Hayat Erdoğan's Debut Novel Engages with Joyce and Contemporary Culture
Hayat Erdoğan's debut novel 'Hauptsache kein Zeitgeist' follows an unnamed narrator in Zurich over a single day, reflecting on contemporary life, media, and personal history. The book draws structural inspiration from Homer's Odyssey and engages critically with James Joyce's 'Ulysses', while exploring themes of migration, identity, and the pressure to respond to constant news cycles. Erdoğan, a former co-director of Theater Neumarkt in Zurich, began writing the novel in 2022. Published by Claassen-Verlag in Berlin in 2026, the work uses a 24-chapter format to examine the quiet persistence of daily life against epic literary traditions.
Key facts
- Hayat Erdoğan's debut novel 'Hauptsache kein Zeitgeist' was published in 2026
- The novel is structured in 24 chapters mirroring Homer's Odyssey
- Erdoğan previously served as co-director of Theater Neumarkt in Zurich until 2025
- The narrative centers on a day in the life of a narrator in Zurich reflecting on media and personal history
- Erdoğan's work critically engages with James Joyce's 'Ulysses' while focusing on emotional dimensions often absent in Joyce
Entities
Artists
- Hayat Erdoğan
- James Joyce
Institutions
- Theater Neumarkt
- Claassen-Verlag
Locations
- Zurich
- Berlin
- Trieste
- Turkey
- Germany
- Switzerland