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Temporality and spatiality in contemporary Britisih theatre
Space and time are two interconnected concepts that have a long philosophical background. They lie at the heart of identity construction and have a substantial impact on contemporary literary works. The sense of time and space changed with the emergence of postmodern theory, and its influence became observable in contemporary British theatre, which covers a period between the 1980s and today. Contemporary British playwrights have not only explored (historical or non-historical) identity quests, but also targeted collapsing or transforming conventional theatre concepts by experimenting with time and space with new theatrical techniques in their plays. In addition, the psychological and social reflections of spatial and temporal boundaries along with existential anxiety have become central issues in their plays. This thesis thus aims to shed light upon the use of theatrical time and space by analysing Caryl Churchill's Icecream and Top Girls, Roy Williams' Sucker Punch and Joe Guy and Mark Ravenhill's Over There and Ten Plagues. The use of these concepts in postmodernist, postcolonial and postdramatic plays will not only be examined textually and but also complemented with the details of theatrical performances. Since some of the selected plays present problematic representations of women and black people, special consideration will also be given to the constructions of female and black identities at spatio-temporal intersections.
An analaysis of the attitudes of the instructors and students towards the use of literature in English language teaching
This thesis aims at investigating the relationships betveen the study of literatüre and language teaching in preparatory classes. The study also intends to investigate vhether there exists a statistically significant difference between the opinions of instructors and students on the study of literatüre in language teaching with particular reference to their departmental affiliations. For this purpose subjects were chosen randomly from three different universities --Gaziantep University, Atatürk University and Van 100. Yıl University-- having English Language and Literatüre Department Preparatory Classes. Subjects were also included from two other departments that offered English instruction as & service course for students from other departments in the University of Gaziantep, Foreign Languages Department and Girne American University Business Management Department Preparatory Section. A descriptive type of investigation has been undertaken in this study. in order to collect data, a guestionnaire has been prepared and administered to the subjects. After the administration of the guestionnairfe the differences between the opinions of instructors at the departments and opinions of students based on the departmental affiliations have been analyzed. The percentages of the results have been illustrated in the tables and the results have been tested by the non-parametric test of 'significance', chi-square. iiiThe analysis of data indicated that there existed a significant difference between the opinions of students and instructors for some of the questions on the use of literature in language teaching. This difference originates from the departments they study in. In the light of the findings of this study further recommendations have been made. Science Code:ELT 599 IV
The autobiographical reverberations in Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)' post conversion lyrical compositions: A thematic study
The academic study on Yusuf Islam also known as Cat Stevens is rare apart from his rich and inspirational lyrical compositions. In examining Stevens' legacy which is predominantly his songs, it is highly recommended to bring together his autobiography as a well-known world-class musician. A comprehensive literary analysis of his lyrical compositions should, therefore, be connected to his autobiography predominantly his conversion to Islam as one of the crucial life events of Stevens. This study concentrated on the autobiographical reverberations in Stevens' post-conversion lyrical compositions. The main goal is to figure out in what ways Stevens' real-life emotional, psychological, and spiritual experiences reverberated in his songs composed after his conversion to Islam. This study is classified as a thematic analysis by using the close reading technique. It examined six major themes found in Stevens' post-conversion songs. The themes are Islamic identities, Stevens' autobiographical imprint, children, dream, pro-peace/anti-war, and ignorance. The study revealed four main findings. First, Yusuf Islam also known as Cat Stevens has shifted his diction choice from Islamic diction to general diction. Second, he has maintained his pre-conversion song themes in his post-conversion era. Third, he has portrayed disinformation and bias of Western media in his lyrics. Finally, the fourth finding suggests that the artist has criticized the ignorance toward people in need. Keywords: Yusuf Islam, Cat Stevens, Autobiography, Post-Conversion, Lyrics
Bildungsroman experience of secondary worlds of Neil Gaimanand Diana Wynne Jones' fantasy literature
This thesis has demonstrated the formation the Bildungsroman genre has gone through as a result of its convergence with the fantasy literature, which allowed the genre to portray the coming-of-age stories in a supernatural setting. Traditionally, Bildungsroman has been observed as a realistic genre however, with the contemporary popularity of the fantasy genre and as a means to comment on and depict "Bildung" in the contemporary world, this thesis has underlined Bildungsroman has resorted to fantasy. Looking at the examples of their convergence, the thesis has observed a generic mixture of the two genres, naming it "Fantastic Bildungsroman." To this end, the thesis has studied both Bildungsroman and fantasy genres in-depth, and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones have been chosen as the primary texts that portray the convergence of both genres. With the help of these novels many Bildungsroman elements have been observed in fantasy texts and these elements have been analysed to point out how the supernatural contributes to the coming-of-age stories. Fantasy, as the literature of subversion, is explained as a deconstructive force and through the supernatural elements, the expectations from the Bildungsroman genre have been observed to shift with its convergence to fantasy. It has been reflected that both Gaiman and Jones have used fantasy to comment upon coming-of-age stories and subvert the norms of Bildungsroman to broaden the boundaries of the genre so that it can portray a wider range of development stories. It has been stated that "Bildung" also occurs in the "Secondary Worlds" of fantasy and the supernatural elements can provide highly developing experiences.
Islamophobia & the western media: A comparative critical discourse analysis of Anglo-American news media's approach to terror attacks targeting Muslims and non-muslims and the applied double standards
The main purpose of the present study is to analyze the discourse employed by the agenda-setting Anglo-American newspapers, having a wide outreach and the potential to influence public opinion and action, to cover the six devastating terrorist attacks carried out against both Muslims and non-Muslims within the last decade. In accordance with this purpose, the publicly available online archives of Anglo-American news media outlets are searched through to gather the required data to conduct this study, in consequence of which twenty-four news reports in total are selected through purposive sampling. By drawing on Teun van Dijk's qualitative and interdisciplinary Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) method, which has been initially developed to examine the discursive features of news reports and their implications, and by building on the Orientalist and post-colonial scholarship headed by Edward Said, the selected news reports are both comparatively and critically analyzed in terms of the micro and macrostructures such as the headlines, leads, visuals, sentence structures, and rhetoric embedded in their narratives. As a result of the detailed comparative and critical discourse analyses, it is determined that Anglo-American news media outlets play a pivotal role in the fabrication and amplification of Islamophobia, which has escalated specifically in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and currently manifests itself in a great variety of platforms ranging from Hollywood movies to mass media, by way of both the sweeping generalizations they make about the religion of Islam and Muslims, and double standards they systematically apply on the basis of the religious affiliation of both victims and perpetrators of the terrorist incidents. So much so that, while they associate terrorism with Islam and thus incriminating both the religion of Islam and all the Muslims around the globe for the actions of a handful of terrorists, they adopt a protectionist and humanizing stance towards the non-Muslim perpetrators whose religious affiliation they do not even mention once. Key Words: Islamophobia, Critical Discourse Analysis, Anglo-American News Media, Terrorist Attack, Double Standards, Orientalism
Retelling of the classical: Greek mythology and the fantastic literature in Madeline Miller's Circe and Jennifer Saint's ariadne
One of the upcoming areas in literature is the topic of women and writing, that is writing conducted by women, about women's inner lives and worlds through the basis of feminist literary theory and feminist approach. Women writers take a different approach in order to highlight and deconstruct gender roles in various genres and areas. To put it somewhat differently, they examine the canonical literary works through a new lens. The act of revisiting is crucial for developing a feminist literary canon without the exclusion of women in fictional works. This thesis is on the topic of the place of women in fantastic literature focusing on women writers Madeline Miller and Jennifer Saint, who choose to retell the classical myths under the area of fantastic literature. Their aim is to situate women as the main characters while providing insights into the female experiences and perspectives in their works Circe and Ariadne highlight several topics including individuality, domesticity, motherhood, and female identity. They situate the works through a comparison of Homer's The Iliad (800-700 BCE) and The Odyssey (725-675 BCE) and Ovid's Metamorphoses (8 BCE) and Heroides (date of publication unknown, presumed to be 1-20 BCE).
