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Ľubica Polláková, The struggle for modern Turkey: justice, activism and a revolutionary female journalist, International Affairs, Volume 95, Issue 6, November 2019, Pages 1458–1459, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiz219
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Extract
Journalism has always been a high-risk occupation in Turkey: Sabiha Sertel was not only the first female journalist in the country, but also the first female journalist to be imprisoned. Translated into English for the first time, her memoir Roman gibi [Like a novel], written shortly before her death in 1968 and first published the following year, is interesting mostly as an exercise in self-restraint and omission.
Sertel wrote her memoir while in exile in the Soviet Union, covering events that had occurred decades before and with minimal access to sources. In addition, she was reportedly hoping to return to Turkey at the time of writing. The text reflects this, as the author tries to walk a fine line between offending the powers-that-be in Turkey—a NATO ally with a nationalist regime—and Soviet authorities, who had taken away her passport. Tellingly, she chose not to write about her years in exile at all.
