Novelist and Research Director, CNRS, Paris, France
Octobre à Décembre 2013
Born in Turkey, Nedim Gürsel is the author of about thirty books (novels, critical essays and travel accounts) published in his country. Many of these have been translated into French and into other languages (German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Arab, Bulgarian, etc.).
He has been awarded several prizes, including by the Academy of Turkish Language in 1976 for his first story Uzun Sürmüs Bir Yaz (‘A Long Summer in Istanbul’) Nedim Gürsel writes in Turkish and French. He came to Paris in the 70’s to study Modern Literature, he completed a doctorate in Comparative Literature under the direction of Etiemble in 1979. He now lives in Paris but frequently travels to Turkey and other European countries. He is a CNRS Research Director and dispenses lectures at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Inalco, Paris).
His book The Conqueror, which was a huge success not only in Turkey but in Europe as well, confirmed his foremost role amongst internationally known Turkish writers.
In 2004, he obtained the France-Turkey prize and that same year, he was made Knight of the ‘ordre des Arts et des Lettres’. His latest novel The Daughters of Allah, published in 2008, is currently the object of legal proceedings. In 2009, he was awarded the Freedom of Thought and Expression Prize by the Turkish Publishers Association.
The Prophet of Islam and literature
Author of a novel where Muhammad is the protagonist (The Daughters of Allah, Do?an Publishing House) Nedim Gürsel was accused of blasphemy and according to the article 216 of the Turkish penal code which hands out a 6 to 12-months prison sentence for “depreciating the religious values of the population”. From the legal file (containing expertise, accusations, pleadings…) and backed up by press articles, he will try to reflect on the ‘offence of blasphemy’ which should not technically exist in a secular country such as Turkey. This research aims to be at once literary and comparative, because since the Abbasid period (9th century) several sources, Ibn Hisam and Tabarî amongst others, narrated the life of the prophet of Islam. Given that Muhammad is a historical character, and is the messenger of Allah for thousands of believers; is it possible, in a Muslim country, to portray Muhammad as a fictional character without being arrested or even assassinated? The question arose for Nedim Gürsel, as it did for Salman Rushdie (the Satanic Verses). However, Assia Djebar and Salim Bachi, with respectively Far from Medina and The silence of Mohammed did just this without being prosecuted. The Daughters of Allah marks a watershed in contemporary Turkish literature since it is the first novel to describe the prophet as character with flaws and qualities, but continues at the same time an already ancient tradition, that of monographs and hagiographic tales of the prophet. During his stay at the IAS, Nedim Gürsel will study several approaches (spiritual, historical theological and ideological), specifically that of Süleyman Celebi, the 15th-century writer from Bursa, whose work Mevlîd praised Muhammad and song of his exploits as warrior.
Nedim Gürsel wishes, during his stay, to work on a second project which will examine the impact of Nantes on the mind of the great writer Julien Gracq. Thus, this project will complement the second volume of his book De villes en villes: Ombres et traces (‘Shadows and Traces’, publ. Seuil).
GÜRSEL, Nedim. La Turquie : une idée neuve en Europe. Paris : Empreinte temps présent, 2009, 160 p.
GÜRSEL, Nedim. Paysage littéraire de la Turquie contemporaine. Paris : L’Harmattan, 1993, 176 p.
GÜRSEL, Nedim. The Conqueror: A Novel. Greenfield, MA : Talisman House Publishers, 2010, 222 p.
GÜRSEL, Nedim. The Daughters of Allah. Istambul : Do?an Publishing House, 2008.
GÜRSEL, Nedim. L’Ange Rouge. Paris : Seuil, 2012, 384 p. (coll. Cadre Vert).