic culture.
This is a really good analysis of the artistic writing style in My Name is Red! I have also noticed the fascinating relationship between the content of the writing and the artistic nature of the book itself. I agree that the style of each chapter is similar to that of an illumination – rich with detail and carefully chosen motifs that add to the complexity of the story. As we discussed in class a bit this week, there are multiple aspects of the book itself that play on the tensions represented in the plot. For example, the story written by an Eastern author is in a commonly Western style with an Eastern twist, playing on the tensions between East and West that the miniaturists face throughout the story. I recently had a conversation with a few classmates about the added meaning that certain images have after understanding more about the context of the image, the social commentary embedded within the image, and the creation of the image itself. With this extra meaning, I have found looking at images to be a more insightful and interesting process. That is, one may look at an image in a museum and only appreciate it’s aesthetic value and historical significance. With a more critical eye, however, one is able to dive into the meaning of each stroke of the paintbrush, giving an added layer of appreciation. I think this extends to My Name is Red. The book is so much more than what is written on the pages, as it is itself a work of art. Understanding the decisions made by Pamuk is much like understanding the decisions made by illuminators, and critically thinking about the implications of his decisions adds extra layers to the commentary of the novel.