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Edebi alımlamada mistisizm teması: Aldous Huxley'nin Time Must Have a Stop ve Peyami Safa'nın Matmazel Noraliya'nın Koltuğu romanlarının karşılaştırmalı analizi
Aldous Huxley?s Time Must Have a Stop, which was published in 1944, is the literary manifestation of his mysticism which is the last phase of his career. Likewise Peyami Safa?s Matmazel Noraliya?nın Koltuğu (Mademoiselle Noraliya?s Armchair) which was published in 1949 is the first novel of the writer which depicts his tendency to mysticism. Some phrases in Safa?s novel prove that he had read Huxley?s novel before ho wrote his novel. The aim of the present thesis is to reveal how Peyami Safa received Huxley?s novel and how he reflected the same theme in his novel.The first chapter consists of the theoretical background of the methodology upon which the hypotheses are founded. The reception theory of Constance School of which major exponents of the school are Hans Robert Jauss and Wolfgang Iser is described. Jauss?s ?horizon of expectations? and Iser?s ?implied reader? are the basic conceptions for the present thesis. Also it consists of description of the development of Turkish novel beginning from the second half of the nineteenth century till 1980 along with the writers? reception of European literary movements and main themes in this period as well as the historicity of the conception of mysticism beginning from the origin of the term until how it is perceived today.The second chapter consists of the comparison of Aldous Huxley?s Time Must Have a Stop and Peyami Safa?s Matmazel Noraliya?nın Koltuğu. The major aspects which constitute Safa?s reception of Huxley?s novel have been analysed. Main theses of both novels have been compared. Structural elements have been examined as well and in this respect the narration techniques of both novelists have been compared.In the conclusion part, using the reception theory of Constance school, how Safa employed and contextualised mysticism in Matmazel Noraliya?nın Koltuğu after his reading of Huxley?s Time Must Have a Stop has been revealed.
The tradition of magical realism in contemporary Turkish and English literature: A comparative analysis of ?Dear Shameless Death? By Latife Tekin and ?Nights at the Circus? By Angela Carter
In this study, the aspects of the literary genre ?Magical Realism? in both Turkish and English literature is researched and comparatively studied. The central part of the study is represented by two novels that exemplify English and Turkish literature and embodies the genre ?Magic (al) Realism.? One is ?Nights at the Circus? by British author Angela Carter and the other is ?Dear Shameless Death? by Turkish author Latife Tekin. Each work is analyzed in itself and then compared with the other in terms of their common aspects to define the implications of magical realism in Turkish and English literature. Some important common aspects analyzed in detail are; the status of women and existing relationships between women and men in society, the struggle to gain freedom and social acceptance and adaptation, use and abuse of women by men.
A comparison between hard-boiled detective fiction and postmodern detective fiction with references to The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, and The New York Trilogy
The aim of this study is to compare hard-boiled detective fiction and postmodern detective fiction in a profound way, particularly to emphasize the importance of The New York Trilogy as a prominent example of postmodern detective fiction. In this respect, from its starting point preliminaries of detective genre are delineated with examples from its progenitors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Agatha Christie. Furthermore, the development of the genre through the historical process and variety of both detective prototype and the genre are summarized under main titles. Regarding postmodern or metaphysical or anti-detective fiction, Paul Auster?s trilogy puts forth the genre?s differences into consideration although it seems that postmodern detective fiction is a continuation of hard-boiled one at first glance. In other words, the trilogy deconstructs all pivotal characteristics of hard-boiled fiction with references to postmodern literary theory such as uncertainty, identity crisis, multiplicity, intertextuality, and urban life. Therefore, this study focuses on a transformation from hard-boiled detective fiction to postmodern detective fiction using examples from notable representatives of both genres like Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Paul Auster comparatively.Key Words: Detective Prototypes, Hard-Boiled Detective Fiction, Anti-Detective Fiction, Characteristics Of Postmodern Literary Theory.
The chronotope of London in Charles Dickens`novels
The scientific concern and the aim of the thesis constitute the study of the chronotope asa fictional element in general, and, in particular, the chronotope of city in the novels by CharlesDickens. Such a purpose requires the development of a solid theoretical basis concerning thenarrative and thematic implication of the time-space relationship in fiction, followed by thepractical applicability of the theory to the textual analysis of a number of Dickens? novels. Theimportance of the thesis is the creation of an original and new modality of approach to Dickens?novels through one principle of research and evaluation, which is the chronotope of city.Chronotope in general, defined by Bakhtin as the intrinsic connectedness of temporaland spatial relationships that are artistically expressed in literature, is applicable to theanalysis and interpretation of both the narrative structure of a novel and its range of motifs,themes, ideas, characters, images and other thematic elements. The importance of chronotopearises from its status as an element of narrative and thematic organization and analysis, havingits own process of development and its own typology in the literary text: the chronotope ofhome, the chronotope of road, the chronotope of city.The chronotope of city becomes a means of textual organization on both narrative andthematic levels. The chronotope of London in Dickens? work renders some of Dickens?sconcerns, such as the social background, moral values and the standards of living and theinfluence of the background on the individual.
English Bildungsroman in the first half of the 20th century
The present thesis, entitled English Bildungsroman in the 1st Half of the 20thCentury, has its starting point in our view of the Bildungsroman as an importantfictional tradition, whose thematic and narrative elements allow this type of novelto be considered a patterned literary system. In English literature theBildungsroman reached its consolidation and flourished as a fictional pattern inVictorian Age, in the realistic novels of the period, yet in the present thesis we haveattempted at revealing the 20th century connections of the pattern by focusing on anumber of novels by Joyce, Wells, and Lawrence.Chapter 1, entitled The Rise and Consolidation of the Bildungsroman inEnglish Literature, brings into discussion the general theoretical and criticalconsiderations of the Bildungsroman as the novel of character formation, itsdefinition, major thematic and structural characteristics, the Bildungsromandevelopment history, and the Victorian realistic Bildungsroman as the climax ofliterary development of this type of fiction in English literature.Chapter 2, entitled The Bildungsroman in the 20th Century EnglishLiterature, discloses firstly the status and characteristics of the Modernism andEnglish novel in the 1st half of the 20th century, as to concentrate eventually on anumber of representative 20th century English Bildungsromane, discussing Tono-Bungay as the formation of a scientist, Sons and Lovers and the psychologicalinsights into formation, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as theformation of the modern artist.
