Yolda'da ötekinin temsili

This dissertation studies the depiction of the others of post-World War II American society in the most prominent Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac's On the Road. The Beat Generation emerged as a group of writers who were against the conformism surrounding the post-war U.S.A. Even though these writers were rebellious against the conventions and stereotypes of the era, as a group mainly consisting of white middle-class males, their approach to the others of society echoed that of the dominant group. The oppressive nature of patriarchy and white privilege becomes apparent in Kerouac's narrative when the representation of females and racialized others are examined. Inspecting the derogatory depiction of female characters with the theories of critics Kate Millett and Gayatri Spivak reveals that Kerouac's approach to women mirrors the same attitude of the dominant group. Similarly, the way African Americans are depicted in the story makes it possible to perceive the dominant group's discriminatory mindset and minorities' exclusion from the post-war prosperity. One of the prominent figures of the civil rights movement, James Baldwin's responses to Kerouac's narrative of African Americans exposes the resemblance of Kerouac's condescending attitude to the dominant group. Although Kerouac sets off his journey throughout the U.S.A. as a rebellion to conventions of the conformist society, analyzing his approach to women and racialized others unveils that, his self-centered rebellion does not distinguish him from the rest of the dominant group.