EASTERN AND WESTERN INTERCONNECTIVITY THROUGH WATER METAPHORS IN ELIF SHAFAK’S “THERE ARE RIVERS IN THE SKY”
EASTERN AND WESTERN INTERCONNECTIVITY THROUGH WATER METAPHORS IN ELIF SHAFAK’S “THERE ARE RIVERS IN THE SKY”

Summary/Abstract: The paper tackles the topic of water in its various physical forms and the symbolic aspects triggered by the metaphoric mappings of two important rivers – the western Thames, and the eastern Tigris – in the interpretation of Elif Shafak’s latest novel. There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak is an ambitious poetic novel that weaves together three stories across different time periods and locations, all connected by the symbolic power of water. Starting in Mesopotamian times by the Tigris, shifting through Victorian London by the Thames, moving back to Mesopotamian territories, but in the time of ISIS Middle Eastern Wars and turning back to present time London, the novel's central theme revolves around water as both a life-giving and destructive force. This dual nature is central to the novel, reflecting how water can shape destiny according to its chosen metamorphosis – drought, vapor, fog, rain, ice – or its quantity – drop, river, flood. The two rivers, the Tigris and the Thames, link the ancient world with the modern one, and water becomes a metaphor for the flow of history, culture, and human experiences. Throughout the novel, the Tigris and the Thames serve as channels of expression for the characters' interconnected fates, with water representing both the permanence of memory and the fluidity of human experience. Starting from the central metaphor that permeates the story line, which echoes the idea that “water remembers, but humans forget”, the article decodes the conceptual metaphors of water as memory, water as life and death, water as transformation, and water as connection between the east and the west by following the theoretical cognitive-semantic studies of George Lakoff, Mark Johnson.

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