Mapping the Individual: A Psychogeographical Reading of Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net

Abstract

Introduced firstly by Guy Debord, the founder of the Letterist International, in 1955, psychogeography intersects with the study of the psychological and emotional effects of an urban city on individuals. Proposing that both space and psychology complete one another, psychogeography, as a term juxtaposing psychology and geography, seeks to unearth the estrangement and the dehumanizing impacts of global urbanism consolidated by advanced capitalism and industrialization. In this sense, psychogeography focuses mostly on the act of walking so as to comprehend the ongoing conflict between the mind and city and suggests walking as a conscious activity can function as a protest and subversion against the commodification and repressive constraints of the city. Likewise, Iris Murdoch's debut novel titled Under the Net captures the story of Jake Donaghue and his unstable psychology alienated and decentred by the formation of an urban city, that is, London. Thus, this study aims to analyze Iris Murdoch's Under the Net in order to emphasize the fragmentation and displacement of individuals in accordance with the global urbanism by employing a psychogeographical lens.

Keywords

• Psycogeography
• Iris Murdoch
• Under the Net
• London

Bireyi Haritalandırmak: Iris Murdoch'un Ağ Romanının Psikocoğrafik Bir Okuması

Öz

İlk kez 1955 yılında Letterist International'ın kurucusu Guy Debord tarafından ortaya atılan psikocoğrafya, bir kentin bireyler üzerindeki psikolojik ve duygusal etkilerinin incelenmesiyle kesişmektedir. Mekân ve psikolojinin birbirini tamamladığını öne süren psikocoğrafya, psikoloji ve coğrafyayı yan yana getiren bir terim olarak, ileri kapitalizm ve sanayileşme ile pekişen küresel şehirciliğin yabancılaştırıcı ve insanlığı soyutlaştıran etkilerini ortaya çıkarmayı amaçlar. Bu anlamda psikocoğrafya, zihin ve şehir arasında süregelen çatışmayı anlamak için çoğunlukla yürüme eylemine odaklanır ve bilinçli bir faaliyet olarak düşünülen yürümenin şehrin insanı metalaştırmasına ve baskıcı kısıtlamalarına karşı bir protesto ve yıkım işlevi görebileceğini öne sürer. Benzer şekilde Iris Murdoch’un Ağ adlı ilk romanı, Jake Donaghue’ın Londra gibi bir kent oluşumunun etkisiyle yabancılaşan ve yersiz yurtsuzlaşan dengesiz psikolojisinin öyküsünü ele almaktadır. Dolayısıyla bu çalışma, Iris Murdoch'un Ağ romanını psikocoğrafi bir bakış açısı kullanarak küresel kentleşme doğrultusunda bireylerin parçalanmasını ve yerinden edilmesini vurgulamak amacıyla analiz etmeyi hedeflemektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Psikocoğrafya
• Iris Murdoch
• Ağ
• Londra

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