`Snow` by Orhan Pamuk

An Exploration of the Clash of Civilizations through Snow

Is there a global culture today ? I think there is . Its images come from movies , old and new , and from television its sounds are rock-and-roll , rap , and heavy traffic on the street (Berman 113 Thus , the West has created magic with its media and modern-day conveniences developed through industrialization . Because the West is by and large Christian , the Muslim world does not truly appreciate this global culture (Berman 113 . After all , the Muslims remember the Crusades . They distrust Christians for this reason . Hence

, Pamuk cannot help but illustrate the clash of civilizations going on in his native country , Turkey , as he produces novel after novel about his nation . In fact , in Snow , this clash between westernization and Islamization is so vividly illustrated that this novel , despite the fact that it is fictitious , should be added to lists of references for studies on the clash on civilizations that virtually everybody hears about today

Pamuk explains what the leading lady of a Turkish play was trying to impart thus : [S]he was talking about our souls , because the scarf the fez , the turban and the headdress were all symbols of the reactionary darkness of our souls , from which we should liberate ourselves and run to join the modern nations of the West (Pamuk 155 The manager of the play seeks to bring enlightenment ' to his nation where cobwebbed minds ' are working to create darkness (Pamuk 158 . These minds belong to Islamists , who would rather...