Department of English Language and Literature
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Item A CULTURAL MATERIALIST READING OF TOM STOPPARD’S POLITICAL DRAMA: PROFESSIONAL FOUL, CAHOOT’S MACBETH, ROCK’N’ROLL(2015-01-31) GÜLPINAR, Gülay; CANLI, GülsenThis study puts forward that Czech born British playwright Tom Stoppard wrote his three political plays titled Professional Foul, Cahoot’s Macbeth and Rock’n’Roll sharing most of the cultural materialist sensitivities. Besides this main discussion, it analyzes the plays in question from a cultural materialist perspective. Mainly Alan Sinfield’s ideas are employed to explain the mentioned theory. When it is taken into account that Stoppard displays the history of Czechoslovakia through censored cultural practices like theatre, music and academic works, the theory cultural materialism which suggests that all the cultural practices are political has been found appropriate for the study of the plays. In Rock’n’Roll, rock music, which has always been regarded as the voice of dissidence both in the capitalist and the communist systems, becomes the symbol of dissidence because it is imported from Western cultures to Czechoslovakia, a country behind the iron curtain. In Cahoot’s Macbeth, when Shakespeare’s character Macbeth’s personal history in which he evolves from being an honourable lord into a tyrant is taken as a metaphor for the history of the socialist totalitarian system in Czechoslovakia, playing Macbeth becomes a strong criticism towards the dominant ideology and power. As for Professional Foul, when the central character Hollar’s dissertation, which has the power of introducing “truths” to society through scientific evidences, is censored, Hollar struggles to publish his text outside Czechoslovakia and as a matter of fact, his struggle becomes an act of dissidence as he rejects the impositions of the system. This study suggests that Stoppard wrote the plays in question with a cultural materialist approach because he displays the power-struggle between the totalitarian system and the dissident individuals through cultural practices. Cultural materialism which is among the new historicist theories analyzes the works of the past and emphasizes their importance in the circulation of the ideology and discourses of the contemporary world. Another point of emphasis for the cultural materialists is the notion of dissidence. Upon this basis, Stoppard’s criticism towards the Czechoslovakian government of 1970s through a Shakespearean text written in the seventeenth century has been suggested as one of the evidences for Stoppard’s cultural materialist approach and his dissident attitude towards the dominant ideology. Another evidence for Stoppard’s mentioned attitude and approach is his criticism of capitalism through a totalitarian system that collapsed long ago in Rock’n’Roll. In Professional Foul, the fact that dissidents can change the system through subverting the official discourses and forming reverse discourses indicates Stoppard’s optimism. This optimism is also a common denominator between Stoppard’s playwriting and cultural materialism.Item A DECONSTRUCTIVE READING OF THE NIGERIAN SUBALTERN: ZAYNAB ALKALI’S THE STILLBORN, BUCHI EMECHETA’S KEHINDE AND SEFI ATTA’S EVERYTHING GOOD WILL COME(2022-02-22) AKBAY, Yakut; CANLI, GülsenThe aim of this research is to defamiliarize Gayatri Spivak’s pessimistic approach regarding the condition of the subaltern as a female subject. The position of the female subaltern will be examined in terms of the Nigerian woman within the framework of deconstructionist approach. To this end, Jacques Derrida’s major concepts and neologisms, such as phallogocentrism, différance, ellipsis and palimpsest will be commonly applied in the study of particular cultural aspects affecting the development of the subaltern woman. In addition, Homi K.Bhabha’s post-colonial concepts such as mimicry, appropriation and ambivalence will be incorporated into the study of the second and third novels to conceptualise the position of the Nigerian female subaltern in terms of cultural difference. A deconstructive reading will reveal to what extent the Nigerian female subaltern has undergone changes. It will be performed within different cultural contexts tracing the trajectory of the subaltern that ultimately leads her to self realisation, self-reliance and subsequent self-attainment. The study will prove the validity of the vernacular female theory known as African feminism, which will make it possible to redefine the traditional concept of womanhood within Nigerian culture. The research will conclude that as opposed to Spivak’s subaltern, the Nigerian subaltern carves out her own space from which she can speak for herself in the male dominated society.Item A FOUCAULDIAN READING OF POWER POLITICS IN ANIMAL FARM AND LORD OF THE FLIES(2020-11-14) SALEH, Mohammed; TEKİN, Kuğu; ARAS, Gökçen; ALPAKIN MARTINEZ CARO, DürrinThis thesis explores the relations of power and politics as represented in George Orwell’s Animal Farm and in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies with reference to the philosophy of Michel Foucault. In both novels, power is an evident source of