The image of the Ottoman Turk through the eyes of nineteenth century British traveller Julia Pardoe
This thesis aims to analyze the image of Turkish people through the eyes of a nineteenth-century British woman travel writer Julia Pardoe, specifically in her travel narrative The City of the Sultan and the Domestic Manners of Turks, in 1836. The nineteenth century was a period when travel to the East had become more popular than ever in Europe. This era saw many travel narratives written by Western travelers who visited Eastern countries, especially the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, travel literature has become an important genre in Orientalism studies in terms of its vast source of representations of the other, East-West relations, and the image of the East, its people, and culture through the eyes of Westerners. Women travelers have played an immense role in the genre of travel literature during the nineteenth century with their unique access to places in Eastern countries, such as the harem, where their male compatriots had no access to. Therefore, they contributed to the creation of a new image of Eastern people in the eyes of their readers back home, different from the imagined, sexualized, and Orientalist image created by male travelers. Julia Pardoe, as one of these travelers, has a distinctive role in challenging and reshaping the Orientalist discourse prevalent in nineteenth-century travel literature. Using Edward Said's theory of Orientalism, the thesis explores Pardoe's counter-Orientalist approach and her portrayal of Turkish people, culture, and society. The thesis evinces through a detailed examination of Pardoe's descriptions and comments in her narrative that Pardoe puts forth a conscious effort to correct the previous misconceptions about Turkish and Eastern people formed by other travel narratives, offering a more accurate understanding and positive perception of the East. This thesis contributes to the understanding of Pardoe's distinct role within travel literature and her efforts to present a more accurate and nuanced portrayal of the East, challenging Western prejudices and offering a counter-narrative perspective. Key Words: travel literature, Julia Pardoe, Orientalism, women travel writers, image of the Ottoman Turks
The disillusionment of characters in Andrea Levy's Novels Small Island and Fruit of the Lemon
This dissertation explores the theme of immigrant disillusionment in Andrea Levy's novels Small Island and Fruit of the Lemon. Focusing on the experiences of the first and second-generation Windrush immigrant characters as they arrive in England, this study delves into the dissonance between their preconceived notions of the 'Mother Country' as a land of grand opportunities and their actual encounters with a society that challenges their expectations. Through meticulous analysis of character perspectives, interactions, and societal contexts, this dissertation sheds light on how Levy's characters grapple with the stark contrast between their idealized vision of England and the reality of a nation marred by racism and a lack of acceptance for those who defy the boundaries of traditional Englishness. Through its analysis of Levy's evocative portrayals of immigrant experiences, this dissertation contributes to a deeper understanding of the intricate interplay between aspiration and disillusionment within the context of immigration. It sheds light on the emotional, psychological, and cultural conflicts faced by immigrants as they navigate a world that challenges their identities and disrupts their ideals. Ultimately, this research serves to illuminate the enduring relevance of these novels in fostering conversations about the complexities of immigration, belonging, and the disheartening discovery that the 'Mother Country' may not always live up to its promise of acceptance and opportunity.
Identity and homeland in Susan Abulhawa's Mornings in Jenin
The present study aims to analyze the concepts of identity and homeland as represented in Susan Abulhawa's novel Mornings in Jenin (2010). By following the story of four generations, the novel portrays the attachment and the sense of belonging to a homeland, exploring the strong connection to the land and the deep sense of identity the characters show amid different traumas and their ramifications on the characters and their bonds to the land and identity, and deeply tracing the emotional effects of diaspora, exile, and dislocation on the characters' identities and ties to the homeland. The thesis examines how the novel illustrates the strong attachment of the characters to the land and their indomitable sense of identity. The novel explores the profound impact of the characters' deep-rooted connection to the land on their sense of belonging and existence, as well as the traumatic experiences challenging them. More precisely, the thesis will approach the novel as a literary narrative charting the impacts of exile, diaspora, loss, and displacement on various characters' sense of home and identity formations. To this end, through the lens of postcolonial literary criticism, Edward Said's theory of Orientalism is employed as an analytical and insightful framework. Postcolonial theory, which accentuates the impacts of external factors on the inhabitants and such issues as homeland and identity and the processes that create societies, can be utilized to interpret and analyze the novel in relation to the conceptualizations of identity and homeland. It suggests that identity is a dynamic process shaped by historical, cultural, heritage, and discursive factors. Said's theory is essential for examining the case of identity, imaginative geographies, and notions such as homeland and identity. Moreover, the theoretical framework is pivotal for a thorough comprehension of the roles of history, cultural heritage, the impact of experiences of suffering, and the sense of loss created by diaspora, exile, and dislocation in identity formation and the relation between the characters and sense of home. The study concludes that experiences of trauma strengthen and crystallize the intrinsic ties of the characters in the novel to the land and their identity. Based on the reading of Mornings in Jenin, the main argument in this thesis is that the novel's characters' steadfast attachment to the land and ancestral heritage shape and determine their identity. However, despite the traumatic experiences that challenge the characters' ties to their roots and sense of home, places, and existence, these challenges have ultimately strengthened and solidified their bond to the homeland and perception of identity, as represented in the novel. Consequently, the novel suggests that the characters' connection to the land plays a pivotal role, even in the face of hardships, in sustaining and maintaining their identity, their being, and a sense of belonging that persists across generations; thereby, the concepts of homeland and identity are interconnected.
Ideal society in Nizami Ganjavi's Iskandarname and Thomas More's Utopia
The conception of an ideal society has been one of the central themes of literature throughout history across different cultures and languages. Originating in Plato's Republic (375 B.C.) in the fourth century B.C., the idea of an ideal society evolved in various genres and styles, such as poetry or prose. Representative of Western literature, English philosopher Sir Thomas More's Utopia (1516), shaped by European fifteenth century historical context for instance has been considered as a significant contribution to utopian literature. Muslim philosopher Abu Nasr Al-Farabi (870-950), who harmonized Plato's ideal city concepts with Islamic doctrines became an important text in eastern utopian literary tradition. Azerbaijani philosopher Nizami Ganjavi, one of the earlier examples of utopian concept from the twelfth century, also adopted this framework of ideal society in his poem Iskandarname (1194 or 1196-1202). This thesis compares eastern and western utopian traditions as represented by Thomas More's Utopia and Nizami Ganjavi's Iskandarname. Focusing on both works' conceptions of the individual and daily life, economy and work, religion and freedom as well as governance and justice systems. Iskandarname and Utopia emphasize the importance of nature, animals, and human relationships in society, highlighting the significance of bodily care and healthy eating habits. They contrast barbaric and civilized societies, emphasizing the need for harmony and peace. They believe in afterlife, divine power, and gratitude for God's favour. Both societies evolved into prosperous cities through hard work, with disobedience seen as misbehaviour and expulsion as punishment. However, there are differences in ideologies and cultural specifics. Nizami's ideal city lacks class distinction, while More's Utopia mentions slaves and a governance system. Iskandarname dreams of peace and worshipping God, while Utopia focuses more on societal routines and a large group of idle priests, religious men, and wealthy noblemen. Despite these differences, both works highlight the importance of nature, animals, and human relationships in society. By comparing and contrasting, and generating the similarities and differences between Iskandarname and Utopia, the research aims to rethink, reassess, and acknowledge the diverse ideals held by nearly every culture. Iskandarname and Utopia provides an opportunity to see variations and parallels in the concept of the perfect society over time. The thesis aims to determine that, Ganjavi's ideal society is similar to More's, emphasizing the connection established with nature and the value of animals in society. Both works are utopian, but Iskandarname is more idealized, transcending equality for equity, while More's Utopia is based on equality.
A Psychoanalytic approach to the Machiavellian characters in Christopher Marlowe's plays
Niccolo Machiavelli was an iconic figure in the Renaissance Period especially due to his radical views in The Prince. In its essence, Machiavellianism encourages the individual to perform whatever is necessary to reach one's goals. It is a moral issue at the same time since Machiavelli's The Prince does not have a perception of limitation so as to obtain the ultimate power. Due to its rapidly increasing popularity, many Elizabethan playwrights adapted the embodiment of Machiavellian hero that Machiavelli describes in his The Prince into their plays extensively. Therefore, this thesis focuses on Marlowe's understanding of Machiavellianism and his portrayal of the Machiavellian heroes in his plays. In the thesis, Marlowe's plays entitled Tamburlaine, Doctor Faustus, The Jew of Malta are analysed. Particularly, this study aims to reveal psychoanalytic patterns of the Machiavellian characters in Christopher Marlowe's plays. Hence, this thesis examines both the inner desires, anxieties, and fears of these characters and Marlowe's autobiographical patterns at the same time. Moreover, this study also attempts to find an answer if the characters' Machiavellianism and their use of rhetoric truly help to achieve their goals or not. Although they can be simply characterized as mere "villains" who are driven by their passions, greed, and excessive pride; Machiavellian characters' psychological motifs will help us to understand the reasons underneath their urge to do wicked things. Besides, the Machiavellian heroes' interaction with other characters, their influence on them, and their relations to Machiavellianism are remarkable points that need to be clarified and to be analysed in further detail. Thus, this thesis attempts to provide answers for a better understanding of Marlowe's attitude towards Elizabethan setting and the concept of the Renaissance.
