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The Feminist-Futurist Fragmented Narrator in Mina Loy's 'Parturition'

Year 2022, Volume: 39 Issue: 1, 161 - 183, 30.06.2022
https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.833823

Abstract

The British avant-garde poet, artist and feminist Mina Loy is an innovative female figure of the early twentieth century. Loy’s poetry is noted for unusual typography, multiple and shifting narrative voices and themes such as motherhood, gender, investigations of female mind and body and sexuality. Her artworks maintain an eclectic attitude synthesizing the ideas of the canonical art movements of the era—Futurism, Surrealism and Cubism. Loy’s “Parturition” (1914) gets the critical attention of the avant-garde community with its idiosyncratic subject, style and graphic description. The poem problematizes the complex relationships between Futurism and Feminism, and argues the act of parturition occurs in three embodiments of labour: physical childbirth, artistic creation and poetic production. So far, the literal interpretations of “Parturition” have generally focused on its physical aspect, treating labour as a parturient woman’s giving birth; however, this semiotic and intertextual investigation brings out the complexity of the text’s conceptions. This article, in terms of various concepts of “feminine writing” and evolution theories and with intertextual references to Loy’s “Aphorisms on Futurism,” aims to explore the poem’s “fragmented narrative” structure and to argue that its Feminist persona multiplies into three different identities—a feminist-futurist mother who resists the social domestication and classification of women, an avant-garde artist who subverts the retrospective aesthetic forms and re-forms the new ones, and a creative poet who overthrows conventional language forms and reconstructs a new form—Futurist language. These identities undergo various bodily and mental transformations eventually merging to construct new forms and achieve physical and psychological self-realization. Loy’s iconography, Ansikten [ca. 1910s], which, through the visual, semiotic and intertextual analogy I have created, seems to represent the mental and physical space of the maternal-artistic-textual narrator.

References

  • Artworks and Artists of Futurism. The Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/futurism/artworks/ (Accessed 17 May 2018).
  • Barthes, R. (1988). The death of the author. In D. Lodge (Ed.), Modern Criticism and Theory. a Reader (pp. 167-172). London and New York: Longman.
  • Burke, C. (1990). Mina Loy. In B. K. Scott (Ed.), The gender of modernism: A critical anthology. (pp. 230-237). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  • Burke, C. (1996). Becoming modern: The life of Mina Loy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
  • Conover, R. L. (Ed.). (1996). The lost Lunar Baedeker: Poems of Mina Loy. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.
  • Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the Struggle for life. London: John Murray.
  • Darwin, C. (2002). Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Darwins. https://www.darwins-theory-of-evolution.com. (Accessed 15 March 2018).
  • Emmrich, M. (2001). The symbolism of the lion and the bees: Another ironic twist in the Samson Cycle. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 44(1), 67-74.
  • Epicurean. Vocabulary.com, www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/epicurean. (Accessed 29 March 2019).
  • Ettinger, B. (2004). Weaving a woman artist with-in the matrixial encounter-event. Theory, Culture & Society 37(4), 69-94.
  • Ettinger, B. (2006). The matrixial borderspace. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Felluga, D. (2011). Modules on Kristeva: On the Abject. In Introductory Guide to Critical Theory, Cla Purdue, www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/kristevaabject.html. (Accessed 1 March 2018).
  • Karabulut, T. (2020). Futurism and feminist performativity: Mina Loy’s Feminist Manifesto. Househunting and Christ on a Clothesline. Women Studies: an interdisciplinary Journal. 49(1), 1-30.
  • Keats, J. (1899). The complete poetical works and letters of John Keats. Cambridge: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
  • Kristeva, J. (1982). Powers of horror: An essay on abjection. Leon S. Roudiez. (Trans.). New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Loy, M. Ansikten, [ca. 1910s]. High-res. image. The image Ansikten [ca. 1910s] is reproduced here courtesy of Bukowskis Auction House, Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo credit “Photo Bukowskis Auctions,” Photo by line “Photo Bukowskis Auctions”). March, 2018.
  • Loy, M. (Jan. 1914). Aphorisms on Futurism. Camera Work, 45, 13-15. YCAL, MSS 6. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Record/3547622. (Accessed 20 August 2017).
  • Loy, M. (1996). Aphorisms on Futurism. In R. Conover (Ed.), The Lost Lunar Baedeker (pp. 149-152). New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.
  • Loy, M. (1996). Feminist manifesto. In R. Conover (Ed.), The Lost Lunar Baedeker (pp. 153-157). New York. Farrar, Straus, Giroux.
  • Loy, M. (1996). Lions’ Jaws. In R. Conover (Ed.), The Lost Lunar Baedeker: Poems of Mina Loy (pp. 46-50). New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
  • Loy, M. (1996). Parturition. In R. Conover (Ed.), The Lost Lunar Baedeker: Poems of Mina Loy (pp. 4-8). New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux,
  • Loy, M. (Oct. 1914). Parturition. The Trend, 8(1), 93-94. Parturition. Dictionary University, dictionary.university/ parturition. (Accessed 15 February 2018).
  • Prescott, S. (2010). Moths and mothers: Mina Loy’s ‘Parturition.’ Women’s Studies: An Inter-disciplinary Journal, 29(3), 194-214.
  • Spontaneous Generation, In “Disproving Spontaneous Generation.” Lumen Learning, courses.lumenlearning.com/microbiology/chapter/spontaneous-generation/. (Accessed 5 March 2018).
  • The Holy Bible. (1769). King James Version 1611. Typesetting © Korean Bible Society, 2010. The Life Cycle of Butterflies and Moths (Lepideoptera) (2008). Ukleps, http://www.ukleps.org/morphology.html. (Accessed 9 May 2018).
  • Ule, M. (2017). Tenebrae Service and Good Friday. In History, Real Life and Faith. https://www.michelleule.com/2016/03/25/tenebrae-service-and-good-friday/ (Accessed 20 May 2018).
  • Vechten, C. V. (1914). The Merry-Go-Round. The Project Gutenberg EBook. Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org/files/26320/26320-h/26320-h.htm. (Accessed 23 September 2018).
  • Weiner, J. (1998). Poetry: Rediscovering Mina Loy. The American Scholar, 67(1), 151-158. What is the Significance of Honey Inside the Lion’s Carcass? Biblical Hermeneutics, https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/17290/what-is-the-significance-of-the-honey-%20%20inside-the-lions-carcass (Accessed 2 March 2018).
  • Zwier, K. R. (2018). Methodology in Aristotle’s Theory of Spontaneous Generation. Journal of the History of Biology, 51(2), 355-386.