gaining political advantage over the others. Both Napoleon and Jack rely on “repressive power” to be superior. They either suppress or destroy all the entities in their distinct communities who resist against the hierarchical order. They create a totalitarian system that treats its subjects as puppets. Both Napoleon and Jack rule their communities through fear, and that fear is made up of death threats. On the other hand, Foucault describes another superior form of power, named “normalized power,” which suggests that in order to be assertive, one does not have to use power. This form of power puts certain groups under countless rules and laws and implants them into the group members’ minds as early as childhood. Individuals accept to obey these rules and laws willingly without judging or questioning them. Thus, a superior form of power is created. This power is governed by different systems that enforce these laws on those who are beneath it. The police, who directly enforce those laws, or teachers who indirectly enforce them by teaching these laws might be given as examples. Normalized power offers a more balanced system that ensures those who are subject to it will not revolt. The two novels that are selected to study in this thesis indicate that the systems that use repression alone are imbalanced and likely to end up in revolt. Both novels convey the reactions of those who are subject to the cruel treatment of power-holders. Indeed, both Orwell and Golding emphasize the fact that by using either normalized or repressive power, the system manages to keep the ruled ones under strict control.Item A MARXIST APPROACH TO CHILD LABOUR IN OLIVER TWIST, DAVID COPERFIELD, AND HARD TIMES(2022-02-24) Haroon, Yahia; Aras, GökşenThe thesis aims to study the theme of child labour in Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Hard Times with regard to Marxist approach. The ideas that are to be highlighted are the exploitation and abuse of children during the time in which these three novels are written. For instance, in Oliver Twist the appalling conditions in the workhouse, pocket picking, prostitution, and criticism of the Poor law in 1834 will be studied. In David Copperfield, many social issues might be found; Dickens focuses on the child mistreatment and beating by giving examples for that. The first example is that, David is beaten and mistreated by his stepfather and his sister. In the second example, students in Salem House School are abused and beaten. As for class difference and its influence, Dickens creates two models. Steerforth from upper class and Mr. Mell from the lower class. Dickens shows how Mr. Mell is fired from school after confronting Steerforth. In Hard Times, inserting material ideas into the mind of school children run by Mr. Creakle who is adopting the idea of Utilitarianism. All in all, the above mentioned and the related topics are to be analyzed in accordance with the Marxist ideology to reveal upper class' exploitation of the working class or the poor in general.Item A MARXIST APPROACH TO CLASS CONFLICT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY BRITISH NOVEL: NORTH AND SOUTH, MIDDLEMARCH AND THE WAY WE LIVE NOW(2022-02-28) Riaz, Adnan; TEKİN, KuğuThis thesis aims to study class conflict in the North and South (1854) by Gaskell, Middlemarch (1874) by George Eliot, and The Way We Live Now (1875) by Anthony Trollope. It precisely focuses on the application of Karl Marx’s ideas on class tension and class interests that tend to change because of the change in the contemporary mode of production and economic activities. It shares a deep look into the shaping ideas in the respective works, simmering problems, including constitutional, religious, and political developments that affected class relations and views of “has” and “have-nots”. At the same time, tendencies of the respective writers, their overtly expressed and implied ideas in these works in discussion are analysed. Since Marxist theory relies on economy as the “Base” that serves as a launching pad for any maneuver within the social structure, the thesis intends to look at life from the very lens by analyzing the influence of “money” and “power” over other socio-cultural activities of the period mentioned in these works. The stated aspects will be looked at from the Marxist critics’ perspective. Theoretical Chapter elaborates Marxist ideas with respect to the forthcoming analytical chapters which include detailed discussions on the selected novels. This study includes highlights of religious, political, cultural, and family life, being affected by economic factors. All the three works explored in this thesis were published within a time span of twenty one years. The three authors’ main concerns are social, economic and political issues of the times, and their common themes such as class conflict, materialism, and rising capitalism not only give a solid view of the age but also revitalize history. It is seen that the flourishing of the novel genre in the nineteenth century coincides with that of industrialism. Consequently, the powerful economic boom which subordinated human labor, moral values, and ethics, gave birth to new class formations. Finally, in