Ugliness beneath the beautiful face in the picture of Dorian Gray
UGLINESS BENEATH THE BEAUTIFUL FACEIN THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAYSabiha ELBEYLABSTRACTThis thesis discusses the character of Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde?s novel The Pictureof Dorian Gray in the context of the concepts of art, beauty, and morality. This thesis viewsVictorian Era in which the novel is written and moral standarts of victorian people that referto that era. The focus of the thesis is to state the desire of Dorian Gray to be eternally youngwith his relation mostly to Lord Henry Wotton, and Basil Hallward. As a result of theserelationship, Dorian changes morally. It can also be seen as a good example of the movementof Art for Art Sake. While Dorian Gray is introduced innocent and pure at the beginning ofthe novel, he then plays the role of a bad person because of outer factors, and became acharacter of not thinking anything except art and youth. The most important factor is DorianGray?s friend Lord Henry Wotton. Dorian Gray is much influenced by the hedonistic opinionsof Lord Henry and the yellow book he has given. Although Dorian tries to escape LordHenry?s influence, he can not achieve and influences the lives of others around him. In spiteof Dorian Gray has free will, he can not use this power and kills himself. The most noticeablefeature of this novel is the negative side of beauty on Dorian Gray, and morality. He seeshimself the most beautiful of all and his confused character reflects his life.
Foreign influences on Turkish throughout history and the phonological and morphological analyses of English loanwords in Turkish
In this thesis, it is aimed at making a contribution to the highly discussed topic,loanwords. Taking the influences of intercultural relations on language into account, theforeign influences on Turkish throughout history and how they affect the language,especially the lexicon of language have been examined. English, being the language thatTurkish is borrowing a lot of words these days, has been chosen as the target language.The focus of this thesis is the phonological and morphological analyses of Englishloanwords in modern Turkish. For this analysis, the phonological and morphologicalcharacteristics of Turkish and English, which belong to two different language families,have been studied and to what extent the English loanwords conform to thephonological and morphological patterns of Turkish and in what way they influence thelinguistic aspects of Turkish have been examined.The 1st chapter of the present study introduces the terms borrowing andloanwords. The 2nd chapter, includes the historical development of Turkish languageand the foreign influences on the language throughout history. However, not all thecharacteristics of Turkish throughout history have been mentioned, but the chapter islimited with the foreign influences on Turkish, especially on its lexicon.In chapter 3, the method of the study has been described and the phonologicaland morphological features of English and Turkish have been set forth. Then, Englishloanwords found in Türkçe Sözlük, Türkçe?deki Yabancı Sözcükler Sözlüğü, YabancıKelimelere Karşılıklar and Türk Dilinin Etimoloji Sözlüğü have been analyzedphonologically and morphologically and the changes have been illustrated.In the conclusion part, the results of the study have been evaluated. Based on theresults, it can be said that although English and Turkish belong to different family oflanguages, there is a close relationship between them due to some political, economic,cultural, commercial and military reasons. The results of these relations are evident inthe phonological and morphological system of Turkish. When the English loanwords inTurkish have been analyzed, it is seen that while some of these words are made toconform to the phonological and morphological patterns of Turkish, some adapt toEnglish language adopting its rules.
Atreus ailesi mitinin antik ve modern tiyatrodaki yeri
THE MYTH OF ATREUS FAMILY IN ANCIENT AND MODERN DRAMAZehra Ç ÇEKÇABSTRACTThe present thesis is a research on the myth of Atreus family regarded as aliterary tradition having a variety of textual representation in ancient and modern drama,namely Oresteia by Aeschylus, Electra by Sophocles, Electra by Euripides, MourningBecomes Electra by E. O?Neill, and The Flies by J.-P. Sartre. These plays are discussedas different ancient and modern versions of the myth of Atreus family on amethodological basis consisting of the theory of the ethno-religious myth, in general,and, in particular, the myth of Atreus family as literary myth. The essential referencepoints of our study constitute the theoretical and critical contributions of, among others,Brunel, Freidenberg, Frye, Eliade, Groden and Kreiswirth, and Priest. The principlesand methods of research applied in our study represent a combination of methodsconsidered according to the material under research: philological, comparative,typological, as well as a number of methods and principles related to myth-criticism,text analysis, intertextualism, thematology, and literary theory. The structure of thethesis corresponds to the proposed objectives and consists of an introductory section,followed by two chapters, each chapter comprising a number of subchapters, which arefollowed by a section of conclusions, representing our final reflections, and by thebibliography of literary texts and critical studies, and the index.
A comparative study of childhood in Golding's Lord of the Flies and Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHILDHOODIN GOLDING?S LORD OF THE FLIES ANDSALINGER?S THE CATCHER IN THE RYE(Master?s Thesis)Işıl BOZKURTABSTRACTThe present thesis represents a comparative approach to childhood in Lordof the Flies by William Golding and The Catcher in the Rye by Jerome DavidSalinger. Chapter 1, entitled The Child and Childhood in Literature, brings intodiscussion the general theoretical and critical considerations of the myth ofchildhood and child motif as a literary pattern in general and, in particular, theaspects of its literary reflection in Anglo-American literature. Chapter 2, entitledThe Dual Representation of Childhood in Golding and Salinger, focuses on boththe destruction and the continuation of the myth of childhood, discusses Lord of theFlies which reveals the darkness of man?s heart and the end of the myth ofchildhood, and The Catcher in the Rye which preserves the myth of the childhoodexperience.The myth of childhood has been established as an important literarytradition in Western literature in general and in English literature in particular.The beginning and the consolidation of the writers? interest in the experience ofchildhood are to be found in the Romantic and the Victorian period. The interestin this subject had an important continuation in the 20th century literature as well,where, after World War II, Salinger preserved the idea of the naivety and thepurity of childhood, whereas Golding attempted to destroy the myth of childhoodby showing that the experience of the childhood period would reveal the darknessof man?s heart, the end of human innocence. Thus, both writers develop in literaryterms a dual vision of the child and childhood experience.
The narrative strategies and temporal experiments in Martin Amis's Time's Arrow And London Fields
In the realm of contemporary literature, the narrative landscape continues to evolve, giving rise to an amalgamation of forms that challenge traditional storytelling conventions. In this context, the works of acclaimed British novelist Martin Amis stand out for his idiosyncratic style, which might be aptly described as a hybrid form of postmodernism. Characterized by its skepticism towards grand narratives, self-reflexivity, and bold experimentation with form and language, Amis's writing transcends traditional boundaries and embraces the multifaceted nature of the postmodern aesthetic. In this context, with a focus on Amis's groundbreaking novels Time's Arrow (1991) and London Fields (1989), this thesis embarks on a compelling exploration of his narrative strategies and temporal experiments within the framework of his distinct hybrid postmodernism. Through the analysis of these techniques, the thesis aims to shed light on the innovative techniques used and their implications for narrative construction and the boundaries of storytelling.
