Demythologization of the Mythic Representation of Woman: Critical Reimagining of the Archaic Stories

Abstract

Ancient Greek myths, as the architect of the patriarchal ideology, serve as a panorama of the reality, which women in all ages around the world face and are forced to experience. Based on the fossilized ideas of the archaic philosophy, the mythological narratives are at the center of a canon which reveals, internalizes and legitimates the binary oppositions between the sexes. Although myths are set in the past and thus seem to be bygone, the events and characters still mirror the modern age: nothing seems to have changed concerning the negative perception of womanhood. This essay does echo the feminist writer Cixous’s challenge to awaken all women to discover their own power by not yielding to man-made stories but writing their own realities. In this direction in this study, the classical myths are reimagined from postfeminist perspective with the purpose of subverting the dynamics of patriarchy and phallocentrism.

Keywords

• classical myths
• gender stereotypes
• patriarchal ideology
• phallocentrism
• Helene Cixous

Mitik Kadın Temsilinin Mitolojik Unsurlardan Arındırılması: Antik Hikayelerin Eleştirel Bakış Açısıyla Yeniden Tasavvur Edilmesi

Abstract

Eril ideolojinin mimarı olarak bilinen Antik Yunan Mitolojisi, dünya çapında her kadının her çağda yüzleşmeye ve yaşamaya maruz bırakıldığı durumun gerçek bir resmini sunar. Geleneksel felsefenin fosilleşmiş fikirleriyle beslenen mitolojik anlatılar, cinsiyetler arasındaki kutuplaşmayı ortaya çıkaran, içselleştiren ve meşrulaştıran bir düzenin tam da merkezinde yer alır. Her ne kadar mazide kurgulanmış ve bitmiş gibi görünse de, mitolojik olaylar ve karakterler günümüzü yansıtmaktadır: geçmişten günümüze menfi kadın algısıyla ilgili olarak hiçbir şey değişmemiştir. Bu makale, erkek eliyle yazılmış hikayelere razı gelmeyip kendi gerçeklerini yazmasına olanak sağlayacak saklı güçlerini keşfetmek üzere kadınları uyanışa geçiren feminist yazar Cixous’nun yankılarını taşır. Bu doğrultuda, bu çalışmada mitolojik hikayeler, ataerkil ve fallus merkezli düzenin dinamiklerini altüst etmek amacıyla feminist bakış açısıyla yeniden tasavvur edilecektir.

Keywords

• toplumsal cinsiyet kalıpları
• ataerkil ideoloji
• fallosantrizm
• Helene Cixous
• klasik mitoloji

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