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Mantığa Aykırı Bir Normalliğin Peşinde Amansız Bir Arayış: Sally Rooney’nin Normal People Romanı

Year 2021, Volume: 15 Issue: 1, 79 - 90, 29.06.2021
https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.959429

Abstract

Sally Rooney’nin Normal People (2018) isimli romanı Marianne Sheridan ve Connell Waldron isimli iki zeki gencin arasındaki 2011’de başlayıp 2015’e kadar devam eden karmaşık, istikrarsız, fakat aynı zamanda da tutkulu ilişkiyi yazıya döker. Marianne, bir taraftan fırtınalı ilişkilerinde birçok ayrılık ve birleşme yaşarken, diğer bir taraftan da çocukluğunda yaşadığı ev içi şiddetle ve tacizden kaynaklanan psikolojik yaralanmalarıyla baş etmek için paradoksal bir yol izler; sessiz kalmayı tercih eder ve cinsel mazoşist davranışları benimser. Bu çalışmada, ilk olarak Marianne’nin sessiz kalmasının ne ölçüde duygusal ve fiziksel şiddetle savaşmaya yaradığı incelenecektir. Daha sonra ise, Marianne için hem kısa sureli rahatlık sağlayan hem de kendini tanımlamasına yardımcı olan cinsel mazoşist davranışların şiddet ve taciz tarafından nasıl tetiklendiği analiz edilecektir. Böylece, bu çalışma Marianne’in yaralarına sadık kalarak kendini tanımlamasının paradoksal normallik denebilecek bir arayış olduğunu göstererek, günümüzün en önemli sorunlarından biri olan kadına karşı şiddetin ve kadınların şiddetle baş etme yollarının altını çizecektir.

References

  • Berger, John. Keeping a Rendezvous. Vintage, 1992.
  • Berliner, Bernhard. “On Some Psychodynamics of Masochism.” The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, vol.16, 1947, pp. 459-471.
  • Bonvillain, Nancy. Language, Culture, and Communication: The Meaning of Messages. 8th ed., Rowman and Littlefield, 2020.
  • Burns, Anna. Milkman. Faber & Faber, 2018.
  • Butler, Judith. The Force of Nonviolence: An Ethico-political Bind. Verso, 2020.
  • Castillo, Debra Ann. Talking Back: Toward a Latin American Feminist Criticism. Cornell UP, 1992.
  • Clanchy, Kate. “Normal People by Sally Rooney Review – A Future Classic.” The Guardian, 1 Sept. 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/01 /normal-people-sally-rooney-review
  • Cole, Sarah. At the Violet Hour: Modernism and Violence in England and Ireland. Oxford UP, 2012.
  • Eppel, Alan. “Normal People: The Self-at-worst and the Self-at-best.” Journal of Psychiatry Reform, 4 July 2020, https://journalofpsychiatryreform.com/ 2020/07/05/normal-people.
  • Freud, Sigmund. “Beyond the Pleasure Principle.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, edited and translated by James Strachey, Anna Freud, Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson, vol.18, 2001 (1920), Vintage, pp.7-66.
  • Gabbard, Glen O. “Masochism as a Multiply-determined Phenomenon.” The Clinical Problem of Masochism, edited by Deanna Holtzman and Nancy Kulish, Jason Aronson, 2012, pp.103-112.
  • Ganteau, Jean-Michel and Susana Onega. Introduction. The Wounded Hero in Contemporary Fiction: A Paradoxical Quest, edited by Susana Onega and Jean-Michel Ganteau, Routledge, 2018, pp.1-15.
