This study aims to analyze Kürk Mantolu Madonna by Sabahattin Ali within Jan Assmann’s theory of cultural and collective memory. The main question is how the conflict between Raif Efendi’s individual memory and the socially imposed identity is reflected in the novel. Raif Efendi’s love for Maria Puder forms his true identity and personal memory, while the “silent civil servant” identity imposed by his family and environment represents the role assigned to him by collective memory. The study will follow a text-based analysis method, shaped within the triangle of author, work, and theory. The relationship between memory and identity in the narrative will be evaluated through the suppression of individual memory and the shaping of the individual by collective memory. However, due to the study’s scope, aesthetic, linguistic, and psychological aspects of the work will not be examined in detail. Likewise, Maria Puder’s memory and female identity will not be included in the analysis. Ultimately, Kürk Mantolu Madonna will be analyzed within Assmann’s memory theory as a novel that illustrates the tension between the modern individual’s inner world and society, revealing how individual memory creates a space of resistance against collective memory.
Sabahattin Ali, Memory Theory, Modern Individual, Memory and Identity, Social Norms