the concluding chapter, it has been proved that class struggle, and its relative impacts, manipulating power of capital and so forth are parts of these major works of the time.Item A NEW HISTORICIST READING OF POWER MECHANISM IN DYSTOPIAN NOVELS: THE FIXED PERIOD BY ANTHONY TROLLOPE, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE BY ANTHONY BURGESS, AND NEVER LET ME GO BY KAZUO ISHIGURO(2022-01-19) BEKLER, Ecevit; ARAS, GökşenThe Fixed Period (1882), A Clockwork Orange (1962) and Never Let Me Go (2005) written by Anthony Trollope, Anthony Burgess, and Kazuo Ishiguro, respectively have been analysed using the critical theory New Historicism. With the application of this theory, the relationship between the text, the biography of the author, and the social, cultural, and political conditions of each period have been revealed through a careful study. The novels provide profound information about their periods as textual products of their culture and discourse. The Fixed Period, A Clockwork Orange, and Never Let Me Go are products of colonial, juvenile delinquency, and scientific discourses respectively. This study reveals that each novel reflects the contemporary and foremost social issues of their periods. As dystopian novels, they reflect the anxieties regarding social issues. Contemporary literary texts and non-literary texts have been used in order to find out the dominant ideology of each period. To understand the cultural and intellectual history of three different periods better, Stephen Greenblatt’s and Michel Foucault’s theories and arguments about power, ideology, and discourse have been taken as basis regarding the function of power mechanisms that circulate throughout the society. The dissertation has shown that power relations and control mechanisms change from period to period in line with social and cultural changes in societies. Human beings not only dominated the nature but also each other. The dissertation puts forward that mechanisation, technology, and science all were thought to increase the life standards of people and contribute to the welfare of society. However, such developments contributed to the creation of more control mechanisms.Item A POSTCOLONIAL ENCOUNTER WITH MODERNISM: THE LONELY LONDONERS, MOSES ASCENDING AND MOSES MIGRATING(2022-01-18) Çar, Tuğçe; ELBİR, N. BelginThis aim of this thesis is to analyze the extent to which certain aspects of postcolonial literatüre in Samuel Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners, Moses Ascending and Moses Migrating converges with elements of Modernism, through an exploration of the dialect employed in the narration of these three novels. In all of them, Selvon opts to experiment with language to the extent that he conveys his postcolonial agenda through this fabricated language, turning his unprecedented linguistic experimentation into a bridge between the postcolonial and Modernist remits. The theoretical chapter presents a brief account of the historical context of the postcolonial period, the foundation and concepts basic to postcolonial theory. A brief discussion of the relationship between Modernist literature and postcolonial literature has also been provided. In the analytical chapters, the significance of the unique and hybridized register employed by the narrators of The Lonely Londoners, Moses Ascending and Moses Migrating in relation to the conveyal of the major points of convergence between Modernist and postcolonial liteartures is studied in detail. It is concluded that Modernism and postcolonialism intersect at two major points: experimentalism and the concept of dislocation, which are expressed in and symbolized by Selvon’s employment of a fabricated and hybrid dialect in the narration of his three novels.Item A STUDY OF GOTHIC SPACE AND CHARACTER IN THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO AND JANE EYRE(2022-01-25) Al-Maqdasi, Anas Waad Mahgoob; Tekin, KuğuThis study investigates the gothic spaces and characters in Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. In these two novels the female protagonists suffer from the cruel treatment and oppression of the wicked male characters. In both novels, the protagonists are forced to experience certain ambiguous, dark, mysterious, horrific and supernatural events. It is seen that the majority of Gothic novels are marked by the gender based inequality between female and male characters in that almost always male characters are the ones holding power in their hands. The powerful male figure plays a major role in turning the heroine’s life into a miserable one. Whenever the heroine acts or speaks against his will, she is exposed to violence, either physical or psychological, or both. In addition, the gothic spaces in both novels contribute to heighten fear and terror the heroines feel in the presence of brutal male power. Thus, woman’s reaction against male tyranny becomes the central focus of both novels. The two novels of the thesis, which are selected as the two representatives of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries gothic fiction written by two women writers, convey woman’s struggle on the way to achieve independence as a free individual within