Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

Edebî Dönüş: Yapısökümcü Pedagoji Olarak Karşılaştırmalı Edebiyat

Year 2025, Volume: 19 Issue: 1, 51 - 62, 30.06.2025
https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1630645

Abstract

Yapısökümcülük, özellikle Yale Okulu’nun 1970’lerde etkili olmasıyla birlikte, Karşılaştırmalı Edebiyat alanında bir düşünme biçimi olarak önemli bir yer edinmiştir. Dünyanın dertleriyle ilgilenmediği, gerçek ve politik sorunları bulanıklaştırdığı, hiçbir pratik karşılığı olmayan tartışmaları jargonik bir dille sürdürdüğü gerekçesiyle başından itibaren ağır eleştirilere uğramış olan yapısökümcülük, bugün artık edebiyat çalışmalarında hemen hemen hiç başvurulmayan bir teorik yaklaşımdır. Bu makale, yapısökümcülüğün öncü filozofu Jacques Derrida’nın (1930-2004) ölümünün üzerinden yirmi yıldan fazla bir zaman geçmişken Karşılaştırmalı Edebiyat’ın yapısökümcülükle etkileşiminden kaynaklandığı varsayılan teori-praksis gerilimini tartışmaya açıyor. Makale, temsilin yapısını sorunsallaştırmanın uzun vadede pratik sonuçlar doğuracağını öne süren Karşılaştırmalı Edebiyat araştırmacısı Christopher Fynsk’in (d. 1952) söz konusu fikrinin izini sürüyor ve Fynsk üzerinde önemli etkileri olan Maurice Blanchot (1907-2003) ve Jean-Luc Nancy’nin (1940-2021) edebiyatta anlam ve temsili sorunsallaştıran görüşlerine yer veriyor. Böylece, farklı kültürlerin ve dillerin ürettiği edebiyatları tematik ve temsil eksenli analizlere tabi tutmanın ötesine geçen yaklaşımların verili ortak kanıları yerinden etmek için bir ilk adım olabileceği vurgulanıyor. Makaleye göre, bu türden bir yerinden etme girişimi, Karşılaştırmalı Edebiyat’ın “dünya”yla ilişkisini insanın ortak varoluşunu temel alarak yeniden değerlendirmenin yolunu açacaktır. Bu nedenle, ön kabullerin altını oyan bir kavramsal düşünceyi öne çıkararak edebî bir dönüş çağrısı yapan yapısökümcü pedagoji Karşılaştırmalı Edebiyat eğitiminde hâlâ anlamlı bir yere sahip olabilir.