  • Garner, Dwight. “Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’ Explores Intense Love Across Social Classes.” The New York Times, 8 April 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/ 04/08/books/review-normal-people-sally-rooney.html.
  • Genova, Lisa. Still Alice. Pocket Books eBook., 2007.
  • Herman, Judith Lewis. Trauma and Recovery. Basic Books, 1992.
  • Hollinghurst, Alan. The Stranger’s Child. Picador, 2011.
  • Houston, Marsha and Cheris Kramarae. “Speaking from Silence: Methods of Silencing and of Resistance.” Discourse and Society, vol. 2, no. 4, 1991, pp. 387-399.
  • Kenway, Jane and Lindsay Fitzclarence. “Masculinity, Violence and Schooling: Challenging Poisonous Pedagogies.” Gender and Education, vol.9. no.1, 1997, pp. 117-134.
  • Keyes, Marian. This Charming Man. HarperCollins, 2008.
  • Krafft-Ebing, Richard von. Psychopathia Sexualis: A Medico-forensic Study. William Heinemann, 1939.
  • McBride, Eimear. A Girl is a Half-formed Thing. Faber & Faber, 2013.
  • McGregor, Jon. So Many Ways to Begin. Bloomsbury, 2007.
  • Novick, Kerry Kelly and Jack Novick. “The Essence of Masochism.” Essential Papers on Masochism, edited by Margaret Ann Fitzpatrick Hanly, New York University Press, 1995, pp. 237-264.
  • Oxford English Dictionary. https://www.oed.com/oed2/00277885.
  • Quinn, Annalisa. “The Small Rebellions of Sally Rooney’s Normal People.” The Atlantic, 12 April, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/04/ sally-rooneys-normal-people-review/586801.
  • Parpart, Jane L. and Swati Parashar. “Introduction: Rethinking the Power of Silence in Insecure and Gendered Sites.” Rethinking Silence, Voice and Agency in Contested Gendered Terrains, edited by Jane L. Parpart and Swati Parashar, 2018, Routledge, pp.1-15.
  • Pellicer-Ortín, Silvia and Merve Sarıkaya-Şen. “Introduction. Contemporary Literature in Times of Crisis and Vulnerability: Trauma, Demise of Sovereignty and Interconnectedness.” European Review, vol.29, no. 3, 2021, pp. 315-332. doi:10.1017/S1062798720000666
  • Rich, Adrienne. “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action (A Panel Discussion).” Sinister Wisdom, vol. 6, 1978, pp. 17-25.
  • Rooney, Sally. Conversations with Friends. Faber & Faber, 2017.
  • ---. Normal People. Faber & Faber, 2018.
  • Stolorow, Robert D. “The Narcissistic Function of Masochism (and Sadism).” The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, vol. 56, 1975, pp. 441-448.
  • The United Nations. “Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women Proclaimed by General Assembly Resolution 48/104.” 1993, pp.1-4. https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/ Doc.21_declaration%20elimination%20vaw.pdf.
  • World Health Organization. “Addressing Violence against Women: Key Achievements and Priorities.” 2018, pp.1-11, https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/ 10665/275982/WHO-RHR-18.18-eng.pdf?ua=1.
  • World Health Organization. “World Report on Violence and Health: Summary.” 2012, pp. 1-54, https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_ report/en/summary_en.pdf.
  • Winterson, Jeanette. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Vintage, 2012.