Matricentric feminist reading of Elisa Albert's After Birth (2015) and Sheila Heti's Motherhood (2018)
This thesis examines Elisa Albert's After Birth (2015) and Sheila Heti's Motherhood (2018) from the perspective of matricentric feminism. First coined by Andrea O'Reilly in 2016, matricentric feminism enables a reading that centralizes maternal experience, mothers' needs, and motherhood itself in an epistemological stand. Employed in this thesis, this theory sheds light on the ways how After Birth and Motherhood rethink and reconstruct the concept of motherhood. The research, which is positioned within the cultural and political atmosphere of fourth-wave feminism, suggests that motherhood is a multilayered concept. It is shaped by social, cultural, political and psychological elements. In the dialogue with this perspective, both After Birth and Motherhood depict motherhood not as a stable or universally shared condition but as an experience marked by ambivalence, fragmentation, and negotiation. These works show that motherhood includes many complexities, challenges, and alternatives, including forms of mothering that extend beyond biological maternity. The thesis follows a thematic and structural approach in the analysis of After Birth and Motherhood and seeks to find an answer to how these texts fictionalize the emotional and bodily complexities of motherhood alongside its non-traditional possibilities.
Examining silence and gender themes in feminist Bildungsromane in the light of écriture feminine: Clarice Lispector's Near To The Wild Heart and Angela Carter's The Magic Toyshop
This thesis investigates the intertwined relationship between silence and gender in Clarice Lispector's Near to the Wild Heart (1943) and Angela Carter's The Magic Toyshop (1967) within the framework of écriture féminine. By employing the theoretical perspectives of Hélène Cixous, Julia Kristeva, and Luce Irigaray, the study explores how both writers subvert patriarchal discourse by transforming silence—a concept historically associated with female oppression—into a site of expression, resistance, and self-construction. The analysis demonstrates that Lispector and Carter, through their protagonists Joana and Melanie, reformulate the traditional bildungsroman structure, turning it into a feminist bildungsroman that privileges interiority, fragmentation, and the body over linear social integration. Silence, in their novels, becomes a linguistic and bodily practice through which the female self articulates identity beyond the symbolic order. Drawing on Cixous' concept of body-writing, Kristeva's semiotic chora, and Irigaray's mimicry, the thesis argues that both writers employ silence not as a lack of speech but as a generative form of feminine language. Through close textual readings, this research reveals that silence functions as a mode of writing that inscribes resistance and autonomy into the female experience. Lispector's introspective prose and Carter's myth-reversing narratives illustrate how écriture féminine dismantles masculine language and redefines the parameters of voice, identity, and authorship. Ultimately, this study concludes that silence—when reframed through écriture féminine—becomes a radical feminist strategy that challenges patriarchal norms and opens new possibilities for expressing female subjectivity within modernist and postmodernist traditions.
The echoes of the wound on stage: The voice of post-war trauma reflected in In-Yer-Face Theatre and Butoh
This study explores how trauma, both personal and collective, is expressed through two radically different theatre traditions: In-Yer-Face Theatre from the UK and Butoh from Japan. Grounded in the trauma theories of Freud and Cathy Caruth, the research investigates how literature and performance function as mediums through which the voice of trauma is articulated. Following the devastating aftermath of World War II and the nuclear bombings in Japan, societies across the globe were left grappling with wounds too deep to articulate through conventional means. In-Yer-Face Theatre, characterized by graphic violence, verbal aggression, and emotional intensity, confronts the audience directly, breaking traditional theatrical boundaries to provoke action. In contrast, Butoh relies on silence, grotesque physical expression, and symbolic imagery to evoke a more introspective and embodied experience of trauma. Through a comparative analysis of Sarah Kane's Blasted and Kazuo Ohno's My Mother, this thesis examines how each form translates trauma into performance, highlighting the cultural distinctions in their approaches. While both traditions aim to disturb and awaken their audiences, their methods, verbal vs. physical, confrontational vs. contemplative, reflect differing national histories, aesthetic values, and understandings of suffering. This research not only adds to the individual scholarship on each theatre form but also offers a unique cross-cultural perspective on the performative expression of trauma. Key Words: Trauma Theory, In-Yer-Face Theatre, Butoh, Collective Trauma, Performance Studies
Tracing the tragic through Ancient Greek theatre and Howard Barker's Theatre of Catastrophe
In this thesis, the continuities between the institutional and intellectual foundations of Ancient Greek theatre and Howard Barker's Theatre of Catastrophe are examined. The examination considers the continuum between ancient and contemporary tragedy through three intrinsic institutes that are catastrophe, catharsis, and chorus. It first considers the transition of rituals rooted in the Dionysian cult into the formation of tragedy, then conducts a contrastive assessment of Aeschylus' Agamemnon (458 BCE), Sophocles' Oedipus the King (c. 433 BCE), and Euripides' Medea (431 BCE) with Barker's Blok/Eko (2011). The thesis insists that Barker resists the Aristotelian theorisation of theatre as an ethical and instructional foundational form, which resituates art as an aesthetic extension of existence. In contrast to the Aristotelian theorisation of catastrophe, catharsis, and chorus as an ethical institution, Barker's theatre situates ethical intent inconclusive. Methodologically, the thesis utilises intertextual and intellectual examination of theatrical texture. The outcomes construe that catastrophe no longer constitutes a denouement but a detriment. The archaic catharsis that consolidated the audience turned into anti-catharsis that confronted the audience with dislocation, dissolution, and distortion. The chorus no longer represents collective consciousness; instead, it echoes the fragmented and erratic individualism. The transition is assessed as a structural stance to the ethical and existential isolation of the modern individual. In conclusion, the thesis reveals that Barker's Theatre of Catastrophe revived the Dionysian foundation of tragedy. It reverses moderation in favour of excess, ethical coherence in favour of ambiguity, and harmony in favour of solitude. In this sense, Barker's resistance to Aristotelian form associated his artistic attitude with a Nietzschean force. This stance asserts an autonomous aesthetic as a constitution of tragedy construction. Thus, tragedy is conceived not as ethical inculcation but as a confrontation with incoherence within existence. Keywords: Howard Barker, Tragedy, Catastrophe, Catharsis, Chorus
The reasons of the dilemma between individual desires and social priorities in Edith Wharton's novels
Edith Wharton?s The Age of Innocence (1920) and The House of Mirth (1905) are discussed in this study as they depict the Gilded Age that emerged during the years after the Civil War (from 1870s to 1900) with its most distinctive aspects. Although Wharton spent most of her life out of America, in her novels she illustrates a New York society in which the wealthy set is dominant, social conventions are regarded as priorities and even, when necessary, the individuals are sacrificed for these conventions. The conventions, social life, men - women relationships, prejudices and morals of the time are presented in detail. Wharton depicts a society dominated by money and, people in that society are accepted or denounced according to their wealth. Unlike these two novels, in Ethan Frome (1911), an impoverished family and the members? lives in a small village are penned.Wharton herself lived a distressing life. Raised to be an ideal Victorian girl, she encountered problems in her family and marriage. She often had difficulties to adopt the suffocating conventions of her social circle and these led her into personal dilemmas. Her family preferred her to get married, but she wanted to become a writer. In her marriage, her husband?s mental instability and his relationship with a young woman which led to their divorce became a problematic period for Wharton. These experiences of the writer are also reflected in the characters she depicts: in The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth, the effect of social conventions on individuals is considerably felt. In The House of Mirth, a woman who is raised to marry, just like Wharton, is portrayed. In Ethan Frome, Zeena is a sickly woman and she leads her husband to financial and spiritual problems. The common point of The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome is that main male characters love other women. Much as they live in distinct societies and conditions, characters share a common feature: their social priorities overwhelm what they want to do and lead them to dilemma. As they cannot set a balance between their priorities and the social environment they live in, they are stuck in difficult positions as a result of which they live unhappy lives. These positions are presented along with the reasons leading the characters to these points. In addition, how their choices affect their lives is highlighted. Each character is influenced by this process in different ways:At the beginning of The Age of Innocence, Newland Archer is about to marry May Welland who is suitable for the society with all her features, but Archer falls in love with Countess Ellen Olenska, who is his wife?s cousin just returning from Europe. He will either marry May and maintain his social position or go to distant places with the Countess and be excluded from the society he lives in. Newland prefers to marry May and he keeps his love for the Countess for long years in his heart. Here we understand that Archer has a