Browsing by Subject "feminism"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Open Access
Düzenin ve kadının karşısında bir "garip" Oğuz Atay
(2011) Yavuz, Ayşe Duygu
One of the most important authors of the 20th Century Modern Turkish novel, Oğuz Atay's (1934-1977) works have not so far been taken into consideration in light of gender-focused literary analysis as a whole. In this thesis, I argue that the male characters in Oğuz Atay's fiction, who stand up against the patriarchal system, are in fact in conformity with the status quo when exhibiting a repressive attitude against women. In the course of the project, analyses on author's Tutunamayanlar, Tehlikeli Oyunlar, Oyunlarla Yaşayanlar and short stories titled ―Unutulan‖ and ―Beyaz Mantolu Adam‖ in Korkuyu Beklerken are presented. Dominance of male voice in the subject-matter literary works seem to stand as obstacles in reaching female voice. As a reading strategy for this specific context, the theory of ―polyphonic novel‖ of Mikhail Bakhtin's is employed. According to Mikhail Bakhtin, voice is a medium that expresses not only ―timber‖ but also consciousness. For a literary work to count as embedding ―polyphonic‖, characters are to have representations of consciousness that are independent of both the author, the ―meta-narrator‖, and each other. Given the emphasis by certain feminist theorists that Bakhtin's theory could be employed for gender-focused literary analysis, marginalization of female consciousness in Oğuz Atay's works is discussed. Means of the alleged marginalization is revealed by how male characters otherize female characters in the fictional worlds of Oğuz Atay's. In order to give an account for this analysis, two pioneers of the French school of feminism, Simone de Beauvoir and Luce Irigaray‘s stance on the dialectic of the I and the other is associated with Oğuz Atay's literary works. Regarding the short stories, the literary analysis rather focuses on the cases in which female characters, even when situated as the narrator of the fiction, cannot have an independent voice, and on the destructive character of gender roles. In another chapter, the question of how bourgeois tendencies are affiliated with married female characters in Oğuz Atay's literary works is addressed. Final remarks of the thesis are on how the married female characters of Atay's fictional worlds are situated in the hierarchy of social classes within the narrations, when Marxist and feminist approaches are in question.
Open Access
Sevgi Soysal'ın yapıtlarında kadın kimliği (Tutkulu Perçem, Tante Rosa, Yürümek)
(2002) Somuncuoğlu, Gamze
Woman characters who are generally in the foreground in the literary works of the prominent Turkish author Sevgi Soysal (1936-1976), draw readers’ attention to the fact that they had been created with similar characteristics. When woman characters who are generally unsatisfied with themselves, especially in Tutkulu Perçem (1962), Tante Rosa (1968), and Yürümek (1970) are analyzed from a psychoanalytic perspective, it can be seen they experience not only personal crises, but also show such characteristics that would fit the definitions of neurotic personality and frigidity. One of the most evident characteristics of this unique type of woman is that she believes she can reach the way of life she had dreamed of by changing herself. However, in the works of Sevgi Soysal, no woman can succeed in this in real life. Sometimes it can be seen that Sevgi Soysal defends women’s rights by using woman characters she has created in her works. When Soysal’s attitude is analyzed in relation to feminism the following may be said: In her early works such as Tutkulu Perçem, Tante Rosa, and Yürümek, Soysal criticizes the perception of woman as “other” in patriarchal society, but her focus is predominantly on individual problems. The question of women in the later works of Sevgi Soysal is seen as part of social disorder and represented in this way. The thesis concludes that Sevgi Soysal cannot be considered a “feminist writer” or her literary works as “products of feminism”. Furthermore, there are quite a few autobiographical elements in the works of Sevgi Soysal. The facts that woman characters in her books carry similar characteristics, and are narrated in a very consistent way cannot be seen as coincidences. The strong correspondence between Soysal’s private life and her narratives shows that the writer was trying to find a solution to her own dilemmas through the fictional characters she had created.
Open Access
Tanzimat'tan Cumhuriyet'e aydınlık bir yüz : Abdülhak Hâmit Tarhan
(2003) Demircan, Aynur
Abdülhak Hamit Tarhan (1852-1937) is the author of a large and comprehensive volume of works is one of the most prolific authors in Turkish Literature whose works range from poetry to drama. It can be easily deducted through a rough analysis concerning his works that the poet/author had endorsed the works published within the framework of "project of civilization" and pro-reformist movements which occurred along the period beginning from Tanzimat Era (Administrative Reforms in 1839) including İstibdat Era (Oppression) and Meşrutiyet Era (Constitutional Monarchy) till the Proclamation of Republic in 1923. There is also a general agreement among the pundits of literature and scholars who carried out researches regarding Abdülhak Hâmit Tarhan that he scrutinized the "female problematic" in his drams and poems. Although Gündüz Akıncı strongly argued that "Abdülhak Hâmit Tarhan is the first feminist author in Turkish Literature", it is remarkable that no research has been carried out regarding this aspect of the author so far. Within the framework of this study, Abdülhak Hâmit Tarhan's perspective of female problematic, his propositions concerning the solutions and his contributions to the Ottoman-Turkish Feminist Movement has been argued by means of analyzing his drama works, memories and letters