The representation of pain and suffering in the war poems of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon
The outbreak of the First World War has had a huge impact from 1914 to the present day, and since then the impacts of the war have been discussed and analyzed by historians, researchers, theorists, and thinkers throughout history. In particular, the physical and mental effects of the consequences of the First World War on humanity have been defined by the researchers. The war poems written during wartime can be considered historical research. In particular, the poems of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon have come to the forefront from past to present. The poems of Owen and Sassoon have made a great contribution to British Literature and History in terms of expressing the realities of war as a literary work. Their poems carry the marks of the pain of everything lost in the war. The two prominent themes in the poetry of Owen and Sassoon are physical pain and mental pain, which would turn into suffering over time. Thus, physical and mental pain is reflected in the poems of Owen and Sassoon related to the sense of loss by impressing each other mutually. This study will attempt to enlighten how and in what ways the pain and suffering caused by the First World War affected the bodies and minds of the soldiers by analyzing selected poems of Owen and Sassoon.
The grotesque and dualities in the selected plays of Marina Carr
With the discovery of Bath of Titus in the 15th century, it was found essential frescoes on the walls, differed from the conventions in art and architecture of the time. The term grotesque was applied to them, and grotesque showed its effect in art and architecture of the time, then in literature as time passed. The form and position of the grotesque have changed over time because it has always been against the norm. The Irish theatre in the 1990s was deeply affected by political, social and economic problems as a result of Ireland's being an English colony for centuries and after all contemporary upheavals such as World War II. It witnessed the use of the grotesque as an experimental form of express in drama. Marina Carr, accepted as one of the pioneers, contributed a lot to the 1990s Irish theatre with changes she made in the content, form and use of language in her plays. In this study, Marina Carr's The Mai (1995) and By the Bog of Cats (1998) are examined under the grotesque theory. In Chapter I, The Mai is examined according to the grotesque theory of Geoffrey Galt Harpham and the abjection theory of Julia Kristeva. In Chapter II, By the Bog of Cats is discussed in the light of Mikhail Bakhtin's theories of grotesque and carnivalesque. The thesis aims to show that the grotesque is a pervasive feature in relation with dualities, content, form and use of language in the selected plays. Keywords: Marina Carr, The Mai, By the Bog of Cats, the grotesque, Irish theatre
Reconstruction of patriarchy through matriarchy: A critique of gendered power structures in Naomi Alderman's The Power
This thesis explores the power dynamics in Naomi Alderman's novel, The Power, built between genders following a power reversal from patriarchy to matriarchy due to women's sudden acquisition of electrical power. The shift in society favouring women is dealt with by focusing on women's representation in religion, the media, and politics. Michel Foucault's theories on power provide the infrastructure for discussing the nature of power throughout this thesis. Louis Althusser's framework of Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs) and Repressive State Apparatuses (RSAs) helps to describe how certain institutions in The Power perpetuate ideologies and shape matriarchal culture and politics. Kate Millett's ideas on gender and Judith Butler's views on the performativity of gender support the aim of this thesis to highlight the double standards and fragility of gender norms dictated by society. By examining the religious shift, this thesis explores how religion serves as both a tool of empowerment and a means of legitimizing new power structures by granting a superior position to the previously oppressed group. Similarly, the media's role is scrutinized for its pivotal function in shaping public perception and reinforcing the emerging matriarchy. Also, political changes, powerful women's ambitions and the strategic use of females' physical power further demonstrate the complexities of governance in a dystopia reversed in gender dominance. Although Alderman creates a feminist dystopia where women overpower men, she does not suggest that this world is better than the patriarchal one. The author mirrors the current situation of women being oppressed by patriarchy by shifting the receivers of violence and oppression from women to men in her novel. By showing that merely changing the holders of power only perpetuates the cycle of oppression, Alderman reveals the inherent problems with the notion of power.
An action research study an emotional literacy improvement programme for EFL teachers in the view of humanistic approach
If the contribution of the quality, commitment and expertise of a teacher is considered in relation to the success of any educational process, it can be concluded that, in-service teacher development plays its key role in terms of enhancing the teaching quality. However, the educational systems all over the world have been undergoing profound changes bringing about new tasks and challenges for schools, teachers, and administrators. Consequently, there is an increasing need for improving the teachers' competencies along with the changing role of schooling influence and correspondingly, determining the contents of the in-service programmes. The primary aim of this action research study is to develop in the researcher an understanding of how to design and conduct emotional literacy improvement courses for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) for future use. As a secondary aim, the participant teachers of this study are expected to raise their awareness on the emotional basis of learning in self and in others and accordingly identify behaviours that will result from learning about emotional intelligence. Thus, in this study we hope to determine a framework of a teacher development programme within which the teachers at YADIM/ Çukurova University, Turkey improve their emotional literacy with its underlying skills, traits and behaviours and/or feel the need to consider these constructs both in their classroom settings and in their personal lives as human beings. The assessment of the effects of this study can be interpreted in terms of change in participant teachers. However, this study aimed to combine professional development r£S^AS¥<* m***as a form of in-service teacher development and maturation of the framework of an emotional literacy improvement programme for EFL teachers for future use. Seventeen volunteer participant teachers who teach at YADIM, Çukurova University (seven teachers in the piloting and ten teachers in the main study) participated in the Emotional Literacy Improvement (ELI) Programme since the programme aimed to integrate both the teachers' immediate needs and the requirements of the study. Therefore, regarding the design of the study, the frame of reference of this study is mainly related to the tools of data collection, particularly EQ Map-An Integrated EQ Assessment and Individual Profile, Version 4.5, EQ Map Interpretation Guide, The EQ Map Scoring Grid, EQ Map Results Evaluation Document, All about me Participant Profile Checklist, researcher's footnotes, researcher's diary, participant teachers' learning logs and Course Evaluation Questionnaire. These instruments are chosen to be employed due to the fact that their rationale is based on both the theoretical and the methodological framework of this study.Key Words: Emotional Intelligence, Emotional Literacy, Personal Development, Professional Development, Humanistic Approach
The Use of rubric to develop essay-writing skills of EFL learners
VI ABSTRACT THE USE OF RUBRIC TO DEVELOP ESSAY-WRITING SKILLS OF EFL LEARNERS Ayşe KIZILDA? Master Thesis, English Language Teaching Department Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Dr. Sema TUNCEL June 2002, 92 pages The aim of the present study is to help the students of ELT Departments to improve their essay-writing skills. For this purpose, one group of ELT freshmen was formed to utilize rubric as an instructional tool to guide them during the essay writing process. They had taken one pre-test, one post-test, and one follow-up test. Between pre-test and post-test, the students had completed four essay tasks on different writing structures (descriptive essay, narrative essay, cause & effect essay, and argumentative essay). The data derived from these tasks and tests were compared and/or contrasted whether there had been any change. Moreover, during the essay task, the learners were conferenced and given a questionnaire in order to get qualitative data. The results have positive tendency showing that the group of students in this study benefited using rubric to develop their essay-writing skills. In Chapterl, after giving a brief background to the study and presenting the problems related to essay-writing in general, the aim and scope of the study are clarified. Then, research question and hypotheses are stated.vu In Chapter 2, we have divided the literature review into two. The first part works with the background of teaching writing since 1800s and the theory of the present study. Consequently, the second part explains the studies conducted previously in the scope of this thesis. In Chapter 3, the methodological information such as subjects, the study design, and instrumentation is explained in detail. The data analysis and results are given in Chapter 4. Finally, the summary of the study, the general conclusions that can be interpreted from study results and suggestions for other researchers are argued in Chapter 5. In the conclusion part the implications of this study for ELT context is explained. Key Words: Rubric, essay-writing, instructional tool.