a patriarchal society. The ultimate aim of the thesis is to trace the terrorising impact gothic spaces create on the heroines of The Mysteries of Udolpho and Jane Eyre in that the feeling of horror triggers both heroines’ impulse to fight back and survive. In the end, both protagonists become independent individuals who can speak and act in accordance with their free will. As a result, both novels present liberated female identity which stands for the two authors’ desire and hope for providing women with a free space within a male dominated society.Item BEYOND SEXUALITY: TRANSGENDER BODIES IN THE NOVELS OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, ANGELA CARTER AND JEANETTE WINTERSON(2022-01-18) ÖZTOP HANER, Sezgi; Elbir, BelginThe broad concern of this dissertation is the significance of gender ambiguity and fluid sexuality created by the presence of transgender narrators in the novels of three twentieth century women novelists. Hence, this dissertation studies Orlando (1928) by Virginia Woolf, The Passion of New Eve (1977) by Angela Carter, and Written on the Body (1992) by Jeanette Winterson in order to examine and contextualize the role of transgender narrators and their critique of stable gender position articulated through body. In this respect, Woolf’s Orlando shows how the novel both engages with the reformulation and rearticulation of gender and depicts a body in the process of transitioning. Carter’s The Passion of New Eve demonstrates how the subjects are already transgendered and continuously reshaping the material world through the embodiment of the transgendered being. On the other hand, Winterson’s Written on the Body urges the reader to consider how possible to discuss sex and sexuality of the narrator when his/her gender is never exposed and how the reader constitutes an identity for the narrator and an entrance into the text in the absence of sex. Then, this dissertation will show the way gender ambiguity is created by the existence of transgressive transgender figure in each novel, which enables the reader to interrogate gender dynamics and to reconsider the categories of sex and sexuality with alteration in mind. This dissertation will also indicate that each writer implants the transgender body throughout their examination of language’s ambiguity and the disruption of spatiality and temporality. At the same time, this dissertation demonstrates how the transgender figure in each novel is functioned as an essential component for the revision of dominant discourses involved in the construction, maintenance and spread of conventional gender identities and sexualities.Item CHILD LABOUR IN DICKENS’S OLIVER TWIST AND DAVID COPPERFIELD(2015-07-18) ABDULLAH SHARAF, Salim Younus; GÜLTEKİN, LerzanThe purpose of this thesis is to analyse child labour, the sufferings of children and the social and economic changes in the Age of Industrialization as reflected in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist(1837-1839) and David Copperfield (1850). The Industrial Revolution refers to the transition from handcraft and agrarian ways of life into industrialized society that is based on industry and machine manufacture that covered the period between 1760 and 1840. Industrialization began mainly with cotton manufacturing and clothes in many countries, particularly in England. It led to the large migration of people from the countryside to cities living in slums and crowded areas. Women and children were highly laboured in this period working in hard conditions with little wages. The factory owners tried their best to keep their superior position that led to social hierarchy. In these novels, Charles Dickens criticized how the poor children were laboured, abused, exploited, deprived of their education and how the capitalist system, that is based on class differences, produced villains who used every means to maintain their social ladder. This thesis consists of an introduction, two main chapters and a conclusion. In the introduction, the social and historical context of the Industrial Revolution is explained. It deals with child labour and its historical background. It also focuses on the Victorian Era in terms of Victorian society and class division, child Labour and the Victorian Novel. In Chapter II, which deals with Oliver Twist (1837- 1839), it is asserted that children in the corrupt system were laboured, abused and exploited. It has become clear that the workhouses are among the reasons of children’s bad conditions. In Chapter III, Which deals with Dickens’ David Copperfield (1850), it isen emphasized that child labour, child abuse and child exploitation are the bad the consequences of the capitalist system. It has also been affirmed that there are big difference in living condition among the classes in capitalist societies where the rich used every opportunity to maintain their position. In conclusion, it is concluded that the Industrial Revolution had many bad consequences on the life of the poor, such as child labour and abuse, and the migration of poor to big cites living in slums and crowded areas. Dickens, in the two novels, draws the sufferings of poor children who were deprived of their parent’s affection