LANGUAGE OF THE SELF THROUGH ART AND REPRESENTATION: MY NAME IS RED

In his My Name is Red, Pamuk's clever use of metafiction shows that the novel
responds to problems of plurality, inclusivity, and exclusivism concerning the
theoretical debates on belonging, identity, and secularism in the nation-state. In the
present study, we first show that the novel's statement is expressed via the inherent
plurality of the narrative, achieved through constantly shifting perceptions and the use
of several unexpected narrators in the novel. Second, we find such a pluralist use of
metafiction quite significant, because the novel not only gives voice to the
underrepresented, but also because Pamuk's metafiction offers an alternative and more
plural, inclusive and democratic understanding of self-reflexivity. Metafiction in
Pamuk's sense can make meaningful contributions to theory and its capacity to better
understand modern, cosmopolitan and multicultural nations.