{"id":2870,"date":"2017-04-14T07:22:13","date_gmt":"2017-04-14T07:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nihankaya.com\/nihan-kaya-being-alive-and-living-are-two-separate-things\/"},"modified":"2025-02-10T04:20:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T04:20:33","slug":"nihan-kaya-being-alive-and-living-are-two-separate-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nihankaya.com\/en\/nihan-kaya-being-alive-and-living-are-two-separate-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Nihan Kaya: “Being alive and living are two separate things.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am preparing to present my master\u2019s thesis at Giresun University, where I analyze Nihan Kaya\u2019s works. I intend to continue with this topic for my doctoral thesis as well. While writing my thesis, I met with Nihan Kaya, and we had an extensive conversation about these beautiful books. Part of this conversation was published in two separate interviews. This time, you will find an interview focusing on the author\u2019s latest novel Snow and Pearl<\/em>. Although Nihan Kaya may appear to be a calm person at first glance, when we sit down to discuss literature, she comes alive. Heated topics easily lead to one another. Every time I read her books, I discover new things. Like her books, the author has a lot to say.<\/p>\n

A. Arslan:<\/strong> Snow and Pearl<\/em> is your latest published book. However, we know that in your earlier published The Courage to Write<\/em>, you made a reference to Snow and Pearl<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Nihan Kaya:<\/strong> When you say “reference,” you’re probably referring to the fact that I dedicated The Courage to Write<\/em> to Karin. I told those who asked, \u201cWho is Karin?\u201d that the answer to that question is in the book itself. Because there is a connection between the dedications and the content of that book. In fact, I always say that I answer all the questions I ask within each book. Still, some readers said, \u201cWho is Karin? We didn\u2019t quite understand.\u201d Even though many people didn\u2019t find it clear, I wrote Snow and Pearl<\/em> to clarify Karin. All my books are explanations of one another, whether fiction or non-fiction. So, The Courage to Write<\/em> and Snow and Pearl<\/em> are deeply connected.<\/p>\n

A. Arslan:<\/strong> But in your book I Am Not From You<\/em>, we also see a striking relationship between the stories. We can see the same characters appearing in different stories.<\/p>\n

Nihan Kaya:<\/strong> In I Am Not From You<\/em>, no story is actually titled I Am Not From You<\/em>. But the title of the book could have been I Am Not From You<\/em>. You know, The Hidden Subject<\/em> could have been called I Am Not From You<\/em>. Snow and Pearl<\/em> could also have had the same name. In fact, The Courage to Write<\/em> could also have been called I Am Not From You<\/em>. Any of my books could have the title of any other book. Whether fiction or non-fiction. Since my first book, I tell different things. For instance, last week, a reader said: “I read Snow and Pearl<\/em>, and then The Hidden Subject<\/em>, and I saw this: Yes, they are very different, but your issue is still the same. You published The Hidden Subject<\/em> in 2003, and Snow and Pearl<\/em> in 2016. There is a 13-14 year gap. But actually, you\u2019ve been consistently dealing with the same topic.” Yes, because I\u2019ve had a consistent issue since childhood, that\u2019s why I want to be a writer. I clearly explain this everywhere, including in The Courage to Write<\/em>. I just tell it in different ways. In the novel, I narrate it through storytelling. In The Courage to Write<\/em>, I explain it more directly. In Snow and Pearl<\/em>, I use the example of music.<\/p>\n

A. Arslan:<\/strong> So, it is not surprising that Karin appears in both The Courage to Write<\/em> and Snow and Pearl<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Nihan Kaya:<\/strong> Yes! Metaphorically speaking, Karin is in all of my books. And since it corresponds to a metaphorical vertical reality, it exists in every one of my books. For example, in my first novel, The Hidden Subject<\/em>, Bihter\u2019s stillborn baby is Karin. A baby that came before Reha, but like Reha, was unable to be born. In Mist<\/em>, in Disparony<\/em>, a child who wanted to exist but couldn\u2019t even exist as a fetus. In Ivory Well<\/em>, in The Courage to Write<\/em>, the archetype of a child represents creativity just as Karin represents the new, art, literature, creativity, uniqueness, and irreconcilability. In different stories, in different forms, but Karin has always existed since the early years of my writing. The archetype of children, whether as an idea, concretely, or metaphorically, keeps repeating itself in my stories and novels.<\/p>\n

A. Arslan:<\/strong> When we look at your other three novels, in The Hidden Subject<\/em>, we have two central figures: “Revna and Bihter”; in Mist<\/em>, “Nur and Yasef”; in Disparony<\/em>, “Feraye and Cem”. However, in Snow and Pearl<\/em>, the central figure is Gece (Night). Is there any specific reason for the shift from two to one central character?<\/p>\n

