Displacement and Liminality in Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières

Year 2024, Volume: 28 Issue: 2, 271 - 280, 22.06.2024

Neslihan Günaydın Albay

https://doi.org/10.53487/atasobed.1416757

Abstract

Penned in 2004 by Louis de Bernières and articulated through the viewpoints of diverse characters, Birds Without Wings illuminates the harrowing scenes of war and their impact on local inhabitants and migrants during the formative years of the new Turkish Republic. Examining the reverberations of the national struggle in the international context, this paper specifically investigates the repercussions of the population exchange between Greece and the emerging Turkish state in 1923, focusing on a South-West Anatolian village (Eskibahçe) in a tumultuous historical era, which is the central issue in Birds Without Wings. Employing polyphony, that is, a muti-voiced narrative style with Bakhtin’s terminology about the novels with a variety of perspectives and narrators, the novel explores themes such as war, love, forced migration, and identity. The plot unfolds against the backdrop of a multicultural late Ottoman Empire, where Turkish-speaking Christian villagers and Greek Orthodox migrants initially coexist harmoniously but later face social isolation and loneliness after being exiled to Greece. Therefore, this paper aims to underscore individual and social isolation resulting from the devastating impact of wars on the idyllic lives of villagers in Birds Without Wings, drawing on Homi K. Bhabha’s third space theory. Another objective of this study is to demonstrate that Birds Without Wings celebrates hybridity and ethnic diversity by reevaluating the forced migration between Greece and Turkey, prompting reflection on the villagers’ attempts to redefine their identities after the Turkish Republic’s establishment and an analysis of its long-term implications.

Keywords

Liminality, displacement, Louis de Bernières, Birds Without Wings, third space

Displacement and Liminality in a Third Space: Collapse of Hybrid Society in Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières

Abstract

Penned in 2004 by Louis de Bernières and articulated through the viewpoints of diverse characters, Birds Without Wings illuminates the harrowing scenes of war and their impact on local inhabitants and migrants during the formative years of the new Turkish Republic. Delving into the national struggle, the novel specifically examines the repercussions of the population exchange between Greece and the emerging Turkish state in 1923, focusing on a South-West Anatolian village (Eskibahçe) in a tumultuous historical era. Employing a polyphonic approach, the narrative explores themes such as war, love, forced migration, and identity. The story unfolds against the backdrop of a multicultural late Ottoman Empire, where Turkish-speaking Christian villagers and Greek Orthodox migrants initially coexist harmoniously but later face social isolation and loneliness after being exiled to Greece. Meanwhile, Muslim villagers yearn for the lost harmony with other cultural and ethnic inhabitants, experiencing a sense of loneliness, helplessness, and economic/spiritual deprivation in the partially deserted and decaying village. The residents of Eskibahçe, who once achieved social cohesion and a hybrid identity through centuries of cohabitation, grapple with the absence of a third space in the national discourse. They must forge a new identity, necessitating a renewed form of hybridity. Woven into the narrative is the biography of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, emphasizing his pivotal role in shaping the new Turkish state. Birds Without Wings aims to underscore individual and social isolation resulting from the devastating impact of wars on the idyllic lives of villagers, drawing on Homi K. Bhabha’s third space theory. Additionally, the novel celebrates hybridity and ethnic diversity by reevaluating the forced migration between Greece and Turkey, prompting reflection on the villagers’ attempts to redefine their identities after the Turkish Republic’s establishment and an analysis of its long-term implications.

Keywords

liminality, displacement, Louis de Bernières, Birds Without Wings

Supporting Institution

Doğuş Universitesi

Thanks

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