Mary Lee Settle's Blood Tie as a cultural encounter

ABSTRACTMaster of Arts DegreeMary Lee Settle?s Blood Tie as a Cultural EncounterA. Hilal ŞENGENÇDokuz Eylül UniversityGraduate Institute Of Social SciencesAmerican Culture and Literature DepartmentLiterature has been one of the important sites in which the ideology and impactof colonialism can evidently be observed. Studies have shown that the spirit ofcolonialism as a recurrent feature of human history has been reanimated today withglobalization. The aim of this thesis is to analyze how the ideology and impact ofcolonialism in its contemporary forms and resistances that are developed to dismantlethis ideology are reflected in contemporary literature, particularly in Mary Lee Settle?snovel Blood Tie.After an analysis of Blood Tie, in which Mary Lee Settle has sought out theimpact of new forms of colonialism and the ways of dismantling the colonial condition inTurkey, it is evidently seen that the neo-colonial hegemony of Western culture is initiallycriticized by women writers from Western culture again, in lieu of the representatives ofdominated cultures. What Settle emphasizes in this novel is the vital necessity forclaiming one?s own culture in order to overcome the colonial condition. In conclusion,such works as Blood Tie should inspire Turkish writers and critics for materializing thetask of representing their own culture through the eyes of insiders.KEY WORDS: 1- Colonialism, 2- Post-colonialism, 3-Globalization, 4- Culture,5- Gender