Il tema della migrazione nell’opera di Emine Sevgi Özdamar

Abstract

The essay analyses the work of Emine Sevgi Özdamar, a Turkish writer living in Germany since ’60s, in the context of göç edebiyatı, Turkish migration literature. Starting from a comparison with the work of another Turkish writer, Latife Tekin, and specifically between with her first novel Sevgili Arsız Ölüm and Özdamar’s Das Leben ist ein Karawanserei, it focuses on the relevance of migration topic from the point of view of narrative and language. In Özdamar’s novel the migration of protagonist – through Turkey and then to Germany – tells about social, cultural and political transformation of Turkey during ’60s and ’70s. Besides, from a linguistic perspective, in Özdamar’s work, migration is also reflected in a sort of transnational language rich in metaphors and expressions belonging to Turkish popular culture and oral tradition.