dilemma due to his fear of losing his social status. In The House of Mirth, Lily Bart is a character who is in the quest for a wealthy spouse so as to gain status in the society. On the other hand, she loves Selden who is a lawyer from the middle class. As Selden cannot provide her with the prosperous life she desired, she keeps herself away from him. At the end of the novel, she is not able to reach either of her desires ? wealth and Selden ? and even if not intentionally, she commits suicide and dies. In Ethan Frome, Ethan leads a life with his hypochondriac wife Zeena who wears him away both financially and spiritually. One day, a young and beautiful girl named Mattie who is his wife?s cousin settles the farm in order to take care of his wife and household. Ethan falls in love with Mattie and he also learns that his love is reciprocal. However, when jealous Zeena is aware of their love, and wants to send Mattie from the house, the lovers who could not tolerate breaking up resolve to commit suicide. At the last moment, Ethan thinks that his wife could not overcome the hard conditions under which they live alone, because their saw-mill and farm are mortgaged. They also have no money sufficient enough to get by. Therefore, Ethan avoids the suicide and he and Mattie are involved in the accident disabling them both and leaving them dependent on Zeena.Another reason leading the characters to dilemma is the Victorian morality. In The Age of Innocence, May, being aware of the love between Ellen and her husband, tells Ellen that she is pregnant in order to keep her away from her husband and Ellen leaves the city at the end. Learning he is going to have a child, Archer does not leave May and she regains her husband even if she leaves him in despair. In The House of Mirth, Bertha Dorset causes Lily to be ostracized from the wealthy set and her family circle, gossiping about her flirtation with her husband. Afterwards, in order not to be called as mistress, Lily avoids herself making debut into the wealthy group which she desires most and begins to lead a life in poverty. In Ethan Frome, Ethan?s thinking of his wife even on the verge of death could be also dealt in ethical points.Key Words : Wharton, Dilemma, Personal Desires, Social Priorities
American business ethic in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross and American Buffalo
In general, the socio-cultural, political and economic transformations of the United States of America are historically conveyed and its contemporary state and overtones are revealed in the thesis. This thesis is basically focused on the analysis of American business ethic and anomie in two of David Mamet?s `business trilogy?; Glengarry Glen Ross and American Buffalo. It is put forward that how the socio-cultural merits and values turn out to be exploitable commodities in the free market mentality of the system, in the course of the character?s struggle of survival in American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross which are designed as the microcosms of American capitalist system. Specifically, the anomic characters, in the labyrinth of the American business system, who are constantly oriented by the pressures of the American dream, are observed.In the introduction chapter, the emergence of modern American drama in relation to the emergence of modern America in an historical context and David Mamet?s distinguished place as a dramatist are revised. In Chapter I malpractices and aftermaths of the American business system as tragic imperatives on Mamet?s characters are examined. In addition, the norms of survival in Mametian business world and further ramifications are presented. In the second chapter, the very results of the ethics-lacking setting referring to the anomie theories of Emile Durkheim, Robert Merton, Steven F. Messner and Richard Rosenfeld are mentioned. Durkheim?s thesis of `insufficient normative regulation? of individuals? activities and social standarts, Merton?s deinstitutionalization, spring from the detachment/imbalance between `culturally approved goals? and `institutionally approved means of achieving these goals?, and Messner?s given socio-cultural panorama in which high crime rates are related to the excessive cultural emphasis on the American dream of financial gain, are used to explain the Mametian sense of anomie. In general, beyond the commodification of the socio-cultural values in the name of the business, in the thesis it is also aimed to reveal how this process itself and all its deviant extensions are normalized and justified by the characters. Both chapters are concerned with the conflicts and inapplicability of the norms of the American business system and its deleterious effects on individual and social terms. General deductions, obtained in the light of aforementioned theories and the presentation of American business world in Mamet?s plays, are presented in the conclusion part.
John Keats?s attitudes towards death and how he copes with the idea of mortality
In this thesis, John Keats?(1795-1821), one of the greatest literary figures of English literature in the Romantic period attitudes towards death and the ways he copes with it will be dealt with. Keats got to know death at a very early age. His father died as a result of an accident and his mother died of tuberculosis. His brother, Tom, died of the same illness in a later period of his life. Keats himself is suffering from tuberculosis, too. He knows his end will be the same. All these, of course, affected deeply someone with a sensitive heart like Keats and this effect was reflected in his works.The thesis is divided into three parts. In the first part, a brief account of his life will be given, putting the emphasis on his tragic affair with death. His attitudes towards death will be given in the second part and his ways of coping with it in the third part.Key Words: John Keats, Death, Immortality, Attitudes Towards Death, Ways of Coping With Death
İlköğretim okulu dördüncü sınıfta İngilizce derslerinin planlanması ve uygulanmasına ilişkin bir değerlendirme (Elazığ ili örneği)
IV ABSTRACT Master's Thesis Aynur YÜKSEL AN EVALUATION OF ENGLİSH TEACHİNG PROGRAMME AND IMPLEMENTATIONS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS (4TH GRADE) (ELAZI? SAMPLE) HRAT UNIVERSITY THE INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT 2001, Page 100 This thesis presents and discusses the present implementation of the English classes in the 4th grade in primary schools. In this respect, the thesis was organised under different concerns considering the status of the teachers teaching English to 4th graders; the programme stated by the Ministry of Education; application of the programme in the 4th grade; general views of the teachers about the programme and the teaching environment, methodology and the attitudes of the students towards English classes respectively. Additionally, the applications in the classroom setting were presented. Finally, the techniques, methods, classroom activities, the teaching aids and activities that are assigned to the students were analysed. The population was limited to 64 teachers teaching English to 4th graders in primary schools. The questionnaire was developed by the researcher. The analysis presented that children exhibit a positive attitude towards English. However, the teachers teaching in primary schools who were novice teachers were trained in different majors. The results of this study revealed that the number of teaching hours were not sufficient and the classes were over -crowded. The programme was stated to be, more or less, applicable to the classroom setting. Ultimately, more teaching aids and materials were required to establish a sound teaching environment. All the results suggested that new English Education programmes were required to provide qualified English teachers. The forthcoming teachers should be trained to teach English, especially, to children. For the currently employed teachers, the Ministry of Education should organise seminars or in-service training programmes. Though the programme for the 4th grades seemed adequate, studies should be carried out to develop a more sufficient programme and provide the continuity of the programmes in different grades. The teaching hours should be increased and the size of the classes should be decreased. The teachers should be provided with an opportunity to arrange their classes to achieve the best teaching environment. Finally, the Ministry of Education should provide the schools with teaching aids and teaching materials. Key words: Basic Education Schools, English teaching.
The problem of otherness in George Eliot's The Mill on The Floss, Silas Marner, and Middlemarch
This thesis examines how societal contradictions shape identity and otherness in the Victorian era, focusing on George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, and Middlemarch. Drawing on Julia Kristeva's feminist theoretical framework, especially her concepts of abjection and melancholia, the study explores the profound impact of the Industrial Revolution and urbanization on identity construction. Mikhail Bakhtin's theories of heteroglossia, dialogism, and the carnivalesque provide a complementary social and linguistic perspective to Kristeva's psychoanalytic approach, offering insights into identity and marginalization. In The Mill on the Floss, Maggie Tulliver's family dynamics, gender dilemmas, and societal expectations are analyzed through Kristeva's semiotic and symbolic theories, Bakhtin's dialogism, and the carnivalesque. In Silas Marner, strangeness is explored through the application of Kristeva's theory of abjection to Silas's alienation and identity transformation, framed by Bakhtin's concepts of dialogism and heteroglossia. Finally, Dorothea Brooke's identity formation, desires, and rebellion are explored in Middlemarch, within the social constraints of her time, highlighting Kristeva's melancholia, abjection, and strangeness theories. Bakhtin's theories of dialogism and heteroglossia are employed to examine Dorothea's struggle with established gender roles. This thesis underscores how Eliot's narratives mirror societal conflicts, providing a critical framework for analyzing identity, gender, and otherness. By integrating Kristevan psychoanalysis with Bakhtinian dialogism, it offers insight into Eliot's contributions to the discourse on societal change and individual formation.
