The aim of this essay is to display, by a Derridean deconstructive reading, that the term ‘non-vi... more The aim of this essay is to display, by a Derridean deconstructive reading, that the term ‘non-violent resistance’ is aporetic and paradoxical taking into consideration that the resisting side uses non-violence as a means of psychological and conscience-related manipulation, which contains a certain degree of violence in it, to overcome the oppression in question. The definitions of non-violence seem to be wrongfully restricted to the physical aspects of violence, overlooking other aspects of the term like psychological and emotional violence. Even though violence has been mostly associated with physical damage in human history, the changing definitions of the term today make it necessary to develop a new perspective and conceptual framework for violence-related terms. This essay will interpret the concept of ‘non-violent resistance’ as one such term and attempt to offer a new concept that will represent the psychological and ethical aspects of the practice more eloquently.
No other trope captures the perceived complexity of schizophrenia and the epistemological, clinic... more No other trope captures the perceived complexity of schizophrenia and the epistemological, clinical, ethical and phenomenological aporias it poses than the phrase “the sublime object of psychiatry” (Angela Woods). “Sublimity”, however, instigates further complications and problems by mystifying the nature and experience of schizophrenia rather than contributing to the development of a clearer account of it. A conspicuous case of the critique of this treatment of schizophrenia in terms of the “sublime” can be found in Joe Penhall’s two dramatic works: Some Voices (1993) and Blue/Orange (2000). This essay will argue that Penhall's treatment of schizophrenia is distinguished by two salient features: its method (the critical-clinical) and its simultaneously symptomatic and symptomatological treatment of schizophrenia. What further distinguishes Penhall’s critical depiction of schizophrenia is his insistence that the cultural is as crucial as the clinical in the experience, represent...
Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi, 2019
Howard Barker'ın tiyatrosu, yazarın temel ilkelerini oyun yazımı ve sahnelenmesi konusundaki ... more Howard Barker'ın tiyatrosu, yazarın temel ilkelerini oyun yazımı ve sahnelenmesi konusundaki iki önemli kitabında - Arguments for a Theatre and Death, the One and the Art of Theatre - listelediği ve kendi yaratımı olan 'Felaket Tiyatrosu' açısından karakteristik bir tür olarak ele alınır. Bu eserlerde Barker, kendi oyunlarını İngiliz tiyatrosuna on yıllardır egemen olan çağdaş anaakım Brehtçi politik tiyatrodan ayıran, izleyenleri kolektif bir tepkiden ziyade didaktik ve kathartik olmayan bir bakış açısıyla bireysel çıkarımlara yönlendirmeyi amaçlayan yeni bir türün ana hatlarını çizer. Barker'ın oyunları aynı zamanda ana akım tiyatrodan kullanılan karmaşık ve şiirsel dil ile anlam belirsizliğinin yanı sıra siyasî ve ahlakî mesajdan ziyade trajik deneyime önem vermesi bakımından ayrı durmaktadır. Ancak bu çalışma, Barker'ın tarihi konuları kullanımını ve karakterlerini sanatçılar arasından seçmesini göz önünde bulundurarak, onun en ünlü oyunlarından Suçlamanın So...
Suicide in Anglo-European cultural history has often been perceived not only as a site where mora... more Suicide in Anglo-European cultural history has often been perceived not only as a site where moral, psychological or social-political crises are thrown into relief, but also as a critical juncture where the aporetic tensions and ties between the private and the public, the personal and the political, the individual and the state (or the family) surface. What distinguishes modern and contemporary engagements with the question of suicide is primarily the conception of suicide as a historical and social-cultural construct, a conception in which questions of biopolitics as well as racial, class, and gender politics determine not only the suicidal act but also social-cultural perceptions of its nature and dynamics. Equally crucial has been the self-reflexive approach of many artists and critics to the ethics as well as therapeutic efficacy of artistic/literary treatments of suicide; these artists and critics emphasize the role of narration (narrative medicine) and performance (role-playing) as a solution to the social and psychological aporias permeating the world of a play and its characters.
Levinas is a significant thinker that has deeply influenced 20th century thinking. Concepts like ... more Levinas is a significant thinker that has deeply influenced 20th century thinking. Concepts like self, other, death and time play an important role in Levinas’ system that deems ethics as ‘prima philosophia’. Levinas contends that consciousness regarding death can only be achieved through the death of the other this idea shows parallelism with Heidegger’s thinking. However, the death of the other, for Heidegger, comes to mean that Dasein acquires certain consciousness regarding its own ‘being’ by means of remembering its temporality and mortality which, on the contrary, are crucial for Levinas as they remind the ethical self of its eternal responsibility towards the other. The direction of the emotion created in the self by the death of the other makes an individual conscious of ‘being’ or an ‘ethical self’. Witnessing the death of the other that leads to certain emotions in the self is the primary function of tragedy in the Aristotelian sense. The purgation - termed ‘catharsis’ by ...
