Exploring Socio-Economic Dimensions in Orhan Pamuk’s Novel Snow

Abstract

This article presents Orhan Pamuk’s novel Snow as a compelling and multi-layered exploration of the socio-economic tensions that underlie the political and religious conflicts in 1990s Turkey. Although Snow is frequently interpreted through ideological lenses highlighting the friction between secularism and Islam, East and West, and modernity and tradition its deeper significance lies in its critique of systemic economic injustice, marginalization, and state failure. Pamuk situates the narrative in Kars, a remote, poverty-stricken town that symbolizes the periphery of the Turkish nation, both geographically and socio-politically. In Kars, economic deprivation is not merely a backdrop but a driving force behind the unfolding tensions. The novel illustrates how material conditions such as unemployment, poverty, and exclusion from education lead to widespread despair, particularly among the youth. This despair does not naturally evolve into religious extremism; rather, it creates a vacuum of meaning, dignity, and belonging one that radical ideologies are quick to fill. The article further examines Pamuk’s portrayal of the state’s complicity in deepening social fragmentation. Through corruption, coercive secular policies (such as the headscarf ban), and neglect of rural and conservative populations, the state appears more as an agent of repression than of support. This failure of governance erodes public trust and pushes disenfranchised individuals toward alternative forms of community and justice, particularly through Islamist groups that promise moral clarity and socio-political empowerment.