A Relentless Quest for a Paradoxical Normality: Sally Rooney’s Normal People

Year 2021, Volume: 15 Issue: 1, 79 - 90, 29.06.2021
https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.959429

Abstract

Sally Rooney’s Normal People (2018) documents the complex, unstable, but, at the same time, passionate relationship between two young and intelligent individuals, Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron, from 2011 to 2015. While their stormy relationship goes through various separations and reattachments, Marianne follows a paradoxical quest to deal with her psychological wounds stemming from family violence and abuse in her childhood; she chooses to remain silent and adopts masochistic sexual practices. Accordingly, this study will first explore how Marianne’s silence serves as a means of dealing with emotional and physical violence. It will then move onto analyse how Marianne’s harrowing past of violence and abuse pushes her to adopt masochistic sexual practices that give her some relief even if temporarily. By demonstrating that Marianne’s self-definition by keeping loyal to her wounds is a quest that can be defined as a paradoxical normality, this study will draw attention to one of the most important problems of our age; violence against women and their coping strategies to deal with violence.

References

  • Berger, John. Keeping a Rendezvous. Vintage, 1992.
  • Berliner, Bernhard. “On Some Psychodynamics of Masochism.” The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, vol.16, 1947, pp. 459-471.
  • Bonvillain, Nancy. Language, Culture, and Communication: The Meaning of Messages. 8th ed., Rowman and Littlefield, 2020.
  • Burns, Anna. Milkman. Faber & Faber, 2018.
  • Butler, Judith. The Force of Nonviolence: An Ethico-political Bind. Verso, 2020.
  • Castillo, Debra Ann. Talking Back: Toward a Latin American Feminist Criticism. Cornell UP, 1992.
  • Clanchy, Kate. “Normal People by Sally Rooney Review – A Future Classic.” The Guardian, 1 Sept. 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/01 /normal-people-sally-rooney-review
  • Cole, Sarah. At the Violet Hour: Modernism and Violence in England and Ireland. Oxford UP, 2012.
  • Eppel, Alan. “Normal People: The Self-at-worst and the Self-at-best.” Journal of Psychiatry Reform, 4 July 2020, https://journalofpsychiatryreform.com/ 2020/07/05/normal-people.
  • Freud, Sigmund. “Beyond the Pleasure Principle.” The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, edited and translated by James Strachey, Anna Freud, Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson, vol.18, 2001 (1920), Vintage, pp.7-66.
  • Gabbard, Glen O. “Masochism as a Multiply-determined Phenomenon.” The Clinical Problem of Masochism, edited by Deanna Holtzman and Nancy Kulish, Jason Aronson, 2012, pp.103-112.
  • Ganteau, Jean-Michel and Susana Onega. Introduction. The Wounded Hero in Contemporary Fiction: A Paradoxical Quest, edited by Susana Onega and Jean-Michel Ganteau, Routledge, 2018, pp.1-15.
  • Garner, Dwight. “Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’ Explores Intense Love Across Social Classes.” The New York Times, 8 April 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/ 04/08/books/review-normal-people-sally-rooney.html.
  • Genova, Lisa. Still Alice. Pocket Books eBook., 2007.
  • Herman, Judith Lewis. Trauma and Recovery. Basic Books, 1992.
  • Hollinghurst, Alan. The Stranger’s Child. Picador, 2011.
  • Houston, Marsha and Cheris Kramarae. “Speaking from Silence: Methods of Silencing and of Resistance.” Discourse and Society, vol. 2, no. 4, 1991, pp. 387-399.
  • Kenway, Jane and Lindsay Fitzclarence. “Masculinity, Violence and Schooling: Challenging Poisonous Pedagogies.” Gender and Education, vol.9. no.1, 1997, pp. 117-134.
  • Keyes, Marian. This Charming Man. HarperCollins, 2008.
  • Krafft-Ebing, Richard von. Psychopathia Sexualis: A Medico-forensic Study. William Heinemann, 1939.
  • McBride, Eimear. A Girl is a Half-formed Thing. Faber & Faber, 2013.
  • McGregor, Jon. So Many Ways to Begin. Bloomsbury, 2007.
  • Novick, Kerry Kelly and Jack Novick. “The Essence of Masochism.” Essential Papers on Masochism, edited by Margaret Ann Fitzpatrick Hanly, New York University Press, 1995, pp. 237-264.
  • Oxford English Dictionary. https://www.oed.com/oed2/00277885.
  • Quinn, Annalisa. “The Small Rebellions of Sally Rooney’s Normal People.” The Atlantic, 12 April, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/04/ sally-rooneys-normal-people-review/586801.
  • Parpart, Jane L. and Swati Parashar. “Introduction: Rethinking the Power of Silence in Insecure and Gendered Sites.” Rethinking Silence, Voice and Agency in Contested Gendered Terrains, edited by Jane L. Parpart and Swati Parashar, 2018, Routledge, pp.1-15.
  • Pellicer-Ortín, Silvia and Merve Sarıkaya-Şen. “Introduction. Contemporary Literature in Times of Crisis and Vulnerability: Trauma, Demise of Sovereignty and Interconnectedness.” European Review, vol.29, no. 3, 2021, pp. 315-332. doi:10.1017/S1062798720000666
  • Rich, Adrienne. “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action (A Panel Discussion).” Sinister Wisdom, vol. 6, 1978, pp. 17-25.
  • Rooney, Sally. Conversations with Friends. Faber & Faber, 2017.
  • ---. Normal People. Faber & Faber, 2018.
  • Stolorow, Robert D. “The Narcissistic Function of Masochism (and Sadism).” The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, vol. 56, 1975, pp. 441-448.
  • The United Nations. “Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women Proclaimed by General Assembly Resolution 48/104.” 1993, pp.1-4. https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/ Doc.21_declaration%20elimination%20vaw.pdf.
  • World Health Organization. “Addressing Violence against Women: Key Achievements and Priorities.” 2018, pp.1-11, https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/ 10665/275982/WHO-RHR-18.18-eng.pdf?ua=1.
  • World Health Organization. “World Report on Violence and Health: Summary.” 2012, pp. 1-54, https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_ report/en/summary_en.pdf.
  • Winterson, Jeanette. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Vintage, 2012.
There are 35 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Literary Studies
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Merve Sarıkaya-şen

Publication Date June 29, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 15 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Sarıkaya-şen, M. (2021). A Relentless Quest for a Paradoxical Normality: Sally Rooney’s Normal People. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 15(1), 79-90. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.959429

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