What a survey of contemporary British drama reveals is a plethora of plays concerned not only wit... more What a survey of contemporary British drama reveals is a plethora of plays concerned not only with psychological and medical issues, but with precarious individuals, whose symptomatic condition is presented in terms of schizophrenia or schizoid states. Duncan Macmillan’s People, Places and Things (2015) can be considered as a distinctive play in this trend, where not only a rehabilitation center features as its setting, but its main character is afflicted with a complex cluster of symptoms: a schizoid personality, addiction, melancholic loss, and Oedipal tension with parents. Taking People, Places and Things as its focal point, and situating its arguments in the context of “Therapy Culture” (Furedi), this article demonstrates that what distinguishes Macmillan’s approach is his deconstructive understanding of the aporias besetting three chief spheres of human action, cognition, and affection: the epistemological, ontological and moral position of (1) his own art/work and its methods/techniques, (2) the (psycho-)therapeutic disciplines and institutes, (3) contemporary social-cultural discourse and political hegemony. Scrutinizing Macmillan’s treatment of the foregoing triad, it will be argued how his method can be characterized in two terms: symptomatic-symptomatological and critical-clinical.
No other trope captures the perceived complexity of schizophrenia and the epistemological, clinic... more No other trope captures the perceived complexity of schizophrenia and the epistemological, clinical, ethical and phenomenological aporias it poses than the phrase “the sublime object of psychiatry” (Angela Woods). “Sublimity”, however, instigates further complications and problems by mystifying the nature and experience of schizophrenia rather than contributing to the development of a clearer account of it. A conspicuous case of the critique of this treatment of schizophrenia in terms of the “sublime” can be found in Joe Penhall’s two dramatic works: Some Voices (1993) and Blue/Orange (2000). This essay will argue that Penhall's treatment of schizophrenia is distinguished by two salient features: its method (the critical-clinical) and its simultaneously symptomatic and symptomatological treatment of schizophrenia. What further distinguishes Penhall’s critical depiction of schizophrenia is his insistence that the cultural is as crucial as the clinical in the experience, representation, and perception of schizophrenia. This is attested by his acute inclusion of such crucial issues as race, class, discourse, and gender as highly determining elements in the experience, perceptions and diagnosis of schizophrenia. This essay, accordingly, will demonstrate how Blue/Orange presents a critical-clinical account of the limits of various discursively-determined treatments of schizophrenia (including both psychiatry and anti-psychiatry) thereby accentuating the necessity of developing a more holistic method in the cultural and clinical treatments of schizophrenia.
Levinas 20. yüzyıl düşüncesini derinden etkilemiş önemli bir düşünürdür. Levinas'ın etiği ilk fel... more Levinas 20. yüzyıl düşüncesini derinden etkilemiş önemli bir düşünürdür. Levinas'ın etiği ilk felsefe olarak merkeze alan düşünce sisteminde kendi, başkası, ölüm ve zaman gibi kavramlar önemli yer tutar. Levinas ölüme dair bilincin ancak başkası'nın ölümü aracılığıyla edinilebileceğini düşünür ve onun bu düşüncesi Heidegger'in düşüncesiyle paralellik gösterir. Ancak Heidegger için başkası'nın ölümü Dasein'ın kendi zamansallığını ve ölümlülüğünü hatırlaması yoluyla yine kendi varlığına dair bir bilinç sahibi olması anlamına gelirken, Levinas için bu kavramlar etik bireye başkası'na karşı sonsuz sorumluluğunu hatırlatması açısından önemlidir. Başkası'nın ölümünün kendi'de yarattığı duygulanımın yönü kişiyi varlık bilincine ya da etik bilince sahip bir birey yapar. Başkası'nın ölümüne tanık olmak ve bu durumdan bir çeşit duygulanımla çıkmak Aristotelesçi anlamda tragedyanın başlıca işlevidir. Aristoteles'in katharsis adını verdiği, başkası'nın sahnede ölümü üzerine hissedilen korku ve acıma duygusu temelinde gerçekleşen arınma, tragedyayı ahlaki sınırlar dahilinde kalmaya zorlar. Aristotelesçi kathartik tragedya Heideggerci bir varlık bilinci üzerinden ahlaki bir arınmayı öngörür. Bu makalede ise başkası'nın ölümü konusu Levinasçı bir açıdan okunacak ve bir edebi tür olan tragedyanın, katharsisin ahlaki sınırlayıcılığından bağımsız, est-etik işlevi ön plana çıkarılmaya çalışılacaktır. Levinas is a significant thinker that has deeply influenced 20th century thinking. Concepts like self, other, death and time play an important role in Levinas' system that deems ethics as 'prima philosophia'. Levinas contends that consciousness regarding death can only be achieved through the death of the other this idea shows parallelism with Heidegger's thinking. However, the death of the other, for Heidegger, comes to mean that Dasein acquires certain consciousness regarding its own 'being' by means of remembering its temporality and mortality which, on the contrary, are crucial for Levinas as they remind the ethical self of its eternal responsibility towards the other. The direction of the emotion created in the self by the death of the other makes an individual conscious of 'being' or an 'ethical self'. Witnessing the death of the other that leads to certain emotions in the self is the primary function of tragedy in the Aristotelian sense. The purgation-termed 'catharsis' by Aristotle-through emotions of fear and pity felt upon the death of the other on the stage forces tragedy to remain in moral boundaries. Aristotelian cathartic tragedy anticipates a moral cleansing by means of a consciousness of 'being' in Heidegerrian terms. Yet, in this article, the issue of the death of the other will be read from a Levinasian perspective and the aest-ethical function of tragedy as a literary genre will be foregrounded independently of the moral limitations imposed by 'catharsis'.