References

  • Bassnett, S. (1993). Comparative Literature: A Critical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Bennington, Geoffrey. (1999). “Inter”. In Post-Theory: New Directions in Criticism, edited by Martin McQuillan, Graeme Macdonald, Robin Purves, and Stephen Thomson, 103-120. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Bernheimer, C. (1995). “Introduction: The Anxieties of Comparison”. In Comparative Literature in the Age of Multiculturalism, edited by Charles Bernheimer, 1-17. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Biesta, G. (2009). “Deconstruction, Justice, and the Vocation of Education”. In Derrida, Deconstruction, and the Politics of Pedagogy, 15-37. New York: Peter Lang.
  • Blanchot, M. (1998). “Literature and The Right to Death”. The Station Hill Blanchot Reader. Translated by Lydia Davis, Paul Auster, and Robert Lamberton, 359-99. New York: Station Hill.
  • Caputo, J. D. (2016). “Teaching the Event: Deconstruction, Hauntology, and the Scene of Pedagogy”. In The Pedagogics of Unlearning, edited by Aidan Seery and Éamonn Dunne,111-130. Earth, Milky Way: Punctum Books.
  • Chow, R. (1995). “In the Name of Comparative Literature”. In Comparative Literature in the Age of Multiculturalism, edited by Charles Bernheimer, 107-116. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • D’Cruz, C. (2008). Identity Politics in Deconstruction: Calculating with the Incalculable. Hampshire: Ashgate.
  • Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (1994). What is Philosophy? Translated by Hugh Tomlinson and Graham Burchell. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Derrida, J. (1999). “Hospitality, Justice, and Responsibility: A Dialogue with Jacques Derrida”. In Questioning Ethics: Contemporary Debates in Philosophy, edited by Richard Kearney and Mark Dooley, 65-83. London: Routledge.
  • Derrida, J. (1989). “Psyche: Inventions of the Other,” translated by Catherine Porter. In Reading de Man Reading, edited by Lindsay Waters and Wlad Godzich, 25-65. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Drichel, S. (2013). “Towards a ‘radical acceptance of vulnerability’: Postcolonialism and Deconstruction”. SubStance 42, No. 3: 46-66. https:/doi.org/10.1353/sub.2013.0034.
  • Fynsk, C. (2004). The Claim of Language: A Case for the Humanities. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and Time. Translated by John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.
  • Janus, A. (2011). “Listening: Jean-Luc Nancy and the ‘Anti-Ocular’ Turn in Continental Philosophy and Critical Theory”. Comparative Literature, No. 63 (2): 182-202. https://doi.org/10.1215/00104124-1265474.
  • Nancy, J-L. (1994a). The Experience of Freedom. Translated by Bridget McDonald. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Nancy, J-L. (1994b). The Muses. Translated by Peggy Kamuf. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Nancy, J-L. (2007a). Listening. Translated by Charlotte Mandell. New York: Fordham University Press.
  • Nancy, J-L. (2007b). The Creation of the World or Globalisation. Translated by François Raffoul and David Pettigrew. Albany: State University of New York Press.
  • Nash, K. (1994). “The Feminist Production of Knowledge: Is Deconstruction a Practice for Women?”. Feminist Review, No. 47 (1): 65-77. https://doi.org/10.1057/fr.1994.22.
  • Peters, M. A. and Biesta, G. (2009). “Introduction: The Promise of Politics and Pedagogy”. In Derrida, Deconstruction, and the Politics of Pedagogy, 1-13. New York: Peter Lang.
  • Rabaté, J-M. (2002). The Future of Theory. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
  • Raffoul, F. and Pettigrew, D. (2007). “Translators’ Introduction”. In The Creation of the World or Globalization by Jean-Luc Nancy, 1-26. Translated by F. Raffoul and D. Pettigrew. Albany: State University of New York Press.
  • Spivak, G. C. (2003). Death of a Discipline. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Watkin, C. (2009). Phenomenology or Deconstruction? The Question of Ontology in Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Paul Ricoeur and Jean-Luc Nancy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

The Literary Turn: Comparative Literature as Deconstructive Pedagogy

Year 2025, Volume: 19 Issue: 1, 51 - 62, 30.06.2025
https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1630645

Abstract

Deconstruction as a mode of thinking has long informed Comparative Literature studies, especially through the influence of the Yale School in the 1970s. Having always been exposed to criticism for performing unworldly readings, blurring real and political problems, and using theoretical jargon with no practical consequences, deconstruction is now considered an obsolete style of approaching literary texts. More than two decades after the death of Jacques Derrida (1930-2004), the most prominent philosopher of deconstruction, this article questions the assumed tension between theory and praxis in the studies of Comparative Literature. It argues that problematizing the structure of representation, as Comparative Literature scholar Christopher Fynsk (b. 1952) suggested, has practical consequences in the long run. Departing from Fynsk’s ideas and engaging in the relevant thoughts of Maurice Blanchot (1907-2003) and Jean-Luc Nancy (1940-2001), who inspired Fynsk considerably, the article aims to show that carrying the studies of different literatures beyond thematic analyses may constitute an important phase in the dislocation of common sense. The possibility of such a dislocation might enable Comparative Literature to dwell in the world with a renewed attention to the different meanings of the shared existence of the human. Therefore, the article suggests, deconstructive pedagogy, calling for a literary turn, with the emphasis on the conceptual thinking that undermines presuppositions, might still be an important component of Comparative Literature education.