and education working for long hours under bad conditions. He draws these issues with more optimism, compared with other novelists.Item CLASS, IDEOLOGY AND HEGEMONY IN LIONEL BRITTON’S HUNGER AND LOVE, ROBERT TRESSELL’S THE RAGGED TROUSERED PHILANTHROPISTS, AND WALTER GREENWOOD’S LOVE ON THE DOLE(2022-01-25) ATİLA, Oğuzhan; GÜLTEKİN, Azade LerzanThis thesis explores themes of class, ideology and hegemony in line with novelistic form and style in selected proletarian novels written in the early decades of twentieth century England. The approach adopted in the analyses of the novels is that of Marxist Literary theory, including both classical and post-Marxist point of view. The writers studied in this dissertation are distinguished in that they all belonged to the intellectual layer of proletariat and wrote their novels relying on their own experiences. In Hunger and Love, Lionel Britton deals with the problems in the capitalist society through an experimental style. Different from Walter Greenwood and Robert Tressell, Britton abundantly uses scientific, psychological and historical terms as well as a large number of references to literary figures. Rather than picturing working-class life through a large working community, Britton takes a few individual characters as the microcosm in his novel and uncovers universal truth about working-class culture and life in the capitalist world. While attacking the hegemonic class, he reveals class discrimination and ideological practices in the society. Walter Greenwood and Robert Tressell deal with miserable working and living conditions of a working-class community, with a particular attention to unemployment and poverty. While the setting in Greenwood’s novel is an industrial town, Tressell uses a non-industrial, Edwardian setting, the characters being artisans rather than factory workers. Both writers reveal how capitalism makes slaves out of workers through ideological and repressive state apparatuses. Tressell’s novel abounds in religious and political references that help the reader to understand the context of narration. Greenwood’s novel is treated as a social documentary; less explicit in its attack to the system and more psychological in dealing with the characters. Overall, the ultimate aim of this study is to reveal that the literary works in question need to take their places among canonized literature and further research is to be encouraged.Item COLONIAL DISCOURSE AND RESISTANCE in JEAN RHYS’S WIDE SARGASSO SEA, BUCHI EMECHETA’S SECOND CLASS CITIZEN and FADIA FAQIR’S MY NAME IS SALMA(2022-01-25) LENGERLİ AYDEMİR, Siray; BATUM MENTEŞE, OyaWith an aim to reach a wider understanding of the still functioning colonial discourse in recent decades, this dissertation argues self-definition and resistance of the female protagonists in Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea, Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen and Fadia Faqir’s My Name is Salma. The protagonists’ ways to define their self and resist the colonial discourse and its patriarchal hold on their life during colonial, post-colonial and multi-cultural times are the focus of the textual analyses. The essence of colonial discourse, enfolding the colonizer as the central and excluding the other as the outsider, has been a burden for the protagonists, which seems impossible to struggle with. Yet, it is their own tactics, which pave the path for them to resist, and sometimes to bow to the colonial discourse in order to find a definition for themselves within this insurmountable language. These tactics differ in time; place and identity, in that, the settings in the novels are different starting from the colonial and approaching to the multi-cultural. Therefore, the theories and definitions differ accordingly. A variety of theoretical approaches and detections are applied throughout the analysis focusing mainly on imperialism, binary oppositions, counter-discourse, the Third Space, linguistic imperialism and mimicry. Bill Ashcroft, Michael Foucault, Gayatri Spivak, Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, Frantz Fanon, Hamid Dabashi, Robert Phillipson, Leila Ahmed, Alastair Pennycook, Robert Young, Richard Terdiman, Ania Loomba, Elleke Boehmer, Oyeronke Owewumi and Amin Malak are the leading theorists and critics, whose views and theories enlightened the study to arrive at a reasonable conclusion, which emphasizes the idea that colonial discourse still keeps its essence with a patriarchal eye.Item COMEDY IN REGIONAL NOVELS: MRS GASKELL’S CRANFORD, MARGARET OLIPHANT’S MISS MARJORIBANKS, ANTHONY TROLLOPE’S THE SMALL HOUSE AT ALLINGTON(2022-02-15) GÜN, Buse; ELBİR, N. BelginThe Mid- Victorian Age (1848-1870) was a time period when peace and wealth were relatively sustained. As a result of this, regional and provincial novels emerged and became popular in that era. Moreover, with the industrialisation, English society underwent some radical changes. At that point, novelists used humour in the provincial novels to soften the hardships of these great social changes. Provincial novels usually told the story of a small circle of people who led quite leisurely lives. That’s why they had time to be obsessed