Doppelgänger in Orhan Pamuk’s The Black Book

Abstract

This article examines Orhan Pamuk’s The Black Book in connection with the doppelgänger motif in literature. In The Black Book, Galip’s wife Rüya and his cousin Jelal disappear all of a sudden, and the novel narrates Galip’s search for them who remain invisible throughout the novel. There is a conflict between the characters Galip and Jelal, and this article claims that although the two characters are depicted in the novel as Galip and Jelal, Jelal turns out to be the second self or author self of Galip. Thus, the doppelgänger motif will also be associated with authorship.