10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World is a 2019 novel by Turkish writer Elif Shafak and her eleventh overall.
Elif Shafak writes in Turkish and English, and has published 19 works. She is best known for her novels, which include The Bastard of Istanbul, The Forty Rules of Love, Three Daughters of Eve and 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.
Elif Shafak’s books have been translated into 55 languages and been nominated for several literary awards. Described by the Financial Times as “Turkey’s leading female novelist”, several of her works have been bestsellers in Turkey and internationally.
It is a one-woman story about a sex worker in Istanbul. It was released by Viking Press in 2019. It has been translated into Persian by Ali Salami. The book was banned after the eighth edition in Iran.
Abstract
The impact of feminism on literary studies and criticism is undeniable. Through various methods and approaches, literature prompts awareness about gender equality in disciplines such as psychology, linguistics, sociology, and cultural studies.
Elif Shafak, an outstanding female novelist, negates the objectification of women and socially coded sexual differences through sensory images in her book “10 Minutes and 38 Seconds in This Strange World.” The protagonist, Leila, serves as a self-appointed agent that provokes the complexities of gendered subjectivity.
This study utilizes the theories of Luce Irigaray and Judith Butler to examine the significance of feminist thought and gender inequality in the literary canon of the 20th century. It explores Leila’s character as a prostitute who is victimized by patriarchal culture, reflecting on how concepts such as rape and sexual harassment are taken for granted. Additionally, the study employs notions such as mimesis and semiotics to analyze the depiction of the mind, body, and language through a close reading of the text.