Howard Barker's theatre has always been dealt with as a characteristically distinctive kind with ... more Howard Barker's theatre has always been dealt with as a characteristically distinctive kind with respect to the playwright's formulation of his self-crafted dramatic genre 'Theatre of Catastrophe' whose main principles were listed in his two monumental books on drama and performance, Arguments for a Theatre and Death, the One and the Art of Theatre. In these treatises, Barker designates a new genre which differentiates itself from the contemporary mainstream tradition of Brechtian political drama, dominating British stages for decades, with its non-didactic, anti-cathartic outlook aiming to divert the audience into individual responses rather than a collective moral improvement. Barker's plays also stand apart from the mainstream drama in their concern with the tragic experience rather than the political and moral message with an elaborate, lyrical language and obscurity of meaning. However, this study aims to bring a new perspective to the understanding of Barker's drama, with specic examples from his famous play No End of Blame (1981) with an emphasis on the use of historical subject matter and the choice of characters from among artists. The play in question is interpreted within the context of the contemporary dramatic genre, 'historiographic metadrama', with an aim to reveal Barker's veiled political, moral and aesthetic criticism and, thus, to refute his claims that his 'Theatre of Catastrophe' is a politically, morally and aesthetically functionless and non-didactic kind of drama. This study concludes that Barker's drama has to be incorporated into the mainstream political theatre of his time despite its other distinctive thematic and technical qualities.
Cumhuriyet University Journal of Social Sciences, 2013
The aim of this article is to display the problem of identity and the search for self-consciousne... more The aim of this article is to display the problem of identity and the search for self-consciousness, in Hegelian terms, intensively experienced by Razumov in Under Western Eyes by the famous Polish-born English novelist Joseph Conrad. In the novel, written in the light of Conrad"s own experiences in the past, the process of identity acquisition is examined in terms of Hegel"s theories of self-consciousness, dialectics and master-slave relationship. This process begins with Razumov Sidorovitch"s, an ordinary, reserved and passive university student in autocratic Russia, opening up to the external world and the occurrence of changes in his personality. Razumov"s relationships first with his friend Victor Haldin, later with the government officers and lastly with the revolutionary circle and Victor"s family members in Geneva shape his identity and lead him to self-consciousness. The constant struggle between two opposite ideas or groups generates a dialectical process of development in the society, especially in the personality of Razumov.
The aim of this article is to discuss The Turn of the Screw by the famous American writer Henry J... more The aim of this article is to discuss The Turn of the Screw by the famous American writer Henry James in relation to the concept of the 'sublime' put forward by English thinker Edmund Burke. Having always been associated with the gothic literature, this theory of the 'sublime' can be closely related with the effects of the happenings in James' novella. The curious incidents in the story, the supernatural elements, elements of terror and obscurities make such an analysis possible. Especially, Burke's theory of the sublime can shed light on the effects of the gothic elements on the reader. The reflections of this theory on the possible effects of the story are also discussed in terms of Gothicism. In this respect, this article aims to analyze the novella in the light of Burke's definition of the sublime in many aspects.
Vth International Comparative Literature Conference Book of Proceedings, 2015
Modernist literature is a universal phenomenon. Many authors throughout the
world deal with simil... more Modernist literature is a universal phenomenon. Many authors throughout the world deal with similar subject matters and themes in their works with a strong emphasis on modern individuals’ spiritual paralysis, isolation from society, feeling of ‘nothingness’, existential questionings, lack of communication and bad consequences of urbanization. Among these modernist authors, Joyce’s contributions to modernist literature are huge and he influences many modernist authors from different nations. For instance, being a passionate reader of Joycean literature, Oğuz Atay reflects the same issues in his modernist works by making intertextual references to Joyce’s texts and adjusting the subject matters into Turkish context. Both authors give voice to modern intellectual characters in their works with an emphasis on their similar breakaway from society and social institutions, though with different preoccupations. In this study, the portrayals of modern intellectuals in Joyce’s and Atay’s modernist works are examined in the light of the two authors’ cultural, social, political and economic backgrounds during the process of modernization in Europe. With this objective in mind, the similarities and differences in the portrayals of modern intellectuals in major works of the two authors are comparatively analyzed to reveal that Atay is highly influenced by Joyce to some extent and to come to a conclusion that Atay does not simply copy Joycean concept of ‘intellectual’ in his works; but he comes up with his own concept of intellectual by adjusting Joycean intellectuals into his own cultural, social and national environments. The present study focuses on the two authors’ intellectual characters with their distance to society and social institutions and the reasons and urges behind such isolation.