References

  • Bassnett, S. (1993). Comparative Literature: A Critical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Bennington, Geoffrey. (1999). “Inter”. In Post-Theory: New Directions in Criticism, edited by Martin McQuillan, Graeme Macdonald, Robin Purves, and Stephen Thomson, 103-120. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Bernheimer, C. (1995). “Introduction: The Anxieties of Comparison”. In Comparative Literature in the Age of Multiculturalism, edited by Charles Bernheimer, 1-17. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Biesta, G. (2009). “Deconstruction, Justice, and the Vocation of Education”. In Derrida, Deconstruction, and the Politics of Pedagogy, 15-37. New York: Peter Lang.
  • Blanchot, M. (1998). “Literature and The Right to Death”. The Station Hill Blanchot Reader. Translated by Lydia Davis, Paul Auster, and Robert Lamberton, 359-99. New York: Station Hill.
  • Caputo, J. D. (2016). “Teaching the Event: Deconstruction, Hauntology, and the Scene of Pedagogy”. In The Pedagogics of Unlearning, edited by Aidan Seery and Éamonn Dunne,111-130. Earth, Milky Way: Punctum Books.
  • Chow, R. (1995). “In the Name of Comparative Literature”. In Comparative Literature in the Age of Multiculturalism, edited by Charles Bernheimer, 107-116. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • D’Cruz, C. (2008). Identity Politics in Deconstruction: Calculating with the Incalculable. Hampshire: Ashgate.
  • Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (1994). What is Philosophy? Translated by Hugh Tomlinson and Graham Burchell. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Derrida, J. (1999). “Hospitality, Justice, and Responsibility: A Dialogue with Jacques Derrida”. In Questioning Ethics: Contemporary Debates in Philosophy, edited by Richard Kearney and Mark Dooley, 65-83. London: Routledge.
  • Derrida, J. (1989). “Psyche: Inventions of the Other,” translated by Catherine Porter. In Reading de Man Reading, edited by Lindsay Waters and Wlad Godzich, 25-65. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Drichel, S. (2013). “Towards a ‘radical acceptance of vulnerability’: Postcolonialism and Deconstruction”. SubStance 42, No. 3: 46-66. https:/doi.org/10.1353/sub.2013.0034.
  • Fynsk, C. (2004). The Claim of Language: A Case for the Humanities. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and Time. Translated by John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.
  • Janus, A. (2011). “Listening: Jean-Luc Nancy and the ‘Anti-Ocular’ Turn in Continental Philosophy and Critical Theory”. Comparative Literature, No. 63 (2): 182-202. https://doi.org/10.1215/00104124-1265474.
  • Nancy, J-L. (1994a). The Experience of Freedom. Translated by Bridget McDonald. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Nancy, J-L. (1994b). The Muses. Translated by Peggy Kamuf. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Nancy, J-L. (2007a). Listening. Translated by Charlotte Mandell. New York: Fordham University Press.
  • Nancy, J-L. (2007b). The Creation of the World or Globalisation. Translated by François Raffoul and David Pettigrew. Albany: State University of New York Press.
  • Nash, K. (1994). “The Feminist Production of Knowledge: Is Deconstruction a Practice for Women?”. Feminist Review, No. 47 (1): 65-77. https://doi.org/10.1057/fr.1994.22.
  • Peters, M. A. and Biesta, G. (2009). “Introduction: The Promise of Politics and Pedagogy”. In Derrida, Deconstruction, and the Politics of Pedagogy, 1-13. New York: Peter Lang.
  • Rabaté, J-M. (2002). The Future of Theory. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
  • Raffoul, F. and Pettigrew, D. (2007). “Translators’ Introduction”. In The Creation of the World or Globalization by Jean-Luc Nancy, 1-26. Translated by F. Raffoul and D. Pettigrew. Albany: State University of New York Press.
  • Spivak, G. C. (2003). Death of a Discipline. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Watkin, C. (2009). Phenomenology or Deconstruction? The Question of Ontology in Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Paul Ricoeur and Jean-Luc Nancy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
There are 25 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Comparative and Transnational Literature
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Hakan Atay 0000-0002-0829-4619

Hivren Demir Atay 0000-0001-8249-2181

Early Pub Date July 1, 2025
Publication Date June 30, 2025
Submission Date January 31, 2025
Acceptance Date April 29, 2025
Published in Issue Year 2025 Volume: 19 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Atay, H., & Demir Atay, H. (2025). The Literary Turn: Comparative Literature as Deconstructive Pedagogy. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 19(1), 51-62. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1630645

Çankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
General Manager | Genel Yayın Yönetmeni, Öğretmenler Caddesi No.14, 06530, Balgat, Ankara.
Communication | İletişim: e-mail: mkirca@gmail.com | mkirca@cankaya.edu.tr
https://cujhss.cankaya.edu.tr/
CUJHSS, eISSN 3062-0112