In Writing in Red: Literature and Revolution across Turkey and the Soviet Union (2024), Nergis Ertürk examines the impact of Soviet artistic forms on Turkish literature during the 1920s, 1940s, and 1960s. She explores not only the works of prominent figures such as Nâzım Hikmet and Vâlâ Nureddin but also highlights the contributions of lesser-studied writers and artists like Suat Derviş and Abidin Dino, who engaged with Marxist literary aesthetics in Turkey. Ertürk closely reads the literary works and delves into the historical and political relationships between the Turkish Republic and the Soviet Union. While Ertürk provides a critical analysis through close engagement with the texts, she also situates the literary networks within their broader historical and political contexts. In this way, her book adopts an interdisciplinary approach to literary and cultural studies, combining the sociology of literature with historicization and close reading, treating narrative as a vital source for exploring cultural and political history.
