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Virginia Woolf’un ve Iris Murdoch’un Seçili Eserlerinde Jungcu Bireyleşme Süreci Bağlamında Varoluşçuluk ve Mistisizmin Karşılaştırmalı Analizi

Year 2024, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 13 - 26, 23.05.2024
https://doi.org/10.62352/ideas.1451795

Abstract

Dönem boyunca tanık olunan geçiş süreçlerinin arka planında, toplumsal huzursuzluk ve varoluşsal kaygılar yirminci yüzyıla damgasını vurmuştur. Tarihin doğrusallığından bir kopuş olarak tanımlanan bu dönemde, modernist yazarlar, insanlığın içinde bulunduğu halin çok katmanlı ve karmaşık doğasını ele almaya çalışarak, içkin olan anlam kaybını ifade etmeye ve bu kaybı telafi etmeye çalışmışlardır. Yirminci yüzyılın ilk yarısında Virginia Woolf’un pek çok romanında dinamiği izlenebilen, toplumu temsil eden bireyin keşfi bu dönemde ortaya çıkmıştır. Bireyin mücadele ettiği bu varoluşçu bakış açısının Iris Murdoch’un eserlerinde tekrar eden bir tema olan mistik olana doğru dallanıp budaklandığı nokta ise bir sonraki edebî eser dalgasıdır. Woolf’un Perde Arası ve Murdoch’un Çan adlı eserleri başta olmak üzere, bu yazarların seçilmiş eserlerinin karşılaştırmalı analizi, yaygın olan kaygı ve karmaşa duygusuna karşı bireyin kendini keşfetme ve bütünleşme süreci temalarını ele almaktadır. Psikoloji, felsefe ve edebiyatı birleştiren disiplinler arası karşılaştırmalı bir analizle, bu makale Woolf ve Murdoch’ın insan varlığına ilişkin keşiflerine ve bunların modernist şemadaki izdüşümlerine ışık tutmayı amaçlamaktadır. Murdoch’un felsefi çerçevesi, varoluşun mistik boyutlarına dair içgörüleri, Woolf’un anlatım teknikleri, romanlarda var olan çeşitli imgelerin keşfi, kahramanın “gece deniz yolculuğu”nun izini sürmek için uygun bir zemin sağlamaktadır: bu, bireyin solipsistik bakış açısından daha geniş, Platonik dünya anlayışına doğru bir dönüşüm süreci, modern kahramanın varoluşsal parçalanmadan mistik bütünleşmeye doğru yolculuğudur.

References

  • Benziman, Galia. “‘Dispersed Are We’: Mirroring and National Identity in Virginia Woolf’s Between the Acts.” Journal of Narrative Theory, vol. 36, no. 1, 2006, pp. 53–71.
  • Bradshaw, David, editor. Introduction. The Waves, by Virginia Woolf. Oxford UP, 2015, pp. xi–xxxix.
  • Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton UP, 2004.
  • Conradi, Peter. The Saint and the Artist: A Study of the Fiction of Iris Murdoch. HarperCollins, 1986.
  • Jung, G. Carl. Man and His Symbols. Anchor, 1964.
  • ---. Modern Man in Search of a Soul. Harcourt Brace, 1933.
  • Firchow, Peter Edgerly. Modern Utopian Fictions from H. G. Wells to Iris Murdoch. The Catholic U of America P, 2007.
  • Murdoch, Iris. The Bell. Vintage Classics, 2004.
  • ---. Under the Net. Vintage Classics, 2002.
  • ---. Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Philosophy and Literature. Penguin, 1999.
  • Porter, Raymond J. “Leitmotiv in Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net.” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 15, no. 3, 1969, pp. 379–385.
  • Stocker, Barry. Philosophy of the Novel. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
  • Watson, George. “Iris Murdoch and the Net of Theory.” The Hudson Review, vol. 51, no. 3, 1998, pp. 490–500. doi:10.2307/3852712.
  • Woolf, Virginia. Between the Acts. Karbon, 2019.
  • ---. Moments of Being. Panther, 1978.
  • ---. The Waves. Oxford UP, 2015.

