As the Red Carnation Fades

As the Red Carnation Fades tells the story of a young female lecturer of Turkish literature who struggles as a woman and a mother to stake out her own claims to life. Following the military coup of 1980, martial law was established in Turkey with the aim of putting an end to the widespread social strife that had arisen as adherents of political movements turned to violence, and universities became hotbeds of protests and dissent. The narrator finds herself caught up in the political upheaval of the times as a lecturer who refuses to compromise her intellectual integrity and dedication to teaching the future educators of Turkey in a way that encourages critical thinking and debate. In the anti-Leftist environment of the time, she finds herself driven from her post in Izmir and reappointed to the far-flung Black Sea coast, where she is “exiled” for her supposed Leftist beliefs. And as a free-thinking woman caught between her own desires for a life of her own and the expectations of a patriarchal society, she finds herself at odds with her husband and mother-in-law as she struggles to come to terms with herself as a mother, wife and career woman. Ultimately she must make a choice: conform to the roles expected of her, or take the risk of striking out on her own.