AUTHORING MEMORY in ELLA HICKSON’S THE AUTHORISED KATE BANE

Abstract

On the opening night of her latest play, Kate of The Authorised Kate Bane trips down memory lane to face up to the family past to write her own authorised version of it. The truthfulness of the memory is a dubious matter because the recollection is just an imperfect image, a representation of the original. Memory has a narrative structure in organising the remembrances, and with its relation to time and personal experience, is a basic block of selfhood. The organised stories of a personal history of deeds, ideas, aspirations and emotions marking out the way for the perception and interpretation of life are what create the selfhood. The playwright Ella Hickson poses authenticity as a problem concerning the human mind’s capability to (re)construct memories in a narrative pattern and its share in selfhood building. The play questions the credibility of the human mind and self in conveying the past. The rememberer has the competency and authority of an author to narrate, presenting the factual stories blended with manipulated facts. In this vein, Kate narrates her history with the same authority and (re)establishes a self to make peace with her family past and to build a future for herself.

Keywords

• Ella Hickson,The Authorised Kate Bane,Memory,Authenticity,Selfhood

AUTHORING MEMORY in ELLA HICKSON’S THE AUTHORISED KATE BANE

Abstract

Oyununun açılış gecesinde Kate geçmişi ile yüzleşerek aile tarihini kendi bakış açısıyla yeniden yazmak arzusuyla harekete geçer. Anıların gerçekliği müphemdir çünkü anımsama, aslın bir temsili, kusurlu bir görüntüsüdür. Bellek anıları örgütleme açısından anlatısal; zaman ve kişisel deneyim ile olan bağıntısı nedeniyle benliğin temel parçalarından biridir. Yaşamı algılama ve yorumlama biçimini imleyen eylemelerin, düşüncelerin, isteklerin ve duyguların düzenlenmiş öykülerinden oluşan kişisel tarih özünde benliği oluşturur. Yazar Ella Hickson insan zihninin anıları anlatısal bir örüntüyle (yeniden) kurma kabiliyeti ve bunun benlik inşasındaki payı bağlamında gerçekliği bir sorun olarak ortaya koyar. Oyun geçmişi aktarma konusunda zihnin ve benliğin güvenilirliğini sorgular. Anımsayan kişi, öyküsünü işlenmiş gerçeklerle sunarken bir yazarın öykülemedeki yetkinliğine ve yetkisine sahiptir. Bu bağlamda, Kate kendi tarihini aynı yetkinlik ve yetki ile aktarır. Kate anılarını yeniden düzenlerken aile geçmişi ile uzlaşmak ve kendine bir gelecek hazırlamak üzere bir benlik inşa eder.

Keywords

• Ella Hickson,The Authorised Kate Bane,Bellek,Gerçeklik,Benlik

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