Mina Loy’un 'Doğum' Şiirinde Feminist-Fütürist Bölünmüş Anlatıcı

Year 2022, Volume: 39 Issue: 1, 161 - 183, 30.06.2022
https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.833823

Abstract

Avangard şair, sanatçı ve feminist kimliği ile Mina Loy, yirminici yüzyılın başında yenilikçi bir kadın figürü olarak karşımıza çıkar. Loy’un şiirleri alışılmadık yazım biçimi, çoklu ve değişken anlatıcıları ve annelik, toplumsal cinsiyet, zihinsel ve bedensel kadın temsilleri ve cinsellik gibi temalarıyla dikkat çeker. Görsel yapıtları ise, Fütürizm, Sürrealizm ve Kübizm gibi dönemin başlıca sanat akımlarını eklektik bir yaklaşımla sentezler. 1914 yılında yazdığı “Doğum” şiiri, kendine özgü konusu, biçemi ve çizgesel anlatımı ile, avangard çevrelerde büyük ilgi çeker. Şiir, Fütürizm ve Feminizm arasındaki karmaşık ilişkileri sorunsallaştırır ve doğum eylemini fiziksel doğum, şiirsel yapıt ve sanatsal yaratı olarak üç şekilde tartışır. “Doğum” şiiri ile ilgili şimdiye kadar yapılan edebî yorumlar, genellikle hamile bir kadının fiziksel bağlamda doğum yapmasına odaklanmıştır ancak göstergebilimsel ve metinlararası yaklaşımlarla yapılmış bu analiz, şiirin karmaşık izleklerini ortaya çıkarmıştır. Bu makale, “kadın yazını,” ve evrim kuramlarını dolaylı bir çerçevede ele alarak ve Loy’un “Fütürizm üzerine Aforizmalar” şiirine metinlerarası göndermeler yaparak, şiirdeki “bölünmüş anlatıcı” yapısını, feminist anlatıcının üçe bölünmüş farklı kimliklerini tartışarak incelemeyi amaçlar. Bu kimlikler, sosyal olarak kadını eve hapseden düşünce ve kadının sınıflandırılmasına karşı gelen feminist-fütürist bir anne, geçmişe ait sanat formlarını altüst eden ve yeni türleri oluşturan bir sanatçı ve alışılagelmiş dilsel formları yıkan ve Fütürist dil olarak yeni bir form geliştiren yaratıcı bir şair olarak karşımıza çıkar. Bu kimlikler çeşitli bedensel ve zihinsel değişimlere uğrar ve yeni türler oluşturmak için sonunda bir araya gelerek zihinsel ve bedensel farkındalığa ulaşırlar. Loy’un Ansikten [ca. 1910s] adlı sanat eseri, görsel, göstergebilimsel ve metinlerarası bağlamlarda ortaya çıkardığım paralellik neticesinde, anne-sanatçı-şair kimliklerine bölünmüş anlatıcının zihinsel ve bedensel mekanını temsil yoluyla betimlemektedir.

