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THE IDENTITY CRISIS OF RETA WINTERS: GENDER AND ETHNICITY IN CAROL SHIELD’S UNLESS

Year 2023, Volume: 63 Issue: 2, 1256 - 1271, 25.12.2023
https://doi.org/10.33171/dtcfjournal.2023.63.2.15

Abstract

Carol Shield’s novel Unless (2002) mainly revolves around Reta Winter’s identity crisis in comparison to her past and present self. As an activist in her youth and a current writer, Reta’s world turns upside down after the news that one of her daughters, Norah, unexpectedly decides to live in the street. This incident reminds Reta how much she is estranged from her past self in the journey of self-discovery and how it leads her into an identity crisis. In this research paper, it will be discussed how Reta’s life changes after her daughter Norah’s choice, how Alicia, one of the protagonists in Reta’s novel, changes her life choices dramatically, and how Canada’s multiculturalism policy is presented in life. The interconnectedness among Norah’s choice of living in the street by sitting behind a cardboard sign “goodness” (after experiencing a traumatic incident), the references related to Norah’s clothes and where she chooses to sit, and the relationship between Norah’s traumatic event and Canada’s multiculturalism policy will lead Reta to revisit her past self that she has forgotten for a very long time and will guide her to remember her old self as the other. Reta’s personal trauma and Canada’s cultural trauma will be analyzed in the scope of literary trauma theories by the contribution of the pioneers in this field, particularly Cathy Caruth.

References

  • Bauman, Z. (2016). Özgürlük. İstanbul: Ayrıntı Yayınları.
  • Beckman-Long, B. (2015). Carol Shields and the writer-critic. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • Caruth, C. (1995). Trauma: Explorations in memory. Baltimore & London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Foucault, M. (1991). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. (A. Sherida, Trans.). London: Penguin Books.
  • Freud, S. (2003[1919]). The uncanny. (D. McLintock, Trans.). London: Penguin Books.
  • Irigaray, L. (1981). And the one doesn’t stir without the other. Signs: Journal of women in culture and society, Vol. 7, No.1, 60-67. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3173507.
  • Madsen, D. L. (2000). Feminist theory and literary practice. London & Sterling: Pluto Press.
  • Mızıkyan Akfıçıcı, A. (2018) “Sarah Daniels' Beside Herself: The inversion of intertexts as a strategy to represent woman in dramatic place and time.” (K. Karaboğa, Ed.). Tiyatroda zaman/mekan, 340-352. İstanbul: Habitus.
  • Moore, O. (1984). In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens by Alice Walker. Iowa Journal of Literary Studies, 5(1), 107-110. doi: https://doi.org/10.17077/0743-2747.1130.
  • Morrison, T. (1994). Conversations with Toni Morrison. (D. Taylor-Guthrie, Ed.). Unites States of America: The University Press of Missisippi.
  • Poovey, M. (1988). Deconstruction and feminism. Feminist studies, 14(1), 51-65. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3177998.
  • Shannon, F. A. (2015). Multiculturalism in Canada: The controversy of ethnic and cultural diversity. Studies in humanities and communication, 19, 1-42.
  • Shields, C. (2002). Unless. London: Fourth Estate.
  • Skaarup, H. A. (2012). Shelldrake: Canadian artillery museums and gun monuments. Bloomington: iUniverse Inc.
  • Şavkay, C. (2003). Intertextuality and gender identity in the British postmodern novel [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Istanbul University.
  • Vickroy, L. (2002). Trauma and survival in contemporary fiction. Birleşik Krallık: University of Virginia Press.
  • Whitehead, A. (2004). Trauma fiction. Edinburg: Edinburg University Press.
  • Williams, B. (2004). The Romans in Britain. Hampshire: Jarrold Publishing.