The aim of this essay is to display, by a Derridean deconstructive reading, that the term ‘non-vi... more The aim of this essay is to display, by a Derridean deconstructive reading, that the term ‘non-violent resistance’ is aporetic and paradoxical taking into consideration that the resisting side uses non-violence as a means of psychological and conscience-related manipulation, which contains a certain degree of violence in it, to overcome the oppression in question. The definitions of non-violence seem to be wrongfully restricted to the physical aspects of violence, overlooking other aspects of the term like psychological and emotional violence. Even though violence has been mostly associated with physical damage in human history, the changing definitions of the term today make it necessary to develop a new perspective and conceptual framework for violence-related terms. This essay will interpret the concept of ‘non-violent resistance’ as one such term and attempt to offer a new concept that will represent the psychological and ethical aspects of the practice more eloquently.
No other trope captures the perceived complexity of schizophrenia and the epistemological, clinic... more No other trope captures the perceived complexity of schizophrenia and the epistemological, clinical, ethical and phenomenological aporias it poses than the phrase “the sublime object of psychiatry” (Angela Woods). “Sublimity”, however, instigates further complications and problems by mystifying the nature and experience of schizophrenia rather than contributing to the development of a clearer account of it. A conspicuous case of the critique of this treatment of schizophrenia in terms of the “sublime” can be found in Joe Penhall’s two dramatic works: Some Voices (1993) and Blue/Orange (2000). This essay will argue that Penhall's treatment of schizophrenia is distinguished by two salient features: its method (the critical-clinical) and its simultaneously symptomatic and symptomatological treatment of schizophrenia. What further distinguishes Penhall’s critical depiction of schizophrenia is his insistence that the cultural is as crucial as the clinical in the experience, represent...
Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi, 2019
Howard Barker'ın tiyatrosu, yazarın temel ilkelerini oyun yazımı ve sahnelenmesi konusundaki ... more Howard Barker'ın tiyatrosu, yazarın temel ilkelerini oyun yazımı ve sahnelenmesi konusundaki iki önemli kitabında - Arguments for a Theatre and Death, the One and the Art of Theatre - listelediği ve kendi yaratımı olan 'Felaket Tiyatrosu' açısından karakteristik bir tür olarak ele alınır. Bu eserlerde Barker, kendi oyunlarını İngiliz tiyatrosuna on yıllardır egemen olan çağdaş anaakım Brehtçi politik tiyatrodan ayıran, izleyenleri kolektif bir tepkiden ziyade didaktik ve kathartik olmayan bir bakış açısıyla bireysel çıkarımlara yönlendirmeyi amaçlayan yeni bir türün ana hatlarını çizer. Barker'ın oyunları aynı zamanda ana akım tiyatrodan kullanılan karmaşık ve şiirsel dil ile anlam belirsizliğinin yanı sıra siyasî ve ahlakî mesajdan ziyade trajik deneyime önem vermesi bakımından ayrı durmaktadır. Ancak bu çalışma, Barker'ın tarihi konuları kullanımını ve karakterlerini sanatçılar arasından seçmesini göz önünde bulundurarak, onun en ünlü oyunlarından Suçlamanın So...
Suicide in Anglo-European cultural history has often been perceived not only as a site where mora... more Suicide in Anglo-European cultural history has often been perceived not only as a site where moral, psychological or social-political crises are thrown into relief, but also as a critical juncture where the aporetic tensions and ties between the private and the public, the personal and the political, the individual and the state (or the family) surface. What distinguishes modern and contemporary engagements with the question of suicide is primarily the conception of suicide as a historical and social-cultural construct, a conception in which questions of biopolitics as well as racial, class, and gender politics determine not only the suicidal act but also social-cultural perceptions of its nature and dynamics. Equally crucial has been the self-reflexive approach of many artists and critics to the ethics as well as therapeutic efficacy of artistic/literary treatments of suicide; these artists and critics emphasize the role of narration (narrative medicine) and performance (role-playing) as a solution to the social and psychological aporias permeating the world of a play and its characters.
Levinas is a significant thinker that has deeply influenced 20th century thinking. Concepts like ... more Levinas is a significant thinker that has deeply influenced 20th century thinking. Concepts like self, other, death and time play an important role in Levinas’ system that deems ethics as ‘prima philosophia’. Levinas contends that consciousness regarding death can only be achieved through the death of the other this idea shows parallelism with Heidegger’s thinking. However, the death of the other, for Heidegger, comes to mean that Dasein acquires certain consciousness regarding its own ‘being’ by means of remembering its temporality and mortality which, on the contrary, are crucial for Levinas as they remind the ethical self of its eternal responsibility towards the other. The direction of the emotion created in the self by the death of the other makes an individual conscious of ‘being’ or an ‘ethical self’. Witnessing the death of the other that leads to certain emotions in the self is the primary function of tragedy in the Aristotelian sense. The purgation - termed ‘catharsis’ by ...
What a survey of contemporary British drama reveals is a plethora of plays concerned not only wit... more What a survey of contemporary British drama reveals is a plethora of plays concerned not only with psychological and medical issues, but with precarious individuals, whose symptomatic condition is presented in terms of schizophrenia or schizoid states. Duncan Macmillan’s People, Places and Things (2015) can be considered as a distinctive play in this trend, where not only a rehabilitation center features as its setting, but its main character is afflicted with a complex cluster of symptoms: a schizoid personality, addiction, melancholic loss, and Oedipal tension with parents. Taking People, Places and Things as its focal point, and situating its arguments in the context of “Therapy Culture” (Furedi), this article demonstrates that what distinguishes Macmillan’s approach is his deconstructive understanding of the aporias besetting three chief spheres of human action, cognition, and affection: the epistemological, ontological and moral position of (1) his own art/work and its methods/techniques, (2) the (psycho-)therapeutic disciplines and institutes, (3) contemporary social-cultural discourse and political hegemony. Scrutinizing Macmillan’s treatment of the foregoing triad, it will be argued how his method can be characterized in two terms: symptomatic-symptomatological and critical-clinical.
