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Azteklerin Susturduğu Kadınların Mango Sokağı’ndaki Ev’den Yükselen Sesleri

Year 2021, Volume: 31 Issue: 2, 687 - 713, 06.12.2021
https://doi.org/10.26650/LITERA2021-902314

Abstract

Bu çalışma, yapıbozucu bir okuma yöntemiyle, Sandra Cisneros’un ilk eseri olan Mango Sokağı’ndaki Ev (1984) romanında ele aldığı iki kadın arketipini inceler: 1) Kirletilmiş hain Malinche ve 2) Kutsal Bakire Guadalupe. Latin Amerika, Meksika ve sınırın kuzeyindeki uzantısı Chicano toplumlarındaki kadının rolü ve kimliğinin, tarih boyunca kutuplaşmış bir karşıtlık üzerinden kurgulanmasına yol açan bu iki arketipi sil baştan yeniden yazan Cisneros, ataerkil söyleme özgü cinsel kısıtlamaların karşısına alternatif bir değerler dizisi çıkartır. Romanın odağında, Meksika kökenli Amerikalı bir kız çocuğunun basmakalıp iyi/kötü kadın tipolojisini aşmak adına çıktığı bilinçlenme yolculuğu vardır. Yolculuk, romanın başlığını teşkil eden “ev” ve “sokak” kilit öğelerinin ilkinde başlar. Süreç, özel alandan kamusal alanı işaret eden mahalleye taşındığında ise artık bilinçlenmiş olan anlatıcı, dünyasını ikili zıtlıklardan arınmış bir bakış açısıyla anlamlandıracaktır. Çalışmanın ilk aşamasında, sözü geçen arketiplerin Aztek kültürüne uzanan köklerine dair folklorik ve tarihi bulgular üstüne kurulu arka planından bahsedilmektedir. Bu bilgiler ışığında romandan seçilen bölümlerin yakın okuması yapılacaktır. Sonuç olarak, kutuplaşmış bir karşıtlık olarak kurgulanan bu iki arketipin özüne inildiğinde, barındırdıkları zıtlıkların esasında iç içe geçerek muğlâklaştığı bir sınır-diyarını işaret ettiği vurgulanmaktadır. Karşıtlıklar üstünden devamlılığını sürdürebilen ataerkil machismo söylemine meydan okuyacak bu yeni ‘temas’ alanı, bağımsız Chicana kadınının yaratıcı gücünü ve cinsel kimliğini keşfetmesi adına yeni bir ifade biçimine dönüşecektir.

References

  • Anton, F. (1973). Women in Pre-Columbian America. New York: Abner Schram. google scholar
  • Anzaldua, G. (1987). Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Spinsters/Aunt Lute. google scholar
  • Aparicio, F. (1994). On Sub-Versive Signifiers: U.S. Latina/o Writers Tropicalize English. American Literature, 66(4), 795-801. google scholar
  • Aranda, P. E. R. (1990). On the Solitary Fate of Being Mexican, Female, Wicked and Thirty-Three: An Interview with Sandra Cisneros. The Americas Review, 18(1), 65-80. google scholar
  • Cisneros, S. (1991). The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage. google scholar
  • Cisneros, S. (1996). Guadalupe, the Sex Goddess: Unearthing the Racy Past of Mexico’s Most Famous Virgin. Ms., Haziran-Ağustos, 43-46. google scholar
  • Çetin, G. T. & Koçsoy, F. G. (2020). The Constructed Chicana Identity and Myth in The House on Mango Street. Littera Turca: Journal of Turkish Language and Literature, 6(2), 127-140. google scholar
  • Del Castilo, A. (1977). Malintzin Tenepal: Preliminary Look into a New Perspective. In Sânchez, R. & Cruz, R. M. (Eds), Essays on La Mujer. Berkeley: California University Press, 124-149. google scholar
  • Johnson, E. (1986). The Incomprehensibility of God and the Image of God Male and Female. In Conn J. W. (Ed.) Women’s Spirituality: Resources for Christian Development. New York: Paulist, 245-260. google scholar
  • Gil, R. M. & Vâsques, C. I. (1996). The Maria Paradox: How Latinas Can Merge Old World Traditions with New World Self-Esteem. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. google scholar
  • Gramcsi, A. (1988). Intellectuals and Education. In Forgacs, D. (Ed.), An Antonio Gramsci Reader: Selected Writings, 1916-1935, New York: Schocken Books, 300-322. google scholar
  • Karadeniz, H. Ş. (2016). Ağıttan Direniş Çığlığına: Sandra Cisneros’un ‘Bağıran Kadın Çayı’ Öyküsünde La Llorona Söylencesinin Feminist Okuması. Dilbilim Dergisi, 30, 49-62. google scholar
  • Lafaye, J. (1976). Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe: The Formation of Mexican National Consciousness, 1531-1813. B. Keen. (Trans.). Chicago: Chicago University Press. google scholar
  • Leal, L. (1983). Female Archetypes in Mexican Literature. In Miller, B. (Ed.), Women in Hispanic Literature: Icons and Fallen Idols. Berkeley: California University Press, 227-242. google scholar
  • Leal, L. (1998). In Search of Aztlân. In Anaya, R. & Lometf, F. (Eds.), Aztlân: Essays on the Chicano Homeland. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 6-13. google scholar
  • Oleszliewicz-Perabla, M. (2007). The Black Madonna in Latin America and Europe: Tradition and Transformation. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. google scholar
  • Paz, O. (1961). The Labyrinth of Solitude. Kamp. L (Trans.) London: Penguin. google scholar
  • Phillips, R. (1983). Marina/Malinche: Masks and Shadows. In Miller, B. (Ed.), Women in Hispanic Literature: Icons and Fallen Idols. Berkeley: California University Press, 97-114. google scholar
  • Pina, M. (1998). The Archaic, Historical and Mythicized Dimensions of Aztlân. In Anaya, R. & Lometf, F. (Eds.), Aztlân: Essays on the Chicano Homeland. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 14-48. google scholar
  • Poole, S. (1995). Our Lady Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531-1797. Tuscon: Arizona University Press. google scholar
  • Rebolledo, T. (1995). Women Singing in the Snow: A Cultural Analysis of Chicana Literature. Tuscon: Arizona University Press. google scholar
  • Rodnguez, J. (1984). Review of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Austin Chronicle, 3(25), 23-24. google scholar
  • Said, E. (1988). Foreword. In Guha, R. & Spivak, G. (Eds.), Selected Subaltern Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, v-x. google scholar
  • Tatum, C. M. (2006). Chicano and Chicana Literature: otra voz del pueblo. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press. google scholar