RETA WINTERS’IN KİMLİK KRİZİ: CAROL SHIELDS’İN UNLESS ROMANINDA TOPLUMSAL CİNSİYET VE ETNİK KÖKEN

Year 2023, Volume: 63 Issue: 2, 1256 - 1271, 25.12.2023
https://doi.org/10.33171/dtcfjournal.2023.63.2.15

Abstract

Carol Shields’in 2002 yılında kaleme aldığı Unless romanı, Reta Winters’ın geçmişi ile güncel hayatındaki kimlik çatışmasını konu edinmektedir. Kendi gençlik yıllarında bir aktivist olan Reta, kızlarından biri olan Norah’ın beklenmedik bir şekilde aldığı karar ile sokakta yaşamaya başlaması ile dünyası altüst olur. Bu olay, romanda ve Reta’nın kendilik yolculuğunda başladığı noktadan ne kadar uzaklaştığını ona hatırlatmakta ve kendisini bir kimlik krizine sürüklemektedir. Bu çalışmanın, Reta Winters’ın kızı Norah’nın kararı sonrası hayatına, yazdığı romandaki ana karakterlerinden Alicia’in seçimlerine ve Kanada tarihindeki kültürel çeşitlilik politikasına nasıl eleştirel bir bakış açısı getirdiği tartışılacaktır. Norah’nın yaşadığı travmatik bir olay sonrası boynuna astığı “iyilik” yazılı pankartla sokakta yaşamaya başlaması, üzerindeki kıyafetlere ve oturmayı seçtiği yere dair göndermeler ve bu olayın Kanada’daki kültürel travma ile olan bağlantısı, Reta’nın unutulmuş geçmiş kimliğine dönüp yeniden bakmasını ve kendisinin de “öteki” olduğunu hatırlatacaktır. Reta’nın kişisel travması ile Kanada’nın kültürel travması, Cathy Caruth başta olmak üzere, travma teorisyenleri ışığında incelenecektir.

References

  • Bauman, Z. (2016). Özgürlük. İstanbul: Ayrıntı Yayınları.
  • Beckman-Long, B. (2015). Carol Shields and the writer-critic. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • Caruth, C. (1995). Trauma: Explorations in memory. Baltimore & London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Foucault, M. (1991). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. (A. Sherida, Trans.). London: Penguin Books.
  • Freud, S. (2003[1919]). The uncanny. (D. McLintock, Trans.). London: Penguin Books.
  • Irigaray, L. (1981). And the one doesn’t stir without the other. Signs: Journal of women in culture and society, Vol. 7, No.1, 60-67. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3173507.
  • Madsen, D. L. (2000). Feminist theory and literary practice. London & Sterling: Pluto Press.
  • Mızıkyan Akfıçıcı, A. (2018) “Sarah Daniels' Beside Herself: The inversion of intertexts as a strategy to represent woman in dramatic place and time.” (K. Karaboğa, Ed.). Tiyatroda zaman/mekan, 340-352. İstanbul: Habitus.
  • Moore, O. (1984). In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens by Alice Walker. Iowa Journal of Literary Studies, 5(1), 107-110. doi: https://doi.org/10.17077/0743-2747.1130.
  • Morrison, T. (1994). Conversations with Toni Morrison. (D. Taylor-Guthrie, Ed.). Unites States of America: The University Press of Missisippi.
  • Poovey, M. (1988). Deconstruction and feminism. Feminist studies, 14(1), 51-65. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3177998.
  • Shannon, F. A. (2015). Multiculturalism in Canada: The controversy of ethnic and cultural diversity. Studies in humanities and communication, 19, 1-42.
  • Shields, C. (2002). Unless. London: Fourth Estate.
  • Skaarup, H. A. (2012). Shelldrake: Canadian artillery museums and gun monuments. Bloomington: iUniverse Inc.
  • Şavkay, C. (2003). Intertextuality and gender identity in the British postmodern novel [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Istanbul University.
  • Vickroy, L. (2002). Trauma and survival in contemporary fiction. Birleşik Krallık: University of Virginia Press.
  • Whitehead, A. (2004). Trauma fiction. Edinburg: Edinburg University Press.
  • Williams, B. (2004). The Romans in Britain. Hampshire: Jarrold Publishing.
There are 18 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Zehra Aydın Koçak

Early Pub Date December 20, 2023
Publication Date December 25, 2023
Submission Date March 23, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Volume: 63 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Aydın Koçak, Z. (2023). THE IDENTITY CRISIS OF RETA WINTERS: GENDER AND ETHNICITY IN CAROL SHIELD’S UNLESS. Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi, 63(2), 1256-1271. https://doi.org/10.33171/dtcfjournal.2023.63.2.15

Ankara University Journal of the Faculty of Languages and History-Geography

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