A lacanian reading of Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and Zadie Smith's White Teeth
This study aims to examine two contemporary British novels, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson and White Teeth by Zadie Smith from the perspective of Lacanian psychoanalysis. The self-discovery processes of the female characters in both novels render it possible to carry out this study in the light of Lacan's psychoanalytic criticism. In this respect, Jeanette, the protagonist, from Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and Irie, one of the major characters, from White Teeth are to be analysed within the framework of Lacan's key concepts: the Mirror Stage, unconscious desire, the theory of sexuation, and his three Orders called the Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real. Within their Lacanian journeys of self-discovery, both Jeanette and Irie undergo similar conflicts and challenges in the course of their identity formation. Living through complex familial relationships and romantic entanglements, both female characters struggle to achieve their desired identities in spite of the constraints imposed by their respective symbolic discourses. While Jeanette explores her sexual identity as a lesbian woman despite her strictly religious environment, Irie discovers her racial identity as a mixed-race woman in a multicultural environment predominantly shaped by white British culture. Hence, for this study, these two young women's individual experiences as Lacanian subjects in different symbolic discourses are considered distinctive examples to reveal the Lacanian psychological identity construction process.
Colonization of woman in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Christina Dalcher's Vox
This thesis examines two contemporary dystopian novels, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and Vox by Christina Dalcher, from a feminist perspective, focusing on the systemic strategies that patriarchal ideologies employ to reinforce dominance and suppress female autonomy. Both novels depict societies in which oppressive regimes strengthen institutionalized patriarchal ideology through education, religion, language control, constructed gender roles, distinguished spheres, and panoptic surveillance to maintain the dominant ideology. Furthermore, this study investigates how these means are used to objectify, commodify, silence, control, and confine women to the private sphere, aligning with Simone de Beauvoir's concept of women as the 'second sex'. It also examines how female identity is defined and constructed by patriarchal structures that reshape gender roles, positioning women as silent, obedient, and submissive figures. Women's autonomy is systematically erased and undermined through political and theological strategies of subjugation, with both texts illustrating how such oppression is normalized under ideological extremism. Subjected to the political and religious control of patriarchy, women struggle to retain their autonomy. The Handmaid's Tale and Vox reveal the colonization of women's bodies, identities, and voices under oppressive patriarchal authorities. The theme of resistance, explicitly or subtly, is also portrayed throughout this thesis, as the novels under discussion serve as cautionary tales that underscore the dangers of patriarchal control and the silencing of women. Ultimately, this thesis highlights the importance of awareness of women's suppression and calls attention to the need to question and resist dominant ideologies that reduce women to subordinate identities, advocating for the recognition of women as autonomous and equal individuals.
Parody of the academy in the novels of david lodge and malcolm bradbury
This thesis explores a comparison of two of the principal craftsmen of Modern BritishFiction, David Lodge and Malcolm Bradbury, whose works, as well as their lives, areimmensely interrelated and dialogic. My attention is devoted especially to the two authors'differing deployment of postmodernism and post-structuralist theory, as well as variants ofmore traditional devices such as parody, satire, and double imagery in a discourse aimed atcriticizing the academy by being seriously funny. I also underline both authors? contributioninto the academic novel with their representative works while keeping the development thissub-genre as a background to this study and analysing it according to the perceptions ofElaine Showalter in Faculty Towers: The Academic Novel and Its Discontents (2005).This study takes into consideration four novels by David Lodge: (The Picturegoers(1960), The British Museum is Falling Down (1965), Changing Places (1975), and SmallWorld (1984)) and three novels by Malcolm Bradbury namely Eating People is Wrong(1959), Stepping Westward (1965), The History Man (1975), and a novella titled Mensonge:My Strange Quest for Structuralism?s Hidden Hero (1987). During the course of the study, Iconsult and refer to various literary criticisms written by both authors as well as other theoriesof the major critics of literary theory but my utmost attention is on Mikhail Bakhtin?sconception of parody with means of having ?dualistic characteristics? that is directly linkedwith his idea of ?Carnival?.In my comparison of these two equally talented craftsmen, I concentrate on two mainpoints. My first point is to analyse both authors? treatment of the academy through theirimaginary characters that are mainly shaped as academics, who are pictured in an endlessquest for recognition and power. My second point is an attempt to reply Amanda Craig?swondering in her review of David Lodge?s Consciousness and the Novel (2002), ? ? why[David Lodge], unlike Bradbury, has not been knighted yet for his services to literature [for]he is the much better critic and novelist? (2).
The Fate of Innocence and Independence in the Corrupt European Society: A Study of Henry James's American Girls in Daisy Miller, The Portrait of a Lady, and The Wings of The Dove
In this thesis, in one novella and two novels by Henry James, namely Daisy Miller, ThePortrait of a Lady, and The Wings of the Dove, the innocent and the independent Americangirl?s predicament against conventional, patriarchal, and conservative Europe society of thelate nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, her free will against her fate, herimaginative desire, her love relations, and her subject position in the marriage institution arestudied.In this context, The American woman?s dilemma in the patriarchal processes of the corruptedEurope will be foregrounded in .Daisy Miller, The Portrait of a Lady, and The Wings of theDove by the readings of the feminist theoreticians of the period.
Self,intention and confession in "confessions","deliverance from error" and"circumfession"
The central concern of this thesis is to explore the different and similar ways in which three self writers (Augustine, Ghazali and Derrida), who lived in different times in history and belong to different religious traditions tackle the problems of ?self portrayal? and ?truth? in their confessional works: Confessions (397-398), Deliverance from Error (1090-1100) and Circumfession (1989-1990). The life stories seek to display the inner world and the intellectual concerns of their authors. Since the writers construct their stories on or around their respective belief systems and the role their beliefs play in the way they conceive of themselves, Christian, Sufi and Jewish mysticisms are discussed in a separate chapter of the thesis. In the chapters focusing on the texts of the authors, the similarities but mainly the differences in the way each writer approaches ?religion?, ?truth? and ?world? are discussed. The chapter on the Confessions analyzes Augustine?s self portrayal in the context of Augustine?s intentions and his commitment to Christianity. Here, the significance of God?s grace and other Christian dogma for Augustine are studied with references to the text. In the section on Ghazali?s Deliverance from Error discussions concentrate on the performative nature of Ghazali?s writing and the way his intention erases the private self of the writer and gives the readers an account of the struggles of a Sufi believer on the way to Truth. Derrida?s Circumfession is shown to be a multilayer text in which Augustine?s Confessions, Bennington?s Derridabase, Derrida?s own interpretations of these texts and his own life as a text are written and rewritten as supplements of one another.
A narrative of the life of Mrs. Charlotte Charke and the eighteenth century English society
This thesis seeks to display the struggles of the women of eighteenth century England to have a profession, a self and a life of their own. Charlotte Charke?s autobiography portrays these problems in ways which are on the one hand very contemporary (depicting the psychology and the socio-cultural and economic concerns of its writer), on the other very traditional and dated since it follows the eighteenth century male autobiographical writing practices, reflecting the artistic, religious, class and sexual biases of its age. Accordingly, the thesis first discusses the important aspects of autobiographical writing. It is followed by a brief panorama of the autobiographical practices from its origins till the eighteenth century. Then, it seeks to examine the ways in which the socio-cultural events of mid-eighteenth century have changed Charke?s life and contributed to her self-fashioning and the self we find in her autobiography. The changes that are mentioned and discussed are: a redefinition of the middle class and middle class consciousness, the value given to arts and letters, the decline of royal patronage, how bookseller-publishers replace the aristocracy in financing literary productions, the way women are perceived in eighteenth century English society, the split between the public and private spheres, and the rising levels of literacy and its effects on the education of women. By giving such a lengthy discussion of the eighteenth century English society, the thesis hopes to highlight the significance of Charlotte Charke?s autobiography in displaying the struggles of the women of her society to have a respectable self and a profession through which they can survive.
Magical realism in Toni Morrison's Beloved and Song of Solomon
This thesis examines magical realism in literature and its reflections on Toni Morrison?s two novels Beloved and Song of Solomon. As an African-American writer whose aim is to represent the reality of black people in America, Morrison not only narrates the realistic events and people but also ghosts, magical characters and extraordinary events. Combining rational stories that are considered as the reflections of her American heritage and magical ones that are derived from her African heritage, the author narrates the reality of African-Americans from different aspects.In the first part of the thesis the history and meaning of magical realism is explored. Then the movement is compared with other literary movements such as; realism, postmodernism, surrealism and the fantastic. The second part seeks to prove that there are magical realist elements in Morrison?s novels. In order to display the realistic events that have been recorded or experienced and the supernatural characters, events and myths in Morrison?s novels, the books are observed in details. Moreover, the narration of Morrison and the important themes of her novels are also emphasized.Finally, this thesis explains how and why Morrison uses magical realism in her two novels and suggests that through magical realism the writer portrays the expanded reality of African-Americans that is not only realistic but also magical.