No other trope captures the perceived complexity of schizophrenia and the epistemological, clinic... more No other trope captures the perceived complexity of schizophrenia and the epistemological, clinical, ethical and phenomenological aporias it poses than the phrase “the sublime object of psychiatry” (Angela Woods). “Sublimity”, however, instigates further complications and problems by mystifying the nature and experience of schizophrenia rather than contributing to the development of a clearer account of it. A conspicuous case of the critique of this treatment of schizophrenia in terms of the “sublime” can be found in Joe Penhall’s two dramatic works: Some Voices (1993) and Blue/Orange (2000). This essay will argue that Penhall's treatment of schizophrenia is distinguished by two salient features: its method (the critical-clinical) and its simultaneously symptomatic and symptomatological treatment of schizophrenia. What further distinguishes Penhall’s critical depiction of schizophrenia is his insistence that the cultural is as crucial as the clinical in the experience, representation, and perception of schizophrenia. This is attested by his acute inclusion of such crucial issues as race, class, discourse, and gender as highly determining elements in the experience, perceptions and diagnosis of schizophrenia. This essay, accordingly, will demonstrate how Blue/Orange presents a critical-clinical account of the limits of various discursively-determined treatments of schizophrenia (including both psychiatry and anti-psychiatry) thereby accentuating the necessity of developing a more holistic method in the cultural and clinical treatments of schizophrenia.
Levinas 20. yüzyıl düşüncesini derinden etkilemiş önemli bir düşünürdür. Levinas'ın etiği ilk fel... more Levinas 20. yüzyıl düşüncesini derinden etkilemiş önemli bir düşünürdür. Levinas'ın etiği ilk felsefe olarak merkeze alan düşünce sisteminde kendi, başkası, ölüm ve zaman gibi kavramlar önemli yer tutar. Levinas ölüme dair bilincin ancak başkası'nın ölümü aracılığıyla edinilebileceğini düşünür ve onun bu düşüncesi Heidegger'in düşüncesiyle paralellik gösterir. Ancak Heidegger için başkası'nın ölümü Dasein'ın kendi zamansallığını ve ölümlülüğünü hatırlaması yoluyla yine kendi varlığına dair bir bilinç sahibi olması anlamına gelirken, Levinas için bu kavramlar etik bireye başkası'na karşı sonsuz sorumluluğunu hatırlatması açısından önemlidir. Başkası'nın ölümünün kendi'de yarattığı duygulanımın yönü kişiyi varlık bilincine ya da etik bilince sahip bir birey yapar. Başkası'nın ölümüne tanık olmak ve bu durumdan bir çeşit duygulanımla çıkmak Aristotelesçi anlamda tragedyanın başlıca işlevidir. Aristoteles'in katharsis adını verdiği, başkası'nın sahnede ölümü üzerine hissedilen korku ve acıma duygusu temelinde gerçekleşen arınma, tragedyayı ahlaki sınırlar dahilinde kalmaya zorlar. Aristotelesçi kathartik tragedya Heideggerci bir varlık bilinci üzerinden ahlaki bir arınmayı öngörür. Bu makalede ise başkası'nın ölümü konusu Levinasçı bir açıdan okunacak ve bir edebi tür olan tragedyanın, katharsisin ahlaki sınırlayıcılığından bağımsız, est-etik işlevi ön plana çıkarılmaya çalışılacaktır. Levinas is a significant thinker that has deeply influenced 20th century thinking. Concepts like self, other, death and time play an important role in Levinas' system that deems ethics as 'prima philosophia'. Levinas contends that consciousness regarding death can only be achieved through the death of the other this idea shows parallelism with Heidegger's thinking. However, the death of the other, for Heidegger, comes to mean that Dasein acquires certain consciousness regarding its own 'being' by means of remembering its temporality and mortality which, on the contrary, are crucial for Levinas as they remind the ethical self of its eternal responsibility towards the other. The direction of the emotion created in the self by the death of the other makes an individual conscious of 'being' or an 'ethical self'. Witnessing the death of the other that leads to certain emotions in the self is the primary function of tragedy in the Aristotelian sense. The purgation-termed 'catharsis' by Aristotle-through emotions of fear and pity felt upon the death of the other on the stage forces tragedy to remain in moral boundaries. Aristotelian cathartic tragedy anticipates a moral cleansing by means of a consciousness of 'being' in Heidegerrian terms. Yet, in this article, the issue of the death of the other will be read from a Levinasian perspective and the aest-ethical function of tragedy as a literary genre will be foregrounded independently of the moral limitations imposed by 'catharsis'.