An investigation into the role of interactive vocabulary instruction on learners' vocabulary knowledge
ABSTRACTAN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ROLE OF INTERACTIVE VOCABULARYINSTRUCTION ON LEARNERS? VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGEEv en ÜNALMA Thesis, English Language Teaching DepartmentAdvisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Rana YILDIRIMSeptember 2006, 80 pagesThis specific study concerns itself with the teaching and learning of non-technical vocabulary items in English to Turkish intermediate level EFL studentsthrough interactive vocabulary instruction. In this respect, our study tries to find out theanswers to the following questions:- Will there be a progress in the experimental group?s vocabulary knowledgewho learn vocabulary through interactive vocabulary instruction?- Will there be a progress in the control group?s vocabulary knowledge wholearn vocabulary through traditional definition-based vocabulary instruction?- Will there be a change in the experimental group?s attitudes to vocabularylearning and vocabulary learning activities after they are exposed to interactivevocabulary instruction?The purpose of the thesis is to give some answers to these questions within anexperimental type of study. This study comprised two different groups: One was theexperimental and the other was the control group chosen from Ça College. Theexperimental group was exposed to interactive vocabulary instruction. On the otherhand, the control group focused traditional definition-based vocabulary teaching. After atreatment period, the control and experimental groups? performance was analyzedaccording to pretest and posttest data. Our posttest analysis indicated that there was astatistically difference between our control and the experimental groups. Basically, theexperimental group?s scores were statistically more significant than the control group.In other words, the findings indicated that the interactive vocabulary instruction can beutilized as an effective vocabulary teaching method in language learning classrooms.Key words: Interactive vocabulary instruction, Keyword method, Treshold level.
Markedness differential hypothesis and the phonological errors of Turkish EFL learners
Students of English Language Teaching (ELT) departments in Turkeyexperience difficulties in terms of accuracy in pronunciation. As prospective Englishlanguage teachers, it is essential for the students of ELT Departments to have accuratepronunciation so that they will teach English sounds correctly when they becometeachers. Therefore, the goal of this study is to enable prospective teachers to overcomethe difficulties they encounter in English pronunciation. For that reason, the main focusof the study has been the phonological errors of student teachers. The errors that wereidentified have been analyzed in relation to Eckman?s ?the Markedness DifferentialHypothesis?, since the notion of markedness is a determining factor for the level ofdifficulty in pronunciation.The participants of this study are the sophomore students at Cukurova UniversityELT Department. Treatment and Control Groups, each consisting of 26 students, havebeen formed. After the application of the Pre-test, the errors have been identified and atreatment designed to deal with those errors have been given to the ExperimentalGroup. The syllabus of the treatment included an extensive error analysis and a detailedcomparison of English and Turkish phonological structures. Following the completionof the treatment, a Post-test has been conducted. Both Groups have been compared bymeans of statistical analysis so as to observe if there is any significant difference interms of improvement in pronunciation.The results have shown that markedness alone does not have a determiningeffect on the level of difficulty in pronunciation. In addition, the environment in which asound is used plays an important role. Thus, the term environmental markedness needsto be emphasized. Fossilized incorrectly learned forms, the effect of native language,and the orthography have been observed as the other factors that cause difficulties inpronunciation.
The analysis of Matthew Kneale's Sweet Thames and Peter Ackroyd's Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem as Neo-Victorian novels
Neo-Victorianism is a contemporary field of study in fictional works providing a look at the Victorian era and the nineteenth century. With the rise of neo-Victorian novels in literary fields, the contemporary authors possess opportunities to look back at Victorian history grasping the peculiarities of the era. In their works, contemporary authors portray the Victorian era with a renewed version of the past. Being aware of similarities and differences between the Victorian and contemporary times, these authors provide a critical view of history under the light of neo-Victorianism. The works produced within neo-Victorian theory lead to the recreation of the Victorian era through the perspective of contemporary periods. Such a reestablishment is produced by intermingling the past and present, which is portrayed through various subjects. Among these, the concept of mystery holds a prominence because this concept contributes to the improvement of neo-Victorian fiction. Also contributing to the popularisation of novels, mystery notion is a useful tool to uncover the parallelisms between neo-Victorian novels and various forms of mystery. In this respect, Matthew Kneale's Sweet Thames (1992) and Peter Ackroyd's Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem (1994) are significant novels that demonstrate the associations between the concept of mystery and neo-Victorianism contextually and technically. This thesis will essentially discuss the concept of mystery under the light of neo-Victorian fiction through discussions on history, authenticity, narration and mystery in Matthew Kneale's Sweet Thames (1992) and Peter Ackroyd's Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem (1994) novels.