Zamyatin, Huxley, and Orwell: Utopian ideals and dystopian worlds
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the transformation of utopian dream to dystopian reality through an analysis of Yevgeny Zamyatin?s We (1921), Aldous Huxley?s Brave New World (1932) and George Orwell?s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). Zamyatin, Huxley and Orwell present a prophetic vision to make a warning against a future totalitarian dictatorship by displaying the desperate mood of the protagonist who struggles to preserve his identity and individuality yet ultimately fails in his attempt.The thesis begins with the analysis of utopian ideals which are based on equality and solidarity among people in the illuminating light of Thomas More?s Utopia. For this purpose, the Introduction part elucidates utopia and utopian characteristics as a literary genre starting with More?s Utopia with the help of the ideas of critics. Then, it seeks to discuss the characteristics of utopian and dystopian fiction and how utopian ideals are changed. In the first, second and third chapters the eclipse of the utopian ideals is introduced in three dystopian novels; We, Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four. These chapters discuss how utopian ideal of solidarity is replaced with uniformity of individuals to turn them into identical citizens, who are under constant gaze of an omniscient and omnipotent ruler. So they depart from individualism and freedom. The future totalitarian states in these three novels control the consciousness and imagination of man through manipulating a highly developed technology for surveillance and torture. In these technological worlds, people are designed to serve the demands of the state through a strict control of their genetic qualities. The dystopian character who does not have an identity is desperate for his individuality and emotions. Moreover, restriction on language and distortion of both history and literature add more to this despair and pessimistic mood of the dystopia. The themes which can be seen as utopian ideals in More?s Utopia are reversed, with dystopian reality and transformed into a dark vision through the annihilation of imagination and emotions in We, Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four.This dissertation is therefore primarily organized around these topics, to show that utopia and dystopia mingle with each other and it will demonstrate and exemplify that eradication of emotions, imagination and individuality in utopias of these three authors? works merely create dystopian dark worlds.
Samuel Beckett: A postmodern playwright of silence and negation
In this study, Samuel Beckett?s four plays, Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Krapp?s Last Tape and Not I, will be analyzed with a view to highlighting Beckett?s major concerns as a postmodern playwright. These plays were chosen on the grounds that they comprise the main themes of Beckett?s drama and illustrate how he subverts the norms and conventions of traditional drama in order to convey the plight of the modern man in a meaningless world that is devoid of stable values and that therefore resists any traditional interpretations. An in-depth analysis of Company and Stirrings Still will also be offered as these two particular prose works, written in the later period of Beckett?s career, shed light on his previous plays and fictional writings by `revisiting? them in numerous references and allusions.
Wilde against Victorian England
This work seeks to display Wilde?s art, aesthetic and moral principles and the practice of these concepts in The Picture of Dorian Gray as well as in his play The Importance of Being Earnest. Wilde?s art and morality cannot be separated and have to be assessed together to understand his approach to art and morality clearly. In this study, Wilde?s art, aesthetics and moral vision are discussed in relation to the Victorian period and are depicted as a protest to the aesthetic and moral views of the period. Evaluation of Wilde?s moral vision and aesthetics in this respect illuminates his discussion of The Picture of Dorian Gray and provides a useful approach to the interpretation of The Importance of Being Earnest. In accordance with this target, the depiction of the social dynamics of the Victorian Era is followed by a brief discussion of Victorian moral values, which developed under the influence of this social structure. Later Wilde?s moral principles that appeared as the antithesis of Victorian morality are assessed and then prior to the literary exploration of Wilde, in order to contextualise him in the period, the observation of Victorian literature is included in the discussion. Subsequently, Wilde?s art and aesthetics, which developed in this period, are analyzed bearing his relationship to aesthetic and decadent traditions in mind. Later on, the aesthetic and moral values he adopted in The Picture of Dorian Gray and in The Importance of Being Earnest are analyzed as a rejection of Victorian moral and aesthetic values; his refusal of conventional Victorian values is investigated by utilizing details from his works as a source for the argument.
Woman and love in medieval courtly literature: The real and the fictional
The purpose of this study is to examine the formal and thematic interaction of the poetry of medieval Arabs with Western literature through the Troubadour poets in France. In the love poetry of Arabs, where divine love is the central theme, the poet?s muse is sometimes described as an unattainable divine being, sometimes as a very beautiful woman with earthly qualities. This attitude to woman observed in the poems of Arab writers has had a significant influence, firstly on the Troubadour poets of Southern France, then through the French and the Italian writers on the English. In tracing this influence the present study also tries to draw attention on the paradoxes and dilemmas inherent in the presentation of courtly love and the image of the woman which arise from the unrealistic conditions of life in medieval Europe. In medieval Christian societies ?woman? was seen either as Eve, the temptress to be avoided by men or as Virgin Mary, the unreal, unattainable noble and virgin lady who could not be a wife and a beloved but a divinity to be adored. The present study argues that the courtly love poetry that had its sources in Arabic and Troubadour poems foregrounds the irreconcilability of fact and fiction concerning the medieval European man?s approach to the concepts of love and the ?woman?.In building this argument the study will analyze first the love poetry of three early medieval Arab poets namely: Ibn Hazm, Ibn Quzman and Ibn Arabi, who are considered the leading figures of Arabic literature; and then The Knight?s Tale of Geoffrey Chaucer and Le Morte Darthur of Thomas Malory as the two most well-known chivalric love romances of British medieval literature.
Failure of American dream in Arthur Miller's plays
The purpose of this study is to portray the failure of the American dream as represented in Arthur Miller?s plays. The promises of the American dream render it attractive for many people. Throughout history, the United States has been conceived as a country that provides economic, social and political welfare to all her citizens. Accordingly, people living in the United States would reach high economic, social and political standards by working hard and making use of proper opportunities. While the reality of that dream is far more complicated, expectations and hopes have attracted immigrants from all over the world. However, people who chase after this dream mostly witnessed its illusory side. Economically they have perished in the capitalist system; socially they have lost their identity; and politically they have witnessed the lack of freedom of opinion and speech. For that reason, the failure of the American dream has been criticized and discussed by many historians and writers. Arthur Miller is one of the passionate advocates who depicts the failure of the American dream in his plays. This thesis attempts to trace Arthur Miller?s engagement with the American dream in his plays, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, and A View from the Bridge. Although economic, political and social dimensions of the problem are necessarily intermingled, the thesis will concentrate on the economic dimension in Death of a Salesman, political dimension in The Crucible, and social dimension in A View from the Bridge.
Deconstruction of conventional gender and identity through rewriting in Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry
The purpose of this study is to examine the gender issues in rewriting in Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry. Rewriting is the act of reexamining, rewording, reconceptualizing the classics with a certain perspective in contemporary world. In literary history, there are a lot of examples for rewriting and the writers all have different purposes in their acts. Political, postcolonial and feminist rewritings are the most popular techniques to be employed by writers. Among these, feminist rewriting with its gender and identity concerns can be taken as the most popular since it deals with both the physicality and the psychology of the self. In general, the inferior position of women in a patriarchal society is criticized in feminist theory. In order to achieve such criticism, rewriters like Winterson use the classics to give a different perspective and place to the women in society. In building up this argument, the concept of rewriting will be explained in detail in the light of the theories of Saussure, Kristeva and Bakhtin. After giving the theoretical background of rewriting, this thesis will specifically focus upon the gender issues in rewriting under the guidance of the feminist theory. Along with the theoretical discussion, Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry which is the rewritten version of the popular German fairy tale the Twelve Dancing Princesses will be examined in depth.
An analysis of two translations of Mrs. Dalloway into Turkish
This study focuses on the Turkish translations of the work entitled Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf who is a world literature author. Woolf used in her novel Mrs. Dalloway the stream of conciouness technique for the first time. This precious novel has been translated into Turkish twice. In this study, the aim will be to analyze these translations comparatively which are today available in the bookshelves of the bookstores in Turkey. The first part of this study will focus on analyzing this technique in Mrs. Dalloway. The second part of the study will analyze both translations of Mrs. Dalloway with regards to the concept of "retranslation". The third part of the study will attempt to answer the question of where the retranslation of Mrs. Dalloway (Ilknur Ozdemir's Translation) is situated in the target literary; at "polysystem" according to Even Zohar's Polysystem Theory. The last part of the study will aim to analyze the decision that the translators took during the translation process within the framework of Toury's translational norms. The conclusion will attempt to position the retranslation of Mrs. Dalloway from Ilknur Ozdemir in today's Turkish literary system and analyze the different translations of Tomris Uyar and Ilknur Ozdemir.
