Dr. Melike Günyüz, Faculty Member of the Department of Comparative Literature, has published a book chapter titled “From Tale to Transformation: Modern Storytelling as Spiritual Therapy in Türkiye” in the international academic volume “From Rumi to Buddha: Charting Alternative Spiritualities in Contemporary Türkiye”, released in October 2025 by Palgrave Macmillan. Edited by Betül Avcı and H. Şule Albayrak, the book stands out as a comprehensive study exploring the increasingly diverse landscape of alternative spiritual practices in contemporary Türkiye.
Drawing on literature, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and religious studies, the contributors trace how spiritual traditions inspired by Buddhism, Southeast Asian practices, shamanism, and New Age movements are first filtered through Western frameworks and then reconfigured within Muslim–Turkish cultural settings. These chapters reveal a shift toward spirituality as experience, self-care, and personal transformation, often in tension with inherited religious authority and communal norms. By foregrounding the category of the “alternative,” the volume captures the creative, experimental, and sometimes anti-institutional impulses driving contemporary spiritual life in Türkiye.
In her chapter, Dr. Günyüz analyses the works and interviews of Nazlı Çevik Azazi and Judith Malika Liberman, two pioneering contemporary storytellers in Türkiye. The study explores how these authors incorporate religious references into their narratives, position themselves as guides for their readers, and present storytelling as a means of meaning-making and healing. It argues that their emphasis on inner security, healing, and spiritual experience aligns closely with New Age spirituality, suggesting that such storytelling practices reflect modern forms of spiritual seeking.
This contribution offers valuable insights into the relationship between literature and alternative spirituality in contemporary Türkiye and makes a significant addition to current academic discussions in the field.