References

  • Artworks and Artists of Futurism. The Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/futurism/artworks/ (Accessed 17 May 2018).
  • Barthes, R. (1988). The death of the author. In D. Lodge (Ed.), Modern Criticism and Theory. a Reader (pp. 167-172). London and New York: Longman.
  • Burke, C. (1990). Mina Loy. In B. K. Scott (Ed.), The gender of modernism: A critical anthology. (pp. 230-237). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  • Burke, C. (1996). Becoming modern: The life of Mina Loy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
  • Conover, R. L. (Ed.). (1996). The lost Lunar Baedeker: Poems of Mina Loy. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.
  • Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the Struggle for life. London: John Murray.
  • Darwin, C. (2002). Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Darwins. https://www.darwins-theory-of-evolution.com. (Accessed 15 March 2018).
  • Emmrich, M. (2001). The symbolism of the lion and the bees: Another ironic twist in the Samson Cycle. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 44(1), 67-74.
  • Epicurean. Vocabulary.com, www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/epicurean. (Accessed 29 March 2019).
  • Ettinger, B. (2004). Weaving a woman artist with-in the matrixial encounter-event. Theory, Culture & Society 37(4), 69-94.
  • Ettinger, B. (2006). The matrixial borderspace. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Felluga, D. (2011). Modules on Kristeva: On the Abject. In Introductory Guide to Critical Theory, Cla Purdue, www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/kristevaabject.html. (Accessed 1 March 2018).
  • Karabulut, T. (2020). Futurism and feminist performativity: Mina Loy’s Feminist Manifesto. Househunting and Christ on a Clothesline. Women Studies: an interdisciplinary Journal. 49(1), 1-30.
  • Keats, J. (1899). The complete poetical works and letters of John Keats. Cambridge: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
  • Kristeva, J. (1982). Powers of horror: An essay on abjection. Leon S. Roudiez. (Trans.). New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Loy, M. Ansikten, [ca. 1910s]. High-res. image. The image Ansikten [ca. 1910s] is reproduced here courtesy of Bukowskis Auction House, Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo credit “Photo Bukowskis Auctions,” Photo by line “Photo Bukowskis Auctions”). March, 2018.
  • Loy, M. (Jan. 1914). Aphorisms on Futurism. Camera Work, 45, 13-15. YCAL, MSS 6. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Record/3547622. (Accessed 20 August 2017).
  • Loy, M. (1996). Aphorisms on Futurism. In R. Conover (Ed.), The Lost Lunar Baedeker (pp. 149-152). New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.
  • Loy, M. (1996). Feminist manifesto. In R. Conover (Ed.), The Lost Lunar Baedeker (pp. 153-157). New York. Farrar, Straus, Giroux.
  • Loy, M. (1996). Lions’ Jaws. In R. Conover (Ed.), The Lost Lunar Baedeker: Poems of Mina Loy (pp. 46-50). New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
  • Loy, M. (1996). Parturition. In R. Conover (Ed.), The Lost Lunar Baedeker: Poems of Mina Loy (pp. 4-8). New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux,
  • Loy, M. (Oct. 1914). Parturition. The Trend, 8(1), 93-94. Parturition. Dictionary University, dictionary.university/ parturition. (Accessed 15 February 2018).
  • Prescott, S. (2010). Moths and mothers: Mina Loy’s ‘Parturition.’ Women’s Studies: An Inter-disciplinary Journal, 29(3), 194-214.
  • Spontaneous Generation, In “Disproving Spontaneous Generation.” Lumen Learning, courses.lumenlearning.com/microbiology/chapter/spontaneous-generation/. (Accessed 5 March 2018).
  • The Holy Bible. (1769). King James Version 1611. Typesetting © Korean Bible Society, 2010. The Life Cycle of Butterflies and Moths (Lepideoptera) (2008). Ukleps, http://www.ukleps.org/morphology.html. (Accessed 9 May 2018).
  • Ule, M. (2017). Tenebrae Service and Good Friday. In History, Real Life and Faith. https://www.michelleule.com/2016/03/25/tenebrae-service-and-good-friday/ (Accessed 20 May 2018).
  • Vechten, C. V. (1914). The Merry-Go-Round. The Project Gutenberg EBook. Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org/files/26320/26320-h/26320-h.htm. (Accessed 23 September 2018).
  • Weiner, J. (1998). Poetry: Rediscovering Mina Loy. The American Scholar, 67(1), 151-158. What is the Significance of Honey Inside the Lion’s Carcass? Biblical Hermeneutics, https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/17290/what-is-the-significance-of-the-honey-%20%20inside-the-lions-carcass (Accessed 2 March 2018).
  • Zwier, K. R. (2018). Methodology in Aristotle’s Theory of Spontaneous Generation. Journal of the History of Biology, 51(2), 355-386.
There are 29 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Literary Studies, Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Tuğba Karabulut 0000-0002-5205-3273

Publication Date June 30, 2022
Submission Date November 30, 2020
Acceptance Date November 16, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2022 Volume: 39 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Karabulut, T. (2022). The Feminist-Futurist Fragmented Narrator in Mina Loy’s ’Parturition’. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 39(1), 161-183. https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.833823


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