The image of Jews in British novel The case of Oliver Twist and Our Mutual Friend, Ulysses and The Finkler Question
This study aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the representation of Jewish characters in English literature by exploring the historical and conceptual development of antisemitism. The research delves into how antisemitism evolved from religious prejudice to biological and racial ideologies, tracing its transformation from ancient times to the modern era. The analysis focuses on Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist and Our Mutual Friend, James Joyce's Ulysses, and Howard Jacobson's The Finkler Question. These literary works are examined to uncover how Jewish characters were perceived by society and how these perceptions were shaped by factors such as economic crises, national identity debates, and cultural shifts of their respective periods. Furthermore, the study investigates how antisemitism transitioned from a religious discourse to racist ideologies in the 19th century and evaluates its reflections in literature. By examining these representations, the research sheds light on how antisemitism persists through literature and its implications for cultural memory and societal attitudes.
Implementing the European language passport standards into the advanced reading course at the elt department,Gazi University
This thesis aims at developing a syllabus for the Advanced Reading course at GaziUniversity English Language Teaching Department according to the standards defined in`European Language Passport? which is designed by the Council of Europe.Turkey has been a member of the Council of Europe and now is a candidate memberof the European Union. As a result, the education system in Turkey has been underreconstruction; the Ministry of Education and Council of Higher Education are offeringcertain changes and reforms in the current curricula, including primary, secondary and alsohigher education curricula. As for Foreign Language Education, the definitions in theCommon European Framework of Reference for Languages are taken into consideration sothat language teaching policies in Turkey will be parallel to those of other European countries.Considering these latest trends, the standards defined in the Common European Frameworkshould be implemented in the syllabuses of foreign language teaching in education faculties.In order to achieve this, the present syllabus for the Advanced Reading course is re-designed. First a checklist was prepared so as to determine the topics that the students areinterested in. Then a 12-unit syllabus is designed according to the scales offered by the CEF.While designing the syllabus, language strategies were treated as a major concern togetherwith tasks and text types. Communicative tasks were designed, for reading skill should beintegrated with speaking, listening and writing skills.Key words: Common European Framework, teacher training, teacher education, reading skill,syllabus design.
The factors that affect the english instructors' motivation: A case study at Hacettepe University the school of foreign languages department of basic English
The aim of this study is to find out the factors that affect the motivation of the English instructors who are currently employed at the School of Foreign Languages, Department of Basic English, Hacettepe University. To achieve this aim, a questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument. Before administering the questionnaire to the instructors, the pilot study was done to see the reliability of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was applied to 100 instructors at the preparatory school. The analysis and interpretation of the questionnaire were done by descriptive analysis, t-test and ANOVA. The analysis of the data collected has indicated that the instructors are reasonably motivated. Approval by colleagues and administrators, involvement in decision-making but to some extent, autonomy in the class, the success of the students are the intrinsic rewards which outweigh the extrinsic motivators such as, salary, job security, teaching loads, physical condition. The first chapter gives a general background to the study, states its aim and makes some assumptions about it and also it defines the limitations. The second chapter deals with the definition of motivation and its types. Also, it gives information about teacher motivation. In chapter three, methods of data collection and the data collection device have been discussed. The analysis and interpretation of the questionnaire is studied in chapter four. The summary, conclusion and suggestions have been given in chapter five.
Attitudes towards testing speaking at Gazi University Preparatory School of English and suggested tests
Speaking is an important part of language learning. However, generally it isnot integrated in curricula of most schools, and hence it is not focused on in classes.A language is a whole and has components each of which is important and necessarywhile one is learning a foreign language. Speaking is one of the components whichshould not be neglected. Otherwise, the process of learning a foreign language willnot be complete.This study serves to demonstrate whether speaking is given the necessaryemphasis at Gazi University Preparatory School of English. This is realized throughthe questionnaires given to both the instructors and students at prep school. Theresults yield that grammar, reading and vocabulary are the skills that are mostlyemphasized whereas the students want speaking skills to be given the most weight inclass.Afterwards, speaking tests are prepared in line with the coursebook `CuttingEdge? used at prep school. Three classes took the test. The teachers of these classesalso participated in the test as raters. The students who took the test and theirteachers were delivered questionnaires in order to get feedback about the givenspeaking test. Having completed the data collection process, all the questionnairesare analyzed and the results were interpreted. The analysis of the questionnairesillustrate that both the instructors and the students take positive attitudes towards thespeaking test conducted. Moreover, they think that a speaking course and speakingtests should be a part of the curriculum of prep school.To sum up, the thesis is proved to be successful in demonstrating the lack ofemphasis on speaking in class at prep school. The instructors and the students?positive attitudes towards the speaking tests comprise the most significant result ofthe questionnaires applied after the test, which indicates the necessity and usefulnessof a speaking course and speaking tests at Gazi University Prep School.
An Improved syllabus for engineering preparatory classes of Gazi University
110 ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to re-form a new syllabus which is in parallel to the existing one in order to help the engineering students in the Preparatory School of Gazi University to overcome the difficulties that they may encounter later during those faculty courses in their field of study which are taught in English. To realize this aim, the needs of the students at the Faculty of Engineering have been specified. The interpretation of the needs analysis have shown that after the Preparatory School, some academic skills will be needed by the engineering students to succeed in and to follow a number of their courses in their field of study taught in English. Thus, the academic skills such as note-taking, summarizing, writing a report, reading for specific information and the like have been integrated within the existing Preparatory Class syllabus. The first chapter gives a general background to the study and states its aim and the scope and makes some assumptions about it. The second chapter deals with the definitions of the terms 'syllabus' and 'curriculum'. Also, the types of and shapes of syllabuses have been summarized. In chapter three the present system has been discussed. The student's questionnaire and the teacher interview have been analyzed and interpreted in chapter four. The suggested syllabus has been presented in chapter five. In the sixth chapter a brief summary has been given.
Alterity and hybridity in Bola Agbaje's Gone Too Far! and Caryl Churchill's A Number
This study evaluates the life and works of Caryl Churchill and Bola Agbaje, two of the most important female playwrights of the Contemporary British Theatre. In this dissertation, Agbaje's comedy, Gone Too Far! and Churchill's science fiction, A Number are critically examined for the concepts of alterity and hybridity. The first part of the thesis traces what alterity and hybridity are and how they are defined in different contexts. Various definitions of the two concepts are introduced in the light of some prominent philosophers' and critics' views. Gone Too Far! is an autobiographical play created by Agbaje depending on her personal experiences. Her characters struggle with the challenges of being black and immigrants in multicultural Britain. Agbaje shows this problem through the identity conflicts between black teenagers of different ethnic backgrounds. The issue of alterity arises both because of prejudices, racist thoughts and stereotypes, as well as the fact that characters do not embrace their own otherness, that is, their ethnic identity. What they need to overcome the issue is to build a hybrid identity and to live in harmony by having respect for the differences of the others. In A Number, the concept of alterity is a stand-out factor because the characters seek for originality as a result of cloning, even though they have different personality traits. Any efforts to build a self-centred identity negatively affect the relationship between "the self" and "the other." By shedding light on a future where hyperreality occurs as a result of the hybridization of reality and artificiality, Churchill highlights that it is important to build an identity by awareness of differences and similarities.
A heroine in-between: Forging fluid gender roles
This study broadly examined the representation of gender performativity and fluid gender roles of a young female adolescent in the oppressive and patriarchal mindset of a dystopian society in Suzanne Collins's trilogy: The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009) and Mockingjay (2010). Using feminism as a critical framework, it referred to several influential figures of the second and the third wave feminist movements such as Kate Millett, Simone de Beauvoir, Adrienne Rich, Judith Butler and R.W. Connell in order to analyze the young protagonist of the trilogy as a powerful female figure who manages to empower and liberate herself, along with her society, in the end of her story of survival. Under the monitor of the ideology which encourages patriarchal values by defining and policing traditional gender roles, she metamorphoses into an autonomous, powerful feminist heroine who rejects the social and traditional gender roles tailored for her, and liberates herself as an empowered woman, thus becoming a figurehead of social change. As an androgynous figure, she continually challenges and transgresses gender boundaries defiantly navigating between male and female performances, which enable her to construct her own role and identity as a free agent.
A wonderful carnival: An analysis of Lewis Carroll's Alice books as carnivalized Menippean satires
This study has analyzed Lewis Carroll's two Alice books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1871) from the standpoint of Menippean tradition and Mikhail Bakhtin's carnival theory. Both Menippean satires and carnival spirit propose a subversive upending of existing social order. The Alice books use Menippean genre characteristics to disrupt established literary traditions while carnival acts and images in the books revert the cultural and social structures of Victorian England. Carroll achieves these reversals through subversive, yet humorous carnivalesque practices such as decrownings, parodies, and employment of grotesque imagery. Menippean adventure plot and the dream frame aid in the creation of carnivalesque worlds that offer an alternative to the authoritative Victorian world order. Carroll utilizes these traditions to humorously parody Victorian ideas of propriety and etiquette, as well as Victorian education. At the end of each adventure, Alice rejects the authority figures of these alternate worlds and undergoes mental maturation in the process. Taking the Menippean qualities and carnivalesque acts and imagery in these works into consideration, the study concludes that Alice books are Menippean satires that are infused with carnival spirit.
