For Lapham’s Quarterly, former ICWA fellow Suzy Hansen (Turkey, 2007-2009) examines the significance of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar throughout history until the present day. Contrary to the belief of many foreign observers, the famous marketplace isn’t the place to go to understand Turkey’s financial crisis, she argues. Although the bazaar may “suggest itself as Turkey’s most authentic self,” she writes, “the quest for authenticity often leads you further and further away from how life is actually lived.”
