Western Versus Eastern

I find way Pamuk structured My Name is Red to be very artful and symbolic as a novel that essentially explores the meaning and nature of illuminations. Since My Name is Red is a murder mystery written in an unconventional style for its genre, it’s meaningful that multiple characters’ points of view are used to literally illuminate the truth behind the murder and the nature of other characters. Each character’s perspective provides insight into the actions of other characters and allows for a deeper understanding of the culture related to illustrations and illumination. At a more specific level of comparing and contrasting Western versus Eastern characteristics in Pamuk’s style/message, I feel that the lines are so blurred that it’s impossible to even say that My Name is Red is a novel written in purely Western structure with Eastern-centered content. Although the murder mystery is typically viewed as a Western genre, the narrative style and use of multiple narrators makes it atypical—even if this is an attribute of post-modernism rather than Eastern or non-Western style. The content, although the action takes place in Istanbul, addresses the question or fear of Westernizing Ottoman art and illumination. The entire nature of the novel teeters on a precariously balanced seesaw in a manner that reflects the tension of this potential—or already enacted—Westernization. The setting is also essential to this tension, as Turkey has always been a somewhat ambiguous nation straddling Asia and Europe. I’m still interested in the question of whether this fear or potential of Westernization is even being negotiated or questioned in the novel, or whether it’s already been decided upon by the fact that the murder has already been committed. If the murder symbolizes the death of or end to Ottoman art in the Eastern style, why create this sense of tension that pervades the novel?