Self-composing women: The kenotic representations of the liberated female characters in Fowles', Mcewan's, and Acroyd's selected postmodern novels
This thesis explores the liberation of female characters in postmodern British fiction, focusing on their detachment from their authors and transcendence beyond traditional narrative structures. Throughout history, women have been subordinated, and literature has long been a field dominated by male voices. However, the postmodern perspective has introduced a more equitable approach to literature. This research aims to examine how the representation of women in literary fiction has evolved by analyzing the depictions of female characters in the works of postmodern male writers. This study explores how postmodernism challenges traditional gender roles and provides a platform for more diverse and complex portrayals of women. The importance of my research is to examine how the new writing and expression techniques developed with kenotic postmodern authors affect the representations of female characters in post-modern British literature and how this innovation finds a literary response. During the completion of the thesis, the relevant theories of specific theorists such as Mikhail Bakhtin and Judith Butler are investigated, and a comprehensive survey is made in this field. This thesis is divided into several key chapters: an introduction to the study and its theoretical framework, an exploration of kenotic authorship, a discussion of postmodernism and its impact on gender representation, and performativity. The findings reveal that postmodern male authors challenge traditional gender roles through narrative innovation, allowing female characters to achieve greater autonomy and complexity. By incorporating concepts such as kenosis, dialogism, polyphony, heteroglossia, carnivalesque, and performativity, these authors create female representations that transcend patriarchal constraints, presenting women as active agents in the construction of their identities. Ultimately, the research demonstrates how postmodern literature redefines gender roles and gives voice to marginalized characters.
Blurring the boundaries between human and nonhuman beings in the posthuman universe of Star Wars
Humans started to be seen as the most central figures in the universe after the Renaissance period. With the advancements in technology, science, and art, humanity gradually noticed that they could dominate life and shape the world according to their needs and desires. Humans began to think that they were the most unique and powerful beings that were capable of everything through their knowledge and innovations. This movement in history is called humanism, which brings humans to the center as the most valuable and significant beings among species. The anthropocentric view of humanism causes an exclusionary approach toward all nonhuman beings. Yet, due to the rising ecological awareness after the 1950s, people increasingly valued nonhuman living beings in nature. Additionally, the technological developments in those years led to the rise of interest in futuristic concepts such as robots and cyborgs. These science fiction concepts heavily challenged the traditional norms and boundaries of the human in the humanist movement. These alterations in the perception of humanity triggered the emergence of posthumanism as a critical theory in the 1980s and 1990s. Posthumanism aimed to criticize classical humanism's anthropocentric attitude toward the nonhuman and the human's centrality, agency, and uniqueness in the world. Some works already possessed a posthumanist point of view in science fiction cinema. One of these examples is the Star Wars film series created by George Lucas in 1977. The films in this series have posthumanist themes, topics and concepts that question what it means to be a human. The universe of Star Wars includes myriad nonhuman beings such as aliens, cyborgs, clones and droids (robots in the Star Wars series). Both human and nonhuman beings can co-exist, co-evolve and collaborate despite their different characteristics. In this regard, the film series advocates an egalitarian and embracive manner toward all types of entities in the universe. Therefore, this thesis aims to investigate the boundaries between humans and aliens, as well as humans and machines, in the posthuman universe of Star Wars by using selected films from the series with a posthumanist stance.
Application of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey on Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone and Kentaro Miura's Berserk as examples of dark fantasy and anti-hero archetype
Heroes are common in literature and other media forms. Heroes have a long history from early classical texts to modern stories, and they appear in various forms and genres in traditional texts. Such examples as: Homer's Iliad, Geofrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series and J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit can be considered as traditional text. However, there are texts that are dissimilar than traditional story structures. As there are non-standard story structures, there are also heroes that do not fit into the hero archetype. The non-standards in this sense are the Dark Fantasy sub-genre and the Anti-hero archetype. Both are quite different when compared to traditional hero archetypes and fantasy genre. However, there are questions regarding these topics about the difference from standard structure and their portrayal in popular narratives. Regarding these topic questions, texts like Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone and Berserk are good examples of the Dark Fantasy sub-genre and show remarkable Anti-hero characters. Both texts are beloved by fans in popular culture yet are not discussed or represented in academic studies. The purpose of this thesis is to study and discuss the qualities of the Dark Fantasy sub-genre and Anti-hero archetype in these selected popular texts. For this analysis, Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey is going to be used and through this method the qualities regarding Dark Fantasy and Anti-heroes will be discussed.
Voices in the void: Meaninglessness and disconnection in Anthony Neilson's theatre
This study examines the plays The Wonderful World of Dissocia and Realism by contemporary British playwright Anthony Neilson within the context of the Theatre of the Absurd. Although Neilson is not traditionally classified as an absurdist writer, many fundamental features of the genre appear in his works. These include structural fragmentation, cyclical dialogues, abrupt scene transitions, repetition, silence, miscommunication, alienation, meaninglessness, and existential uncertainty. Neilson's characters struggle to navigate a reality surrounded by absurdity. Although they search for a meaningful life, the systems they inhabit frequently limit this search. This limitation demonstrates the core idea of the Theatre of the Absurd: the futility of seeking meaning. The scenes in Neilson's plays contain surreal, dreamlike, or grotesque elements. However, this is not an aesthetic choice; it also reveals Neilson's attempt to portray the psychological collapse and identity crisis of the modern individual. The plays deal with themes such as mental health issues, social isolation, and the oppressive nature of modern systems. Through his language and stylistic choices, Neilson demonstrates how absurd theatre has evolved into new forms in the contemporary British literature. This study analyses The Wonderful World of Dissocia and Realism in light of Martin Esslin's theory of the absurd and the historical development of British theatre. It also evaluates the reflection of the social transformation of Neilson's age in his works. As a result, the study identifies the absurdist elements within Neilson's plays. Keywords: Theatre of the Absurd, Anthony Neilson, Meaninglessness, Alienation, Engagement
Gothic literature evolves into posthumanism: Jeanette Winterson'sFrankissstein as a 21st century rewriting of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Jeanette Winterson's Frankissstein: A Love Story is a posthumanist reimagining of Mary Shelley's iconic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. This adaptation is not merely a thematic update, but rather a contemporary literary reconstruction that redefines the concepts of the human, the body, and the mind. The gothic sci-fi masterpiece of Shelley is given a lead to get a place in the twenty-first century surrounded by artificial intelligence and high technology. Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, which is a gothic masterpiece of Shelley, can be evaluated to be a step from a gothic novel to a posthuman perspective since it scrutinizes the representation of the human and the monster just like Frankissstein: A Love Story demonstrates the representation of the human and artificial intelligence. In order to understand the connection between gothic and posthumanism, Humanism and Transhumanism must be known with their basic definitions. Frankissstein: A Love Story is a re-written version of Shelley's Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus and it springs up to present day to hold out a posthuman environment focusing on the relationship of human beings with hybrid robots and non-biological creatures. Both of the novels question the ascendency of humans against other forms of nature through the main characters as well as their ultimate desire for creation and transformation. Dr. Frankenstein creates a living being, which becomes a reason of fear for him and Victor Stein fictionalizes a cybernetic life dimension by creating robots. Winterson's novel variegates the posthuman environment by presenting the transgender Dr. Ry falling in love with Victor Stein who dignifies cyber practices as a living. Jeanette Winterson connects the first gothic science-fiction novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus with the future of humanity by recreating the same idea of transforming in a different perspective. This thesis investigates the transformation of gothic literature into the realm of posthumanism, focusing on the transition from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus to Jeanette Winterson's Frankissstein: A Love Story. Throughout the thesis, these two novels will be compared and contrasted in the frame of gothic and posthuman discourse.