with small events and turn them into a crisis. The novels in this thesis Cranford by Elisabeth Gaskell, Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant and The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope focus on these issues. The three novels mentioned above are provincial novels in which humour is used as an element to overcome the problems brought by industrialisation. The events turn around the small number of people who are usually familiar with each other. Due to the industrial revolution, old traditions are out of date and the people who follow them are put in humorous situations. As a result, these three novels show that to adopt the novelties is the key point. However, sometimes a feeling of nostalgia towards the lost values due to industrialisation is conveyed to the reader.Item CONSTRUCTING MODERNIST POETICS: TRANSNATIONAL REPRESENTATIONS OF LONDON IN THE POETRY OF EZRA POUND AND T.S. ELIOT(2022-02-21) Şen Alta, Seda; Elbir, BelginLiterary representations of London have changed over the centuries as it changed from a merchant town into a cosmopolitan metropolis in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and have shaped the meanings the city attained. Accordingly, images of London portrayed by native and foreign writers, attached new meanings to the city. After the mid-twentieth century, the rise of the spatial turn in literary theory and criticism made a spatial reading of these representations possible for critics, leading to a re-evaluation of the poetics of certain literary movements such as modernism, a movement, one characteristic feature of which was a preoccupation with urban life. Thus, a spatial reading of modernist works in which a spatial awareness in terms of their subject, themes, and style was present, suggested a link between the representations of London in these works and modernist poetics. Viewed from this perspective, it can be claimed that modernist writers experimented with portrayals of the city in order to explore the meaning of twentieth century modernity to manipulate the meanings the city had attained over the years and construct a modernist poetics. The aim of this dissertation is to examine the works of two leading figures of the modernist movement, Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot, in the light of spatial theory to argue that representations of London play a significant role in their efforts to construct a transnational modernist poetics. By employing foreigner personae, their portrayals of the city establish London as the representative of a globally influential cultural centre. Additionally, their city poems not only demonstrate the influence of the city in constructing their modernist poetics but also reveal that the image of a real modern city is a harmonious blend of its architecture, its people, and its memories created by past representations and first-hand experiences.Item DEMYSTIFYING THE IMAGE OF A FIERCE CITY IN PETER ACKROYD’S LONDON: THE BIOGRAPHY AND DAN LENO AND THE LIMEHOUSE GOLEM(2021-11-09) BAYRAK, Zeynep Gülten; TEKİN, KuğuThe city of London is a significant element in most of Peter Ackroyd’s works. He often combines his works with the theme of violence and crime in London and observes the negative effects of the city on the characters. The thesis specifically examines respectively the relationship between violence and London’s socio-cultural constructions from Ackroyd’s perspective. By analysing London: The Biography and Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem, whether it is fictional or non-fictional, London has always been represented as a violent living being in Ackroyd’s works. In his works, London is not described as a setting, it is always regarded as a fierce and corrupt landscape in constant progress by affecting its habitants and their interactions in history and even in the present. To this end, in the first chapter, crime fiction is analyzed by investigating the improvements in the genre, and also Londoners’ interest in fictional violence is examined in terms of London’s violent and dark character. In addition, the representation of the city in literature, its images, and the experiences of its dwellers are identified. Also, the literary career of Peter Ackroyd, his writing style called “English tradition” and his perspective are investigated. In this chapter, Ackroyd’s London is portrayed as a violent living being and his works reveal the dark and fierce nature of the city. The second chapter is dedicated to explain the theoretical background of violence by benefiting from some theorists’ theory of violence and their opinions. In addition, the representation of violence in literature and its significance as a literary device that contains brutality is identified. The third chapter explores the representation of violence in Ackroyd’s London: The Biography and Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem. Also, London as a fierce city, and Londoners who are shaped by the fierceness and brutality of the city is analyzed. In the conclusion part, it is concluded that London is represented as an irrational and fierce city in both of Ackroyd’s works. Ackroyd's two works, as in most of his works