BARNES’IN TAHTA KURDU İLE EMPATİ KURMAK: NUH’UN GEMİSİ EFSANESİNİN YENİDEN ANLATIMI

Abstract

Bu çalışma, bilişsel sinirbilim alanındaki son gelişmelerden yararlanarak, bedenlenmiş zihin ve bedenlenmiş simülasyon teorilerinin, okuyucuların anlatılardaki insan olmayan karakterlerle nasıl empati kurduklarını ve yazarların okuyucuların bu karakterlerle empatik bir bağ kurmalarını sağlamak için hangi anlatı stratejilerini kullandıklarını incelemektedir. Kartezyen zihin-beden ikiliğine meydan okuyan bedenlenmiş zihin teorisi, bilişsel süreçlerde zihnin sistemin tek ve ana merkezi olmadığını, bedenle birlikte çalıştığını ve bilişsel süreçlerin bedenin dünyayla olan etkileşimleriyle de şekillendiğini öne sürer. Beyindeki ayna nöronların keşfi ile ortaya atılan bedenlenmiş simülasyon teorisi ise, bir kişinin başkalarının eylemlerini, duygu ve düşüncelerini anlamak için aynı eylemleri gerçekleştirmek zorunda olmadığını; yalnızca onları gözlemlemenin, beyindeki ayna nöronlar sayesinde bu deneyimleri sanki kendisi yaşıyormuş gibi algılamasını sağladığını öne sürer. Bedenlenmiş simülasyon, kitap okurken, bir tiyatro performansını veya film izlerken ya da bir sanat eserini inceleme sırasında da gerçekleştiği ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu açıdan bedenlenmiş simülasyon teorisi, ayna nöronlar vasıtasıyla okuyucuların kurgusal karakterlerle nasıl empati kurduklarına açıklık getirir. Yukarıda bahsedilen kuramsal çerçeve kapsamında, bu makale Julian Barnes’ın 10 ½ Bölümde Dünya Tarihi (1989) adlı eserinde okuyucuyu eserin insan olmayan anlatıcısı Woodworm ile empati kurmaya teşvik eden veya buna engel oluşturabilecek anlatım tekniklerine odaklanmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, bu çalışma, anlatıların okuyucuların insan olmayan kurgusal karakterlerle empatik bir bağ kurmalarını sağlama potansiyeline sahip olduğunu savunmaktadır.

Keywords

• Bedenlenmiş simülasyon teorisi
• empati
• insan olmayan anlatıcılar
• Julian Barnes
• 10 ½ Bölümde Dünya Tarihi.

EMPATHIZING WITH BARNES’S WOODWORM: A RETELLING OF NOAH’S ARK

Abstract

By co-opting a cognitive neuroscientific approach, this article investigates how the theories of the embodied mind and embodied simulation shed light on the way readers empathize with nonhuman characters in narratives, and what narrative strategies authors employ to enable readers’ empathic engagement with them. Challenging the Cartesian mind-body dualism, the embodied mind theory posits that the mind works in tandem with the body, and cognitive processes are shaped by the body’s interactions with the world. Embodied simulation theory puts forward that when people witness others performing actions, experiencing emotions, encountering situations, the mirror neurons in their brains simulate those experiences as if they were performing or experiencing them themselves. That simulative experience also occurs while reading a narrative, or watching a theatrical performance or a film, or examining an artwork. The embodied simulation, in this sense, discloses how readers/recipients empathize with imaginary characters through the mirroring mechanism. Within this theoretical context, this article concentrates on the narrative techniques in Julian Barnes’s A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters (1989) that promote or hinder empathy with the animal narrator, the Woodworm. Consequently, this study argues for the potential of narratives to evoke readers’ trans-species empathic engagement.

Keywords

• The embodied simulation theory
• empathy
• animal narrators
• Julian Barnes
• A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters.

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