A Comparative Analysis of Existentialism and Mysticism in Line with Jungian Individuation in Virginia Woolf’s and Iris Murdoch’s Selected Works

Year 2024, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 13 - 26, 23.05.2024
https://doi.org/10.62352/ideas.1451795

Abstract

Against the backdrop of transitions that were witnessed throughout the era, the twentieth century was marked by social unrest and existential concerns. In an era identified as a rupture from the linearity of history, modernist writers sought to communicate and compensate for the loss of meaning that was immanent, attempting to address the multifaceted and intricate nature of the human condition. There emerged the exploration of the individual standing for the community, the dynamic of which can be traced in most of Virginia Woolf’s novels in the first part of the twentieth century. It is in the following wave of literary works where this existentialist viewpoint the individual was grappling with branches out into the mystical, a recurrent theme in Iris Murdoch’s works. The comparative analysis of these writers’ selected works, notably Woolf’s Between the Acts and Murdoch’s The Bell, thus, explores the themes of the process of self-exploration and integration against the prevailing sense of angst and chaos. With an interdisciplinary comparative analysis combining psychology, philosophy, and literature, the article seeks to shed light on Woolf’s and Murdoch’s explorations of human existence and their projections in the modernist scheme. Murdoch’s philosophical framework, her insights into the mystical aspects of existence, Woolf’s narrative techniques, and the tracing of certain imageries existent in the novels lay the groundwork for tracing the “night sea journey” of the hero: a process of transformation of the individual from solipsistic standpoint to a broader, Platonic understanding of the world, the modern hero’s journey from existential fragmentation to mystical integration.

References

  • Benziman, Galia. “‘Dispersed Are We’: Mirroring and National Identity in Virginia Woolf’s Between the Acts.” Journal of Narrative Theory, vol. 36, no. 1, 2006, pp. 53–71.
  • Bradshaw, David, editor. Introduction. The Waves, by Virginia Woolf. Oxford UP, 2015, pp. xi–xxxix.
  • Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton UP, 2004.
  • Conradi, Peter. The Saint and the Artist: A Study of the Fiction of Iris Murdoch. HarperCollins, 1986.
  • Jung, G. Carl. Man and His Symbols. Anchor, 1964.
  • ---. Modern Man in Search of a Soul. Harcourt Brace, 1933.
  • Firchow, Peter Edgerly. Modern Utopian Fictions from H. G. Wells to Iris Murdoch. The Catholic U of America P, 2007.
  • Murdoch, Iris. The Bell. Vintage Classics, 2004.
  • ---. Under the Net. Vintage Classics, 2002.
  • ---. Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Philosophy and Literature. Penguin, 1999.
  • Porter, Raymond J. “Leitmotiv in Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net.” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 15, no. 3, 1969, pp. 379–385.
  • Stocker, Barry. Philosophy of the Novel. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
  • Watson, George. “Iris Murdoch and the Net of Theory.” The Hudson Review, vol. 51, no. 3, 1998, pp. 490–500. doi:10.2307/3852712.
  • Woolf, Virginia. Between the Acts. Karbon, 2019.
  • ---. Moments of Being. Panther, 1978.
  • ---. The Waves. Oxford UP, 2015.
There are 16 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Aleyna Durmuş 0000-0001-6750-4244

Publication Date May 23, 2024
Submission Date March 13, 2024
Acceptance Date May 4, 2024
Published in Issue Year 2024 Volume: 4 Issue: 1

Cite

MLA Durmuş, Aleyna. “A Comparative Analysis of Existentialism and Mysticism in Line With Jungian Individuation in Virginia Woolf’s and Iris Murdoch’s Selected Works”. IDEAS: Journal of English Literary Studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2024, pp. 13-26, doi:10.62352/ideas.1451795.

IDEAS: Journal of English Literary Studies is published by The English Language and Literature Research Association of Türkiye (IDEA).