Performativity of sexuality and gender in Sarah Waters' Tipping The Velvet and Michel Faber's The Crimson Petal And The White
In her book Gender Trouble, Judith Butler coins gender performativity as a concept, and describes it as the result of repetitive acts that establish a supposed true gender. Since gender is fluid and cannot be determined or defined according to one's sex, gender is considered to be performatively produced. Hence, there is no gender, but it is only produced by means of some performative acts that are regularized by gender coherence. The repetition of certain acts brings about labeling the identity as either a "he" or a "she," which leads to formation of heterosexual identities. This repetition of performative acts suggests the fluidity of sexuality, and indicates that there is no sexuality before actions. As a result, performativity of gender and sexuality challenges heteronormativity and lays bare the constructed nature of heteropatriarchal norms. As such, this thesis analyzes Sarah Waters' Tipping the Velvet and Michel Faber's Crimson Petal and the White to illustrate two different examples of the use of performativity in a NeoVictorian context. It aims to reveal the fluidity of gender and sexuality by the unconventional characters in a "queer" framework. As a result, it examines how the idea of performativity of gender and sexuality contributed to protagonists' flee from heteropatriarchal norms towards their self-realizations.
A quest for feminine identity in Timberlake Wertenbaker's plays: New Anatomies and The Grace of Mary Traverse
Women have been in the centre of many discussions especially since the seventeenth century as they start to search for ways to get rid of the oppression and restriction which they have been exposed to because of the socially constructed female roles in the patriarchal societies. While the first part of this thesis is conducted with the historical development of the feminist movement that has had different targets and discussions at different periods, in the second part the playwright and her two plays are analyzed in the framework of feminist debates and identity question. This study aims to scrutinize the main female characters in Timberlake Wertenbaker's New Anatomies and the Grace of Mary Traverse who traverse the boundaries of their stereotypical female identities and embark on quest of identity which is free from the restrictions. As this study shows, unless the patriarchal social construction changes, it is not possible to change the stereotypical female identity. Keywords: Feminism, Theatre, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Identity, Woman, Stereotype
An ecofeminist reading of Herland, The Edible Woman and Woman On The Edge Of Time
With the rise of industry, environmental crisis, animal issues and natural concerns have been discussed globally and have been widely represented in literary works in recent years. The ecological movements in 1960s, which were organized against the environmental deterioration, developed with the Second wave feminism and led to the creation of many literary works taking the concern for women and nature as their central issues. The emergence of ecofeminist thought and ecofeminist theory coincides with that time. Ecofeminism relates the domination of women to domination of natue. Therefore, it makes a critique of the patriarchal system through a concern for women and nature. This study, consisting of four chapters, aims to discuss the concept of nature in relation with feminism in Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood and Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy, which were written at different times. The aim of the analysis is to discover how ecofeminist themes like the subjugation of nature and nonhuman animals and oppression of women, marginalized people and "others" are represented in the selected novels. As a consequence, it is thought to be relevant to read these three novels through the ecofeminist theory to understand the concepts of ecofeminist thought.
Conflicts and betrayals in a panoptic world as a Foucauldian power in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross and Joe Orton's The Good and Faithful Servant
The Panopticon is a design for a prison that aimed to gain control over inmates by its sheer architecture, designed by 18th century architect and thinker Jeremy Bentham. Foucault took this architectural idea and applied it as a social and cultural idea, enabling that the panopticist structure can be used in other concepts as well. Thus this study has aimed to search for the idea of panopticism in literary texts. American playwright and screenplay writer David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross and British playwright Joe Orton's The Good and Faithful Servant were analysed for this purpose. Although these two plays take place in different cultures and 20 years apart, we still see the same idea of panopticism, representing the capitalistic social system that indirectly forces individuals to appease their personalities in order to comply with the company. This thesis will thus take a closer look at the different perspectives these writers propose to the same issue, due to differences in setting, under a panopticist light. This will of course require analysing Foucault's idea of panopticism and how his idea and the writers' point of views are different on it. Keywords: Joe Orton, David Mamet, Foucault, Panopticism, Power
Ecocriticism in romantik poetry
This study aims to discuss the nature concept found in the English Romantic period poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in their ecocritical dimensions. The messages given in these poems will be detected which are observed to be in accordance with ecocritical theory because of the ecological consciousness they present, so as to demonstrate the fact that these poets had already done the same thing which today's ecocritical theoriticians try to do, two centuries earlier. The study is consisted of three chapters and the introduction and conclusion parts. In the first chapter, the emergence, development and the tenets of ecocriticism are explained and the relationship between the ecological consciousness and the concept of ethics is argued. In the second chapter, the changes that the society went through during the Industrial Revolution process are demonstrated and general information about Romantic poetry is given. Finally, in the last chapter, the handling of the concept of nature in poems of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge are scrutinized and their relations to ecocritical principles are demonstrated.
Postmodern characterization in contemporary British novel as reflected in D. M. Thomas's The White Hotel and John Fowles's Mantissa
The concept of character is quite a problematic term in postmodern fiction since postmodern texts overtly subvert and transgress the conventions of characterization of the novels of previous ages. In relation to the paradoxical and ambiguous nature of postmodernism, character undergoes a radical transformation in postmodern fiction, and it cannot be pinned down with regards to the conventions of characterization. The character in postmodern fiction becomes a site where the text reverberates the epistemological and ontological concerns postmodernism rests upon. Thus, postmodern problematization of such contentious concepts as self, identity, essence, history writing, fiction, and fact is carried out and presented through postmodern characterization in the novel genre. As such, this thesis analyzes D M. Thomas's The White Hotel and John Fowles's Mantissa to lay bare how postmodern fiction employs characterization. It aims to exemplify how postmodern fiction is deprived of characters in the conventional sense. As a result, this thesis examines how postmodern character is utilized in the employ of postmodern themes and techniques, and it shows how postmodern fiction establishes its own conventions of characterization. Keywords: postmodernism, postmodern fiction, postmodern character, D.M. Thomas, John Fowles, The White Hotel, Mantissa.
Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of polyphony and the polyphonic novel as reflected in J.M. Coetzee's Summertime and Diary of a Bad Year
This study aims to scrutinize J.M. Coetzee's Summertime and Diary of a Bad Year, which were published in 2000s following Coetzee's relocation in Australia, in terms of the concept of polyphonic novel. Mikhail Bakhtin defines the concept of polyphony in his theoretical studies. The concept of polyphony, by destroying the superiority of the ultimate authorial voice, includes multiple voices, and enables each voice to speak, and Bakhtin bases his studies of polyphony on Dostoevsky and his novels. Bakhtin argues that Dostoevsky has been the first author who involves the concept of polyphony into his novels and who creates polyphonic works. Polyphony disregards the perception of 'the author's voice as ultimate and unique,' and provides all the characters with the freedom to speak their own ideas without the intrusion of authoritative voice. In a polyphonic novel, the characters are in continuous dialogical relations, and the novel has an open-ended plot. This open-ended closure of the novel makes it impossible to have an ultimate judgment/interpretation about the novel and it enables each reader to perceive the novel by filtering it through his/her own ideology and perception. This thesis also explores how Coetzee embodies polyphony in his own unique way in his two novels, Summertime and Diary of a Bad Year. Keywords: Polyphony, Polyphonic Novel, Mikhail Bakhtin, Fyodor Dostoevsky, J.M. Coetzee
Appropriation of science fiction elements in postmodern fiction as reflected in Angela Carter's the Passion of New Eve and Jeanette Winterson's The Stone Gods
There has been an interaction between postmodern fiction and science fiction since the emergence of postmodern tendencies in literature. Postmodern authors' willingness to incorporate elements from science fiction differentiates them from their Victorian realist and modernist predecessors, who did not include science fiction tropes and motifs in their novels. The shift from indifference to interest towards science fiction in British literature requires a thorough analysis. As such, this thesis first gives information about the histories and definitions of postmodernism and science fiction, and then investigates the exchanges between postmodern fiction and science fiction by making references to the studies of scholars and critics who also focus on this subject. As examples of the appropriation of science fiction elements in postmodern fiction, this thesis analyzes Angela Carter's The Passion of New Eve and Jeanette Winterson's The Stone Gods. It examines the employment of spatiotemporal science fiction motifs such as future-world, (post)apocalypse, space travel, and various science-fictional technologies in both novels. Ultimately, it argues that science fiction elements are appropriated in The Passion of New Eve and The Stone Gods because they provide the best means for making postmodern interrogations of time-space, progress metanarratives, social norms, and traditional dichotomies. Key words: postmodernism, postmodern novel, science fiction, Angela Carter, Jeanette Winterson, The Passion of New Eve, The Stone Gods
Virginia Woolf and the great war:Cchange and disillusionment in a modernist perspective
Having made invaluable contributions to the artistic circles of her time, Virginia Woolf has been regarded as one of the most prominent modernists of the 20th century. Considering that her first modernist novel (Jacob's Room) is published in 1914, her work was inevitably written under the influence of the Great War conducing a sense of change and disillusionment which became an inextricable part of the modernist perspective. As such, this thesis study aims to analyze the essence of the Great War, the sense of change and disillusionment as modernist elements within Virginia Woolf's Jacob's Room, Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse. To this end, the link between the Great War and modernist novel is examined through the concepts of change and disillusionment within each novel. Keywords: Modernism, change, disillusionment, the Great War, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse.
Analysing the master and servant dialectic in Charles Dickens' the Pickwick Papers and Little Dorrit
The Victorian Age (1837-1901) is the period in which Britain witnesses such contradictory novelties as the economic and industrial development of the country, the conversion of the country to the empire, and a strict class division between the middle class and the working class. All these changes find a place in the works of British authors, especially in the works of Charles Dickens (1812-1870), one of the most prominent writers of the Victorian Age. In his works, particularly in The Pickwick Papers (1836-7) and Little Dorrit (1855-7), the class division becomes a big part of fiction. In both of these works, Dickens reflects the lives of the characters in terms of the master and the servant relationship. The aim of this thesis is to analyse Dickens' two novels in the light of Hegel's Master and Servant Dialectic. This dialectic has two distinct manifestations in these novels: the mutual recognition of the master and the servant in The Pickwick Papers and the dual role of the master in Little Dorrit. In order to do so, a panorama of Victorian Britain in the 1830s and the 1850s is given so that the effect of the different time-spaces of the novels could be better understood. This thesis concludes that Charles Dickens portrays and represents Hegelian Master and Servant Dialectic in The Pickwick Papers and Little Dorrit and argues that these portrayals are different from one another. Keywords: Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, Little Dorrit, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Industrial Revolution, Victorian England, Master and Servant Dialectic.
Changing time concept and time-man relationship in modernist works: Yeat's short fiction
This thesis aims at studying the parallelism between William Butler Yeat?s fictional stories, ?Rosa Alchemica? and ?Red Hanrahan? and the dislocations lived in the flow of time. In this context, along with the fictional stories, how modernist works relate to gaps lived in time has been the basis of this thesis. The thesis consists of five basic chapters with the introduction and conclusion part.
