cujhss Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 3062-0112 Cankaya University 10.47777/cankujhss.1220273 Literary Studies Literary Theory Cultural Studies Creative Arts and Writing Edebi Çalışmalar Edebi Teori Kültürel çalışmalar Sanat ve Edebiyat Adrienne Kennedy'nin Funnyhouse of a Negro ve The Owl Answers adlı Oyunlarında Kesişen Sınırlar Intersectional Edges in Adrienne Kennedy’s Funnyhouse of a Negro and The Owl Answers https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6735-9398 Göksu Tansel TOKAT GAZİOSMANPAŞA ÜNİVERSİTESİ https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3722-6831 Aras Deniz ATATÜRK ÜNİVERSİTESİ 06 30 2023 17 1 14 29 12 16 2022 04 22 2023 Copyright © 2024, Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 2024 Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Bu makale, Adrienne Kennedy’nin Funnyhouse of a Negro ve The Owl Answers adlı oyunlarının incelenmesiyle, toplumsal oluşumların inşa edilişindeki kesişimsel sınırları keşfetmeyi amaçlar. Kesişimsellik, eşzamanlı ve etkileşimli baskıya maruz kalan sıra dışı seslerin deneyimlerini sorgulayarak iktidar eksenlerine meydan okur. Bu oyunlarda dezavantajlı kimliklerin kültürel bir inşa yoluyla önceden belirlenmiş konumları, kimlik krizinin hem siyah hem de kadın olmanın ne anlama geldiğine işaret ettiği bir kavşakta ayrımcılık tartışmalarını ve farklılıkları canlı tutan kesişimlerin inkâr edildiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Ayrıcalıklı seslere karşı kesişen sesler, kişinin baskı ve eşitsizliğin sistematik doğasını anlayabileceği bir mercek sağlar. Kişinin kendi konumunun farkında olması, karşı karşıya olduğu kimliklerin nasıl inşa edildiğini ve konumlandığını/konumlandırıldığını fark etmesi anlamına gelir. Dolayısıyla, tahakküme ve görünmezliğe karşı mücadele etmeye çalışmak, kendini tanıma, tanımlama ve direnme için gerekli olan bilinçlenmeye doğru ilerleyen bir yolculuğun yol haritasını çizer. Bu çalışma, oyunların kesişimsellik çerçevesinde incelenmesiyle, siyah kadınların deneyimlerine ve ırk, cinsiyet, toplumsal cinsiyet ve sınıf üzerinden kültürel olarak inşa edilmiş bir yapının toplumsal ve politik sonuçlarına odaklanır.

This article aims to explore intersectional boundaries in the construction of formations through the analysis of Adrienne Kennedy’s plays, Funnyhouse of a Negro (1964) and The Owl Answers (1965) Intersectionality challenges the axes of power by interrogating the experiences of the marginal voices who are exposed to simultaneous and interactive oppression. Positions of the disadvantaged identities predetermined through cultural construction in these plays reveal the discrimination debates at a junction where identity crisis points out what it means to be both black and woman, and the denial of intersections to keep the differences alive. The juxtaposition of intersectional voices against privileged ones provides a lens through which one can understand the systematic nature of oppression and inequality. One’s being aware of her/his own position means realizing how confronted identities are constructed and positioned. Thus, trying to struggle against domination and invisibility in such a construct draws a road map of a journey to self-definition and required consciousness to resist. Within the framework of intersectionality, the present study offers a focus on black females’ experience and social and political consequences of a culturally adapted construction through race, gender, sex, and class.

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