Woman's alternative refuge far from the earth: Woman on the Edge of Time and The View from Here
Ecofeminism upholds equality among all living species while it acutely objects to the subjugation of woman along with nature. It discusses the double exploitation of woman and nature caused by patriarchy. In Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time, the protagonist Connie finds herself in a utopic future world called Mattapoisett after being institutionalized. Mattapoisett becomes Connie's comfort zone where she comes to a realization about her self. Besides, it presents an ecologist world where people appreciate and protect nature, animals, and human rights perfectly, contradicting the world Connie lives in at present. Analogically, in Lynne Hinton's The View from Here, nature becomes a shelter for Kate, the protagonist, where she looks over her life and the inequities she has encountered. Living in a tree, Kate realizes that she is more peaceful there with nonhuman beings. By shedding light on the characters' lives in both novels, this thesis aims to discuss Piercy's and Hinton's works from an ecofeminist perspective.
Archetypes and the process of individuation: A Jungian reading of Pamuk's the New Life and Joyce's a portrait of the artist as a young man
Carl Gustav Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, calls the psychological development of human beings the individuation process: a journey towards wholeness and the synthesis of opposites. Jung's individuation process takes place through the manifestation and acceptance of archetypes of a universal collective unconscious found in all humans. Orhan Pamuk's postmodern novel The New Life, published in 1994, is about the journey of Osman, a university student. Osman's journey begins with the influence of the book he is reading. Similarly, Joyce's modern work A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, published in 1916, chronicles Stephen Dedalus' journey from childhood to adulthood. This thesis analyzes the individuation processes of both characters and their experiences with the archetypes of "anima", "shadow", "child", "persona" and "self" by juxtaposing the journey of Osman and Stephen within the framework of Carl Gustav Jung's analytical psychology.
Alan Ayckbourn'un komedisi: Komedinin geleneksel kaidelerini benimseyip, komediyi füturizm, fars ve bilim kurgu ile güncellemek
As a comic tragedian of modern theatre, Alan Ayckbourn has produced eighty-four full-length plays, as well as numerous other playlets, revues, and adaptations. Walking a fine line between comedy and tragedy, Ayckbourn employs various classical devices ranging from satire, parody, stereotypes, and sarcasm to slapstick physical comedy in his works. Masterfully balancing the dark and tragic with the light and comic via his use of mistaken identity, surrealism, repetition, and farce, Ayckbourn manages to provide his audience with a comic catharsis. What is more, he utilizes these comedic devices, and thus their constructive power, as a tool to educate his young audience and provoke thought. Similarly, in his cautionary tales, Ayckbourn manages to combine comedy with science fiction while creating a realistic and grounded future, seeking not only to entertain but also warn his audience against the dangers of modern technology. This thesis aims to illuminate Ayckbourn's embracement of the classical codes of comedy while updating comedy via futurism, farce, and science fiction in the selected works: Henceforward, Communicating Doors, Comic Potential, Whenever, My Sister Sadie, and The Divide.
Irksal zorluklara ilişkin toplumsal cinsiyet temelli bakış açısı: Bola Agbaje ve Inua Ellams'ın eserlerinin eleştirel okuması
Theatre presents current problems of the society and it gives minorities a chance to be heard and for that reason, black British theatre has a significant role for the immigrants. Bola Agbaje and Inua Ellams, who share very similar backgrounds as they are both British playwrights of Nigerian origin, use the stage to write themselves into the script. They both experience similar identity problems as they feel torn between Nigeria and Britain; however, their perspectives on the gender issue reflect on their plays differently. Their focus varies in each play, but they share similar gender elements such as hypermasculinity, women's solidarity and gender nonconformity. In this thesis, Bola Agbaje's Gone too Far!, Off the Endz, Playing the Game and Belong, and Inua Ellams' Barber Shop Chronicles, Three Sisters, The Half-God of Rainfall and Black T-Shirt Collection are analysed in order to show the effects of Agbaje and Ellams' gender has on their perspective on the racial challenges they experience in the Nigerian diaspora in the United Kingdom.
Reflections of racial segregation and social injustice in the movies: Mudbound and the help
Today it is a well-known fact that there is no relation between skin colour and intelligence; hence no sign of inferiority. Cultural and physical differences constitute only the variety among the races. Thus, today it is claimed that the delusion known as racism is just a social construct used by whites to dominate blacks brought from Africa as enslaved people. According to Critical Race Theorists, racism is not merely a scientific error either since, for about 250 years, it was legally and socially practised deliberately. In her great movie, Mudbound (2017), based on the novel by Hillary Jordan, Diandrea Rees, an African American director, skilfully portrays and criticises the social and legal inequalities and injustices endured by Blacks during the post-war era in the 1940s in segregated Southern America. Tate Taylor, a white American director, also reflects on the injustice and inequalities of a segregated and prejudiced society in 1960s Southern America, particularly the exploitation of Black American women working as maids, in his movie The Help (2011), based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett. Although both films reflect the difficulties and consequences of discrimination against Blacks by shedding light on the lives of the characters, the directors' approaches to the subject differ significantly. By analysing Diandrea Rees's Mudbound and Tate Taylor's The Help, this thesis aims to illuminate the differences between the two directors' approaches and portrayals of racial segregation in the American South through the perspective of Critical Race Theory.
A postmodern approach to gender roles, stereotypes, and woman's identity quest in Tracy Chevalier's falling angels and John Fowles' the collector
Tracy Chevalier's Falling Angles and John Fowles' The Collector stand out as postmodern works, with their multiple narrations and ambiguous endings. It is also critical that the two novels reveal the challenges that their protagonists face in their personal lives and present the shifting nature of truth from person to person. In this context, this thesis focuses on the identity quests of the female characters in the novels and examines how social gender roles affect their search. In addition, it compares the struggles of the characters by drawing attention to the similarities and differences in their social conditions. Moreover, as the settings of the two novels are chronological continuations of each other, the reflection of Kitty's fight for women's rights at the beginning of the 1900s on Miranda's identity quest in the 1960s is analysed.
Violence in Sarah Kane's three plays: Cleansed, crave, and 4.48 psychosis
This study evaluates the life and works of Sarah Marie Kane, the most outstanding playwright of the 1990s who in total wrote five plays. In this thesis, Kane's last three works -Cleansed, Crave, and 4.48 Psychosis- are critically examined for the elements of violence .The first part of the thesis traces what violence is and why it emerged in life and drama. Various definitions of violence are introduced under the bright thoughts of the profound philosophers, thinkers and critics. The study also defines in-yer-face theatre which Kane has been credited with pioneering. Sarah Kane's childhood, her education at the University of Bristol and Birmingham, Jeremy Weller's play Mad, and the Bosnia genocide were some of the factors that affected her life and writing. In all her works, love stands out as the most superior concept, even though the violence in which it was cloaked often blocked the audiences' grasp of it. Violence, however, is the stand-out factor of Sarah Kane's plays as it enabled her to shock the audience into paying greater attention, giving the plays a greater impact and prompting the audience to re-evaluate themselves.
Womanism vs. feminism
It is generally known that feminism is a well-known term around the world. It isalways called as the ?war of the women against men? but actually, feminism is the war ofwomen to gain some social, political or economical rights alongside men. Recently, especiallyafter the Civil Rights Movement, the issue of ?race? has become important and caused peopledeal with the racial issues. As the issue of ?race? has become significant for certain group ofpeople, especially the black generation, black women have understood that they should followanother way to their liberation as black people, especially as black women; because the term?feminism? has started to refer to the movement of white women. Consequently, the term?womanism? has occurred as the movement of black women. To examine the issue, this studyrecovers the two works of the authors; one is critical and the other one is novel. In theseworks, the similarities and the differences of womanism and feminism are observed deeplyand this observation has been resulted as that both terms include some characteristics whichare very close and the main difference appears in the idea of racism. In other words,womanism gives more importance to white racism and this oppression is reflected in theworks of the authors, who follow the idea of ?womanism?. Womanism is a new word andmost of the people around the world are not familiar with it; so it is interesting to deal with thesimilarities and the differences between womanism and feminism. From this point of view,this study will contribute to future research on similar topics.