Howard Barker's theatre has always been dealt with as a characteristically distinctive kind with ... more Howard Barker's theatre has always been dealt with as a characteristically distinctive kind with respect to the playwright's formulation of his self-crafted dramatic genre 'Theatre of Catastrophe' whose main principles were listed in his two monumental books on drama and performance, Arguments for a Theatre and Death, the One and the Art of Theatre. In these treatises, Barker designates a new genre which differentiates itself from the contemporary mainstream tradition of Brechtian political drama, dominating British stages for decades, with its non-didactic, anti-cathartic outlook aiming to divert the audience into individual responses rather than a collective moral improvement. Barker's plays also stand apart from the mainstream drama in their concern with the tragic experience rather than the political and moral message with an elaborate, lyrical language and obscurity of meaning. However, this study aims to bring a new perspective to the understanding of Barker's drama, with specic examples from his famous play No End of Blame (1981) with an emphasis on the use of historical subject matter and the choice of characters from among artists. The play in question is interpreted within the context of the contemporary dramatic genre, 'historiographic metadrama', with an aim to reveal Barker's veiled political, moral and aesthetic criticism and, thus, to refute his claims that his 'Theatre of Catastrophe' is a politically, morally and aesthetically functionless and non-didactic kind of drama. This study concludes that Barker's drama has to be incorporated into the mainstream political theatre of his time despite its other distinctive thematic and technical qualities.
Cumhuriyet University Journal of Social Sciences, 2013
The aim of this article is to display the problem of identity and the search for self-consciousne... more The aim of this article is to display the problem of identity and the search for self-consciousness, in Hegelian terms, intensively experienced by Razumov in Under Western Eyes by the famous Polish-born English novelist Joseph Conrad. In the novel, written in the light of Conrad"s own experiences in the past, the process of identity acquisition is examined in terms of Hegel"s theories of self-consciousness, dialectics and master-slave relationship. This process begins with Razumov Sidorovitch"s, an ordinary, reserved and passive university student in autocratic Russia, opening up to the external world and the occurrence of changes in his personality. Razumov"s relationships first with his friend Victor Haldin, later with the government officers and lastly with the revolutionary circle and Victor"s family members in Geneva shape his identity and lead him to self-consciousness. The constant struggle between two opposite ideas or groups generates a dialectical process of development in the society, especially in the personality of Razumov.
The aim of this article is to discuss The Turn of the Screw by the famous American writer Henry J... more The aim of this article is to discuss The Turn of the Screw by the famous American writer Henry James in relation to the concept of the 'sublime' put forward by English thinker Edmund Burke. Having always been associated with the gothic literature, this theory of the 'sublime' can be closely related with the effects of the happenings in James' novella. The curious incidents in the story, the supernatural elements, elements of terror and obscurities make such an analysis possible. Especially, Burke's theory of the sublime can shed light on the effects of the gothic elements on the reader. The reflections of this theory on the possible effects of the story are also discussed in terms of Gothicism. In this respect, this article aims to analyze the novella in the light of Burke's definition of the sublime in many aspects.
Vth International Comparative Literature Conference Book of Proceedings, 2015
Modernist literature is a universal phenomenon. Many authors throughout the
world deal with simil... more Modernist literature is a universal phenomenon. Many authors throughout the world deal with similar subject matters and themes in their works with a strong emphasis on modern individuals’ spiritual paralysis, isolation from society, feeling of ‘nothingness’, existential questionings, lack of communication and bad consequences of urbanization. Among these modernist authors, Joyce’s contributions to modernist literature are huge and he influences many modernist authors from different nations. For instance, being a passionate reader of Joycean literature, Oğuz Atay reflects the same issues in his modernist works by making intertextual references to Joyce’s texts and adjusting the subject matters into Turkish context. Both authors give voice to modern intellectual characters in their works with an emphasis on their similar breakaway from society and social institutions, though with different preoccupations. In this study, the portrayals of modern intellectuals in Joyce’s and Atay’s modernist works are examined in the light of the two authors’ cultural, social, political and economic backgrounds during the process of modernization in Europe. With this objective in mind, the similarities and differences in the portrayals of modern intellectuals in major works of the two authors are comparatively analyzed to reveal that Atay is highly influenced by Joyce to some extent and to come to a conclusion that Atay does not simply copy Joycean concept of ‘intellectual’ in his works; but he comes up with his own concept of intellectual by adjusting Joycean intellectuals into his own cultural, social and national environments. The present study focuses on the two authors’ intellectual characters with their distance to society and social institutions and the reasons and urges behind such isolation.
The Routledge Companion to Performance and Medicine, 2024
A sustained engagement with the discourse of medicine constitutes one of the preoccupations of Ho... more A sustained engagement with the discourse of medicine constitutes one of the preoccupations of Howard Barker’s work. Taking Barker’s He Stumbled as its focal point, this chapter explores how medicine is depicted to diminish and elide the holistic nature of human experience through its objectifying, atomistic, and analytical approach – emblematised by the acts of dissection and self-dissection. The crux of this chapter is the exploration of how the question and experience of ‘depth’ and ‘intimacy’ – as critical sites of embodied self-knowledge and evental relationship with the other – are treated by the discourse and practice of medicine as presented in Barker’s work. It argues that Barker presents a phenomenological-evental alternative to the biomedical discourse by demonstrating not only how, in his Theatre of Catastrophe, pain is treated as a possibility for self-knowledge and self-transcendence but also how the body is conceived to be inherently evental and intertwined with history, alterity, and language.