Nihan Kaya:<\/strong> There is something opposite between Nur and Yasef. Yasef looks at things in an artistic way, while Nur looks at them in a more horizontal way. They see the same event very differently. The same goes for Feraye and Cem. Revna and Bihter are closer to each other. It\u2019s nice that you mentioned The Hidden Subject<\/em>. I think the most striking aspect of The Hidden Subject<\/em> is this: We hear about one character from a third person. Someone whose identity we don\u2019t know tells us Bihter\u2019s story. This narrator seems to have been with Bihter from her childhood onward, telling her life. We think this narrator must be someone very close to Bihter. But we cannot figure out who they are. Sometimes they say surreal things, like \u201cBihter locked me in the attic.\u201d See, these are things that intertwine the books. “Me”, they say, \u201cBihter locked me in the attic, and from there, I could see the Maiden\u2019s Tower. She slid the food she didn\u2019t eat under the door, and I fed on her leftovers.\u201d As the narrator continues to describe Bihter\u2019s childhood, youth, marriage, and thoughts, we come to realize that they know everything about Bihter\u2019s life. By the end of the book, a voice interrupts.<\/p>\n

A. Arslan:<\/strong> That voice says: \u201cEnough! You\u2019ve been talking about Bihter all this time, but Bihter is you!\u201d<\/p>\n

Nihan Kaya:<\/strong> Yes! It turns out that Bihter is telling her own story. But after her son was born, after a transformation, after becoming a mother, now, as an elderly woman, Bihter tells her own story. The voice that interrupts is Kemal, Bihter\u2019s husband and the father of the deceased Reha, and we realize this as the story progresses.<\/p>\n

A. Arslan:<\/strong> The Hidden Subject<\/em> is undoubtedly your most difficult and complex book. The intertwining of the characters makes it very difficult to understand. The reader can only grasp the meaning after the second or third reading. For example, there are two Revna characters.<\/p>\n

Nihan Kaya:<\/strong> Yes, because in my books, there is an exploration of words and names, and The Hidden Subject<\/em> also contains this. By the end of The Hidden Subject<\/em>, we realize that Revna\u2019s name is not actually hers but that of her mother, who died when she was a baby. Revna\u2019s escape from her past, the roots of her identity, is represented by the fact that she carries her deceased mother\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

A. Arslan:<\/strong> As you often emphasize, any of your books can be an explanation for another. The fact that you refer to The Hidden Subject<\/em> while explaining Snow and Pearl<\/em> is because of this. In The Hidden Subject<\/em>, the “narrator\u2019s voice being interrupted by an external voice” situation also appears in Snow and Pearl<\/em>, but in a different form.<\/p>\n

Nihan Kaya:<\/strong> Yes, I was about to mention that. In The Hidden Subject<\/em>, we understand whose voice it is when the interruption occurs: it is Kemal\u2019s. In Snow and Pearl<\/em>, however, we are left unsure about whose voice interrupts. It could be anyone. Any of the possibilities fits the story. But in both The Hidden Subject<\/em> and Snow and Pearl<\/em>, there\u2019s a similar narrative structure. In Snow and Pearl<\/em>, we meet several characters: Gece, a young girl in the hospital room (Nehir), and Leyla, who witnessed Gece\u2019s childhood. Eventually, we realize that all of these are Gece, each representing different phases of her life. In Snow and Pearl<\/em>, there\u2019s a naming convention that is based on the idea that the things we go through change us. This is why the young girl in the hospital, Nehir, is different from Gece at fifty years old. At first, we see them as distinct characters, but then they merge into one person. This is similar to the narrative structure in The Hidden Subject<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A. Arslan:<\/strong> Your novels also often incorporate dream and fairy tale-like elements, which can be seen as symbolic representations of the unspeakable reality. Can we consider Gece\u2019s emotional turmoil in Snow and Pearl<\/em> as an example of this?<\/p>\n

Nihan Kaya:<\/strong> Yes, in my novels, dreams and fairy tales often appear as symbolic representations of a reality that cannot be expressed. In Snow and Pearl<\/em>, Gece\u2019s struggles are built upon the idea that the things she\u2019s experiencing cannot be easily expressed. She has to resort to other forms to express herself. It might seem incomprehensible to us at that moment, but for Gece, it is the most understandable way to express her inner state.<\/p>\n

A. Arslan:<\/strong> In Snow and Pearl<\/em>, the concept of “the sea” stands out. What does it represent in the story?<\/p>\n

Nihan Kaya:<\/strong> The sea in Snow and Pearl<\/em> represents both an escape and an inevitable return. Gece sees the sea as a space of freedom, yet it also represents the cycle that keeps pulling her back to where she started. The sea, like the metaphor of Karin, is both a space of creation and destruction. It plays a central role in the narrative\u2019s themes of transformation and return.<\/p>\n

A. Arslan:<\/strong> In your work, every piece of literature seems to reflect something deeper, beyond its narrative. Are we ever truly free from our own creation? Is the transformation we undergo as individuals ever complete?<\/p>\n

Nihan Kaya:<\/strong> That\u2019s the central question in my work: Can we ever escape the stories we tell ourselves? Transformation is an ongoing process. What I believe is that each new step we take, every piece of writing, is another attempt to make sense of the world and our place in it. But no matter how much we change, we are always tied to our stories and our past.<\/p>\n

A. Arslan<\/strong><\/p>\n

14 Nisan 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am preparing to present my master\u2019s thesis at Giresun University, where I analyze Nihan Kaya\u2019s works. I intend to continue with this topic for my doctoral thesis as well. While writing my thesis, I met with Nihan Kaya, and we had an extensive conversation about these beautiful books. Part of this conversation was published in two separate interviews. This time, you will find an… <\/p>\n

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