reveal the negative effects of the city on Londoners and the relationship between the barbarity of Londoners and London’s cruel nature.Item DIASPORIC IDENTITIES OF IMMIGRANTS IN ANDREA LEVY’S SMALL ISLAND AND NADEEM ASLAM’S MAPS FOR LOST LOVERS(2021-11-03) ÇALIŞ, Sıla; ARAS, GökçenThe purpose of this thesis is to explore the impact of migration on the construction of identity and belonging with reference to Andrea Levy’s Small Island (2004) and Nadeem Aslam’s Maps for Lost Lovers (2004) through the analysis of Caribbean and Asian characters in a diaspora context. After the years following the Second World War, there was a large-scale immigration movement of people from ex colonies to Britain who, having served in the war effort or having been raised under the illusions of British colonial education. The underlying idea behind the mindset of immigrants was arriving at the “mother country”; a country that was welcoming them; a country idealised in the colonial imagination as a land of dream. As the members of a diasporic community begin to live in an “imaginary homeland” away from their country of origin, they encounter cultural, physical and psychological displacement in the host country, as a consequence of which they suffer the pangs of alienation and the pangs of lost home. In addition to the problematic relationship with a new land, they feel caught between the indigenous customs of their homeland and those of the motherland. They, thus try to find meaning for themselves in the values of a foreign culture in a diaspora space. Therefore, this thesis examines the literary representations of black and Asian immigrants who strive for asserting a sense of identity as well as securing a sense of belonging in Britain. The study deals with how diasporic identity and belonging are not pre-given or fixed but rather, are something always in constant processes of re/definition, re/construction and change.Item EDITH SITWELL’S POETRY AND MUSIC: CHALLENGE OF AN INDIVIDUAL TALENT(2022-02-21) Ünal, Olga; Elbir, BelginI have chosen Edith Sitwell’s poetry as a subject of this thesis, firstly, because of my love for this literary genre and my admiration of Sitwell’s personality, secondly, due to my interest in modernism and experimental literature, and lastly, due to my desire to deeply study and understand avant-garde literature. The objective of my study was to explore the meaning and significance of music in Edith Sitwell’s poetry, to understand the origin and time limitation of her experiment. For this purpose, I have examined most of Sitwell’s poems starting from 1910 until 1940s and analysed social, cultural and historical context of the period. I have also outlined major innovations, both in modernist music and literature, and explained why Edith Sitwell chose them. The modernist concept of “union of arts” inspired Sitwell for using theatrical and visual elements to present poems to public. This part of her experiment had led to creating an entertaining-event-poem, recited with the poet’s own voice and under a music accompaniment. Having read numerous books, dissertations, critical essays and articles, I have concluded that Sitwell unites poetry and music in her work not only at the level of vocabulary, but also at the level of non-traditional meter, rhythm and choice of words with particular sound patterns – combination of vowels and consonants. The structure of her poems intended to resemble structure of a typical modernist piece of music. I have concluded that the poet’s attempt to unite music and poetry was a part of her avant-garde poetic experiment. The choice of this path is rooted in Edith Sitwell’s belonging to an aristocratic family, her education and personal qualities. Of course, it was also the cultural shock in the beginning of the twentieth century that inspired Sitwell to search for new aesthetic forms in speaking about the morality and nature of the human kind. The significance of my research lies in appreciation of Edith Sitwell’s individual talent and her impact on British and the world avant-garde experimental poetry. Moreover, my study has helped me understand modernist literature, as well as to realize the purpose and cultural significance of a literary experiment in general.Item GENERIC SUBVERSIONS, GENDER, AND IDEOLOGY IN THE CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH DETECTIVE NOVEL(2022-01-18) Güneş, Mustafa; Elbir, N. BelginDetective fiction and detective novel have always been undervalued as a formulaic convention with strict generic features and definite boundaries. However, the argument of this dissertation is to claim a significant generic deviation from the strict formula of the genre after the 1970s with repercussions on arguments about gender and patriarchal ideology. Beginning with P.D. James’s An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) which portrays a female detective as a representative for “the new woman” of the 1970s subverting both the formulaic narrative of the genre and the characterization of the detective as stereotypically masculine whereas the women as domestic and limited to stereotypical gender roles, the deviation continues with Martin Amis’s Night Train (1997). Not only does