Edebiyat, İrlanda topraklarında yüzyıllardır süregelen siyasi ve kültürel mücadelenin en hayati c... more Edebiyat, İrlanda topraklarında yüzyıllardır süregelen siyasi ve kültürel mücadelenin en hayati cephelerinden ve yaşanan dönüşümün en önemli göstergelerinden biri olmuştur. İrlanda’nın dinî, siyasi ve ekonomik çalkantılarla dolu olaylı tarihinden geriye bu tarihle harmanlanmış zengin bir edebî gelenek kalmıştır. Bu kitap İrlanda edebî geleneğinin önemli bileşenleri sayılabilecek şair, romancı ve oyun yazarlarını bir araya getirerek İrlanda edebiyatı üzerine Türkçe yazılmış ilk referans kitabı olma özelliğini taşımaktadır. 17. yüzyıldan günümüze kadar yaşamış ve eser vermiş edebiyatçıların yaşamlarına, edebî üsluplarına, önemli eserlerine ışık tutan bu kitap Jonathan Swift’ten Bram Stoker’a, Oscar Wilde’dan Lady Gregory’ye, William Butler Yeats’ten James Joyce’a, Samuel Beckett’ten Iris Murdoch’a, Seamus Heaney’den Eavan Boland’a, Marina Carr’dan Martin McDonagh’ya toplam kırk beş İrlandalı ustayı sizinle buluşturmaktadır.
Sarah Kane, 20. yüzyılın son dönemine damga vurmuş olan 'Suratına Tiyatro' (In-Yer-Face) akımının... more Sarah Kane, 20. yüzyılın son dönemine damga vurmuş olan 'Suratına Tiyatro' (In-Yer-Face) akımının İngiltere' deki en önemli temsilcilerindendir. İngiliz eleştirmen Aleks Sierz tarafından 2001 yılında yazılmış, yayınevimizce yayımlanmış olan In-yer-face Theatre adlı kitapta teorik temelleri atılan bu akım, içerdiği şiddet ve işkence sahneleri, müstehcenlik ve küfürlü dil ile kısa sürede büyük yankı uyandırmıştır. Bu akım ismini, sahnede hayatın en acı, en şok edici gerçekliklerini bütün çıplaklığıyla yansıtarak izleyicilerin yüzüne vurmak ve bu sayede bir farkındalık yaratmak amacından alır. Bu akımın öncülerinden olan Kane, 28 yıllık kısa yaşamından geriye beş tiyatro oyunu ve bir kısa film senaryosu bırakmıştır. 1999 yılındaki intiharına kadar çok ciddi psikolojik sorunlarla boğuşan ve depresyon tedavileri gören yazarın eserlerinde psikolojik, fiziksel ve duygusal şiddetin yanı sıra geçmişle hesaplaşma, eşcinsellik ve toplumsal kurumlardaki yozlaşma gibi temalar da öne çıkar.
Ünlü İngiliz Romantik şair William Wordsworth'ün erken dönem şiirlerinde doğaya dair çocuksu bir ... more Ünlü İngiliz Romantik şair William Wordsworth'ün erken dönem şiirlerinde doğaya dair çocuksu bir heyecan, insanlara dair koşulsuz bir sevgi, özgürlük ve eşitlik ülküsüne dair sarsılmaz bir bağlılık görülür. Ancak şairin geç dönem şiirlerinde bu duyguların yerini doğaya dair bir hüzün, insanlığın geleceğine dair bir umutsuzluk ve kuşku, sosyal ve siyasal gelişmelere dair bir küskünlük ve hayal kırıklığı alır. Şairin hayata bakışında bu denli köklü değişikliklere sebep olan olayların başında Fransız İhtilali gelir. Gençliğinde devrimin beraberinde getirdiği özgürlük, eşitlik ve kardeşlik ülkülerine tutkuyla bağlı olan Wordsworth, Fransa'nın önce Terör Döneminde, sonraysa Napoleon Bonaparte yönetiminde 'yoldan çıkmasıyla' birlikte bu ülkülere sırt çevirir. Bu kitap, şairin tecrübe ettiği bu duygusal ve düşünsel değişimin izlerini şiirlerine ve mektuplarına yansıdığı ölçüde sürmeyi amaçlamaktadır.
Alireza Fakhrkonandeh’s Oil and Modern World Dramas is one of the latest contributions to the eme... more Alireza Fakhrkonandeh’s Oil and Modern World Dramas is one of the latest contributions to the emerging field of energy humanities. The first of a three-volume series, Oil and Modern World Dramas focuses on the depictions of oil in the important but hitherto neglected works of the continental European dramatic literature including Leo Lania’s Konjunktur 1 (1928), Konjunktur 2 (1928), and Oil Field (1934) and Lion Feuchtwanger’s The Oil Islands (1927). This review provides a succinct account of the trajectory of the book and discusses the distinctive features of the author’s analyses of the representations of oil and its various implications at social-cultural, political-economic, natural-ecological, and ethical-psychological levels in the selected works of European drama.
