Individual Identity

This study is an analysis of the body and self relation in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and The Body by Hanif Kureishi. The main focus of the study is upon the division between body and self in terms of individual and social identities. Whether the body is a separate entity or there is a relation between body and self is studied in detail. Dorian Gray, whose portrait serves as his real identity and Adam, who experiences the transplantation of his brain into a new body, are the characters whose body an identity relations are analyzed in this study.
The method used in this study is Cultural Studies. Cultural studies is a method which consists of many disciplines providing different approaches to the body as an agent of giving meaning.
Chapter one presents background information about Cultural Studies and various approaches to the concept of body. In chapter two, the theoretical information is applied to Wilde’s novel. Chapter three is also devoted to the body and self relation analysis of Kureishi’s novella. Chapter four discusses the common points in both works together with the intertextual allusions to other literary works.
The aim of this study is to explore the division between body and the self, the concept of personal and social identity, and the extent to which these are rooted in the physical being. Although the body is commonly accepted as the representation of personality, in this study it is claimed that there is a strong division between the protagonists’ self and body.

Key Words: Cultural Studies, Body, Self, Individual and Social Identity.

Identity has been attempted to be explained and handled in a number of ways for many centuries. Since culture is a central figure for the formation of identity, Cultural Studies, as a diverse field of study encompassing a variety of perspectives; functions by borrowing freely from many disciplines and theories to figure out and explain the effect of society on individuals. Culture is a common way of life; therefore, Cultural Studies is concerned with what roles gender, language, ethnicity, economy, and biological bodies of individuals have for the construction of one’s identity. Since the society, in which people live in, has a great role on individuals, in order to analyze a literary work of art, the social circumstances of the era should also be grasped at first hand. The present study deals with the two novels Dorian Gray and Jane Eyre and the Victorian society in which they were written. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of society on the construction of individual identity in two of the famous novels- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.

This study is an analysis of the body and self relation in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and The Body by Hanif Kureishi. The main focus of the study is upon the division between body and self in terms of individual and social identities. Whether the body is a separate entity or there is a relation between body and self is studied in detail. Dorian Gray, whose portrait serves as his real identity and Adam, who experiences the transplantation of his brain into a new body, are the characters whose body an identity relations are analyzed in this study. The method used in this study is Cultural Studies. Cultural studies is a method which consists of many disciplines providing different approaches to the body as an agent of giving meaning. Chapter one presents background information about Cultural Studies and various approaches to the concept of body. In chapter two, the theoretical information is applied to Wilde’s novel. Chapter three is also devoted to the body and self relation analysis of Kureishi’s novella. Chapter four discusses the common points in both works together with the intertextual allusions to other literary works. The aim of this study is to explore the division between body and the self, the concept of personal and social identity, and the extent to which these are rooted in the physical being. Although the body is commonly accepted as the representation of personality, in this study it is claimed that there is a strong division between the protagonists’ self and body. Key Words: Cultural Studies, Body, Self, Individual and Social Identity.

Through a mixed-method research design, this study explores the Little Free Library (LFL) phenomenon from the perspective of the library's owner, or "steward." Specifically, the research interrogates the role LFLs play on a personal level at the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and the structural inequities exposed by the pandemic. The purpose of this investigation is to provide a foundational study for furthering the examination of how altruism, creativity, and cultural norms of "self-help" manifest themselves through materiality in our communities, influencing our relationships with one and another, both during times of crisis and normalcy. The effects of the pandemic and inextricably related social justice issues-of which the murder of George Floyd heightened the public's awareness-have created conditions of psychological suffering. Through altruism and creativity, this study explores LFLs' potential as a tool to alleviate some of the distress experienced by the library's owner and provide them a sense of meaning-making.