Amis’s novel challenge the generic traditions of the detective novel particularly in the areas of characterization of the fictional detective, the specific use of language in the genre, the triangular climactic plot and the denouement following the climax, the nature and type of the crime and its repercussions, but it also draws attention to the difficulty and perhaps impossibility for a woman to survive in an extremely masculine working environment in a patriarchal society, that is the police officer. Graham Swift’s The Light of Day (2003), furthers the deviation and subverts the traditional narrative structure of classic detective novels, and the detective as a “saviour” in classic examples of detective novel is transformed into an anti-hero or an anti-detective who cannot or will not either save the society from the crime or restore the order disturbed by the crime. Moreover, the traditional supreme authority and the male gaze of conventional detective figures in the genre are challenged in Swift’s novel to an extent that obviously depower the gazer and question its authority against women. The dissertation, thus, concludes that not only do these three novels explored in the study undermine various generic traditions of classic detective novel, but also the detective figures presented in these works challenge stereotypical gender roles in patriarchy.Item INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY: A STUDY ON THE INFERIORITY FRUSTRATION IN DON JUAN AND J. ALFRED PRUFROCK; THE QUEST FOR LOVE AND SEXUALITY(2022-01-18) Alhgam, Mohammed Yahya.; Aras, GökşenThis thesis explores the effect of the inferiority feelings and the need for intimacy upon the mentality of Prufrock and Don Juan as different cases in different situations. Both personas suffer from their vulnerability toward their societies yet they react differently and choose different methods in compensations. The inferiority feelings and the need for sexual activities and intimacy are the same for each persona, but the way of handling such burden and desire lays completely on the persona itself. This study shows how Prufrock, a passive character, suffers from his inability to act toward his goals and get trapped in an inferiority complex, while Don Juan learns and adapts himself to live wth his inferiorities and compensate them at the end. The sexual need of Don Juan is fulfilled but he keeps falling as a victim to his vulnerability, which shows that Prufrock’s repressed sexual desires will not cure his disturbed mentality in case they are fulfilled. Understanding the movements that these poems belong to and analyzing the two personas’ backgrounds, societies and surrounding characters are key elements in understanding these personas’ mentality. The thesis will focus on the psychological theory of Alfred Adler, and Individual Psychology. This theory is used as an interpretation method in order to understand the two personas’ situations and behaviors. The study works on spotting the inferiority feelings in each persona and analyzing their personalities, goals and social interests accordingly.Item LIVES ON THE ROAD: HUMAN SECURITY AND MIGRATION IN MOHSIN HAMID’S EXIT WEST (2017) AND KAMILA SHAMSIE’S BURNT SHADOWS (2009)(2021-09-07) ÖZFINDIK KOTİK, Yasemen; TEKİN, KuğuThis study aims to explain how human security and migration are reflected in Exit West (2017) and Burnt Shadows using the theoretical frameworks of human security paradigm, postcolonial literary criticism and globalization (2009). Two research questions: “How are the concepts of human security and migration portrayed in Exit West and Burnt Shadows?” and “Are there any similarities and differences in the depiction of human security and migration in Exit West and Burnt Shadows?” are asked in the thesis and both of the novels are analysed according to the seven dimensions of human security. Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West problematizes international migration and human security by focusing on the journey of migration of a young couple living in an unnamed country in South Asia. Migration is the only solution of the young couple to maintain their security, but ironically, in this journey they have to deal with more issues of human security. Likewise, Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows also problematizes international migration and human security by focusing on a series of historical events such as the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, the separation of Pakistan and India, the Afghan War and 9/11 attacks. In Exit West, Nadia and Saeed migrate to the West by passing through magic doors; and in the countries they arrive they are exposed to security threats and discrimination. In Burnt Shadows, in addition to their functional use of symbols and metaphors of identity, animals are used to refer to human security. It is concluded that human security concerns of the characters in both novels lead to a transformation in their lives. Both novels foreground the experiences and the basic human needs of the individuals and Exist West and Burnt Shadows present a similarity in their portrayal of human security.
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