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Levinas is a significant thinker that has deeply influenced 20th century thinking. Concepts like self, other, death and time play an important role in Levinas' system that deems ethics as 'prima philosophia'. Levinas contends that consciousness regarding death can only be achieved through the death of the other this idea shows parallelism with Heidegger's thinking. However, the death of the other, for Heidegger, comes to mean that Dasein acquires certain consciousness regarding its own 'being' by means of remembering its temporality and mortality which, on the contrary, are crucial for Levinas as they remind the ethical self of its eternal responsibility towards the other. The direction of the emotion created in the self by the death of the other makes an individual conscious of 'being' or an 'ethical self'. Witnessing the death of the other that leads to certain emotions in the self is the primary function of tragedy in the Aristotelian sense. The purgation-termed 'catharsis' by Aristotle-through emotions of fear and pity felt upon the death of the other on the stage forces tragedy to remain in moral boundaries. Aristotelian cathartic tragedy anticipates a moral cleansing by means of a consciousness of 'being' in Heidegerrian terms. Yet, in this article, the issue of the death of the other will be read from a Levinasian perspective and the aest-ethical function of tragedy as a literary genre will be foregrounded independently of the moral limitations imposed by 'catharsis'.
world deal with similar subject matters and themes in their works with a strong emphasis
on modern individuals’ spiritual paralysis, isolation from society, feeling of ‘nothingness’,
existential questionings, lack of communication and bad consequences of urbanization.
Among these modernist authors, Joyce’s contributions to modernist literature are huge
and he influences many modernist authors from different nations. For instance, being a
passionate reader of Joycean literature, Oğuz Atay reflects the same issues in his modernist
works by making intertextual references to Joyce’s texts and adjusting the subject matters
into Turkish context. Both authors give voice to modern intellectual characters in their
works with an emphasis on their similar breakaway from society and social institutions,
though with different preoccupations.
In this study, the portrayals of modern intellectuals in Joyce’s and Atay’s modernist works
are examined in the light of the two authors’ cultural, social, political and economic
backgrounds during the process of modernization in Europe. With this objective in mind,
the similarities and differences in the portrayals of modern intellectuals in major works
of the two authors are comparatively analyzed to reveal that Atay is highly influenced by
Joyce to some extent and to come to a conclusion that Atay does not simply copy Joycean
concept of ‘intellectual’ in his works; but he comes up with his own concept of intellectual
by adjusting Joycean intellectuals into his own cultural, social and national environments.
The present study focuses on the two authors’ intellectual characters with their distance to
society and social institutions and the reasons and urges behind such isolation.
Levinas is a significant thinker that has deeply influenced 20th century thinking. Concepts like self, other, death and time play an important role in Levinas' system that deems ethics as 'prima philosophia'. Levinas contends that consciousness regarding death can only be achieved through the death of the other this idea shows parallelism with Heidegger's thinking. However, the death of the other, for Heidegger, comes to mean that Dasein acquires certain consciousness regarding its own 'being' by means of remembering its temporality and mortality which, on the contrary, are crucial for Levinas as they remind the ethical self of its eternal responsibility towards the other. The direction of the emotion created in the self by the death of the other makes an individual conscious of 'being' or an 'ethical self'. Witnessing the death of the other that leads to certain emotions in the self is the primary function of tragedy in the Aristotelian sense. The purgation-termed 'catharsis' by Aristotle-through emotions of fear and pity felt upon the death of the other on the stage forces tragedy to remain in moral boundaries. Aristotelian cathartic tragedy anticipates a moral cleansing by means of a consciousness of 'being' in Heidegerrian terms. Yet, in this article, the issue of the death of the other will be read from a Levinasian perspective and the aest-ethical function of tragedy as a literary genre will be foregrounded independently of the moral limitations imposed by 'catharsis'.
world deal with similar subject matters and themes in their works with a strong emphasis
on modern individuals’ spiritual paralysis, isolation from society, feeling of ‘nothingness’,
existential questionings, lack of communication and bad consequences of urbanization.
Among these modernist authors, Joyce’s contributions to modernist literature are huge
and he influences many modernist authors from different nations. For instance, being a
passionate reader of Joycean literature, Oğuz Atay reflects the same issues in his modernist
works by making intertextual references to Joyce’s texts and adjusting the subject matters
into Turkish context. Both authors give voice to modern intellectual characters in their
works with an emphasis on their similar breakaway from society and social institutions,
though with different preoccupations.
In this study, the portrayals of modern intellectuals in Joyce’s and Atay’s modernist works
are examined in the light of the two authors’ cultural, social, political and economic
backgrounds during the process of modernization in Europe. With this objective in mind,
the similarities and differences in the portrayals of modern intellectuals in major works
of the two authors are comparatively analyzed to reveal that Atay is highly influenced by
Joyce to some extent and to come to a conclusion that Atay does not simply copy Joycean
concept of ‘intellectual’ in his works; but he comes up with his own concept of intellectual
by adjusting Joycean intellectuals into his own cultural, social and national environments.
The present study focuses on the two authors’ intellectual characters with their distance to
society and social institutions and the reasons and urges behind such isolation.