Elif Shafak is one of Turkey’s most globally renowned writers, having been translated into over fifty languages, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and named a Chevalier of l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. As such, when she was accused and then indicted of plagiarism in 2021, it sent deep reverberations throughout the Turkish literary scene. In this following essay, Neriman Kuyucu Norman examines the details of the case against Shafak—and why it is always important to look beyond the surface representation of such matters.
On October 19, 2021, Turkish author and columnist Mine Kırıkkanat filed a plagiarism lawsuit against the internationally acclaimed British-Turkish author Elif Shafak and her Turkish publisher Doğan Kitap. Kırıkkanat claimed that Şafak’s 2002 bestseller The Flea Palace (Bit Palas) was a structural copy of Kırıkkanat’s 1990 novel The Flies’ Palace (Sinek Sarayı). Last November, the 16th Civil Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice issued a ruling concluding that the similarities found in Shafak’s novel went beyond mere inspiration.
The court’s ruling was based on a 35-page expert report that confirms the absence of any direct plagiarism of sentences or dialogue. Instead, the report identifies what it describes as a structural and thematic overlap, accounting for nearly 5% of the book. Based on this finding, the court ordered substantial penalties, including financial damages, a total market recall, and a ban on future printing. Doğan Kitap has formally contested these measures, claiming that both the publisher and Shafak will seek a reversal of the decision through the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Having recently read R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface (2023), which tackles the blurred boundaries between creative inspiration and intellectual theft, I found the court’s decision particularly compelling. The case against Shafak brings the core dilemma of Kuang’s narrative to the forefront: What constitutes plagiarism within the realm of creative writing? Can a concept or a literary idea ever truly be owned by a single person? How does public reaction recalibrate the parameters of intellectual theft? READ MORE…