Trauma, madness and hysteria attributed to female characters in gothic fiction: Ann Radcliffe and Bronte Sisters
This study aims to explore and discuss, through the novels, Radcliffe?s The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Romance of The Forest; Emily Bronte?s Wuthering Heights and Charlotte Bronte?s Jane Eyre the fact that almost every woman character in Gothic fiction is threatened by a powerful, provocative and bullying male character and that she continually fears and wonders, and that all of these negative representations are the result of the dominant ideology on women of the time.In Gothic fiction, the characters are produced in an atmosphere of mystery and curiosity as the extraordinary and unexplained events constitute the theme. However, there is a big difference between male and female characters? presentations in Gothic fiction. While one or more male characters hold the power in the first rank as a father of a young girl or the protector of an orphan girl throughout the novel, they demand things from women that they can not accept. In these novels, the female characters should face the events that frighten them, make them fainted and burst into tears. The lonesome, thoughtful and the oppressed woman becomes the center of the novel. The Gothic works produced by both males and females create similar types of women characters. When the background sociological and communal facts are the same it is an expected outcome and the contributors to this result are the English and American medical men and clergymen with their increasing influence towards the established Victorian rules. This is the same both in the Gothic works produced by men and in the Female Gothic. The dominant patriarchal society of the age believed that the biological features determine the place of women in the society and it confined women into fertility and within the walls of the home. Women?s reproductory system is considered the determining factor of her in the society. The doctors and mothers of the period preached the daughters that the moment they leave their natural duties such as womanhood and motherhood, their lives would be destroyed. As a consequence, while motherhood, obedience, respect and submissiveness were exalted, the demand for education, the attempt to become a writer and the idea of birth control for women were accepted as the most evil sins that would destroy both women and the whole society. In turn, hysteria, madness and trauma became the most prevalent diseases for the women.Having discussed all these prevalent factors, the scope of this study covers displaying women?s very frequently encountered hysteria, trauma and madness in the chosen Gothic fictions namely with references to Radcliffe?s Emily and Adeline, Bronte sisters?, Catherine, Bertha and Jane characters.
Poverty and child abuse in Charles Dickens's novels: Oliver Twist, Hard Times, and David Copperfield
The Industrial Revolution had a great impact in the nineteenth century England. It changed various things in the country, especially the living and working conditions of its people. It was an advantage for the economy in Victorian England as there was a progress in the production due to the free market economy. The level of inequality between the classes increased. While the wealthy became wealthier as a consequence of the progress in the production, the condition of the poor worsened. It was the time for mechanical trade in factories. The working-class was trying hard to get used to the long and tiring working hours. Although they worked so hard, they could not earn enough to make their living. As a result of this, the children of the poor, no matter how young they were, had to work for long hours too, to earn only a few shillings. The child labour increased consequently because they were in need. Cheap labor was something that the industrialists could not refuse. Child abuse was not only in factories but it was also in most of the schools in that period. Some children suffered from the dominance of factory owners while the others suffered from the discipline of the educators who abused their power on the children. Charles Dickens, in Oliver Twist, Hard Times, and David Copperfield, reflects the bad conditions of the working-class and child abuse in this period. The aim of this thesis is to analyze Dickens?s three novels in the light of Marxist criticism and New Historicism.Key words: Poverty, Child abuse, Industrial Revolution, Oppression.
A black feminist analysis of Toni Morrison's Sula and Alice Walker's the Color Purple
The aim of this study is to examine the novels named Sula and The Color Purple penned by the writers Toni Morrison and Alice Walker with the black feminist approach and to put forth the hardships the female characters experience and the fight they have been giving for some piece of freedom and self-reliance. In their works Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, the two prominent black women writers, portray exploitation, dehumanization and oppression of African American women not only by gender roles, by society?s norms and also by their racist and sexist communities. In their so-called novels, the powerful women characters draw the attention as the chief protagonists. Sula, Nel, Eva in Sula and Celie, Sofia, Nettie and Shug in The Color Purple are all representatives of different generations of strong and independent black female selves. The argument?s focal point is that these black female characters are able to survive against all challenges; they are able to cope with all the borders, oppressions, and so they are able to craft a new order free from all these obstacles.
Redefining of trauma in Iris Murdoch's "The Black Prince" and "The Sea, The Sea"
Trauma is a phenomenon which is too shocking to be fully registered upon occurrence and which instead only manifests belatedly and somewhere else in intrusive images and compulsive re-enactments. An overwhelming and unexpected traumatic event renders its victim vulnerable and powerless by shadowing his or her perception. This thesis examines trauma from a psychoanalytic perspective, with a specific focus on the issues of love and death of someone beloved. Using the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan and principles of trauma theory as a starting point, a close textual reading of Iris Murdoch's The Black Prince and The Sea, The Sea will be presented. The concept of trauma will be redefined because of the fact that these books does not actually correspond to the typical norms of trauma narratives. As a matter of fact, the trauma in the books is what could be called the "trauma of the quotidian," a pedestrian trauma that nonetheless has the potential to cause the most intense suffering that most people will ever experience, should we be fortunate enough to escape war, natural disaster or mutilating accident. This thesis aims to explore how "trauma of the quotidian" within these texts is represented and engaged.
Social anxiety and scientific progress in the Late Victorian gothic fiction: Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
In this thesis study, Bram Stoker?s Dracula and Robert Louis Stevenson?s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are analyzed in relation to the time period they were written in according to the literary critical approach of New Historicism. In the analysis of these works, literary texts, texts that provide historical information and information about the life of the authors are read in parallel to each other and thus the methods of the New Historicist approach are used. The thesis is composed of three chapters apart from the introduction and conclusion parts.Following the introduction part where the subject of the thesis and the emergence and the particulars of the New Historicist approach are told, the phases and changes that Gothic novel went through between the 18th and the 20th centuries, and the social, political and cultural structure of the Victorian England are displayed in the first chapter. In the second chapter, Victorian period?s scientific innovations, inventions and other technological progresses that affected the daily life are told initially. Then the social structure of the period, urbanization, industrialization and the hardships accompanying it, and the anxieties and depressions which are the results of these hardships are revealed. In the light of the information provided in the previous chapters, how England of the Late Victorian period is reflected, and how the scientific progresses and the social changes in this period are observed, in these works, are the subjects that are discussed in the third and the last chapter.Finally, as asserted by the New Historicist criticism, no text of history can be objective, and it is quite possible to read Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as historical texts that provide histories of their time from alternative points of view though they are literary works, and moreover non-canonical.
An inquiry on the representation of Oriental women in Tariq Ali's Islam Quintet
This study aims to scrutinize the representation of ?Oriental? women in Tariq Ali?s Islam Quintet, which were published in the period of 1992-2010. Shaped by an ?anti-Orientalist? perspective to release the so-called Orient from the Orientalist perceptions, the Islam Quintet is questioned in its uniformity in relation to its approach to the native women. Within the analysis of the stereotypical ?Oriental? woman, the female characters in five volumes and their position vis-à-vis their local culture are examined in order to unfold the latent Orientalist discourse in Ali's narrative. By such intention, this thesis also explores the parallels between the Orientalist depiction of the women and the imperial discourse of a ?gendered? Orient. Accordingly, the notions of femininity, patriarchy, and the ?Oriental? social norms are discussed in relation to the Orientalist and anti-Orientalist frameworks that are applied in the Quintet.Keywords: Orientalism, Tariq Ali, Representation, Women, Stereotype, Culture
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.