Liberated Voices of Aztec Subjugation: Female Subjectivity in The House on Mango Street

Year 2021, Volume: 31 Issue: 2, 687 - 713, 06.12.2021
https://doi.org/10.26650/LITERA2021-902314

Abstract

This article deals with Sandra Cisneros’ debut novel, The House on Mango Street (1984), and proposes a deconstructive reading of the two major archetypes which have traditionally shaped Mexican and by extension Chicano understanding of the role of women in Latin American cultures: 1) La Malinche and 2) La Virgen de Guadalupe. Transforming the degrading configurations of Malinche as a willingly violated traitor and the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe as the self-sacrificing Mother, Cisneros reconfigures these paradigmatic icons as empowering figures of female agency so as to provide a fresh perspective on the sexuality, creativity, and political consciousness of Chicanas in general. By tracing the bildung process of the 12-year-old protagonist, a Mexican-American girl named Esperanza Cordero, towards acquiring such consciousness, as opposed to the conventional representations of the two folkloric icons, this article illustrates the ways such opposition has long served ideologically in creating a patriarchal version of history, religion, folklore and literary tradition so as to subjugate Latin American women. In offering a close reading of the selected sections from the text, the study concludes with the argument that there lies a contact zone, a border zone or a gray area between the so-called opposing poles of the dichotomy, from whence the new Chicana subject should draw her inspiration and creative energy in order to finally emerge as an independent woman, no longer bound by the age-old “either/or” syndrome forcefully imposed upon her by patriarchy.

References

  • Anton, F. (1973). Women in Pre-Columbian America. New York: Abner Schram. google scholar
  • Anzaldua, G. (1987). Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Spinsters/Aunt Lute. google scholar
  • Aparicio, F. (1994). On Sub-Versive Signifiers: U.S. Latina/o Writers Tropicalize English. American Literature, 66(4), 795-801. google scholar
  • Aranda, P. E. R. (1990). On the Solitary Fate of Being Mexican, Female, Wicked and Thirty-Three: An Interview with Sandra Cisneros. The Americas Review, 18(1), 65-80. google scholar
  • Cisneros, S. (1991). The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage. google scholar
  • Cisneros, S. (1996). Guadalupe, the Sex Goddess: Unearthing the Racy Past of Mexico’s Most Famous Virgin. Ms., Haziran-Ağustos, 43-46. google scholar
  • Çetin, G. T. & Koçsoy, F. G. (2020). The Constructed Chicana Identity and Myth in The House on Mango Street. Littera Turca: Journal of Turkish Language and Literature, 6(2), 127-140. google scholar
  • Del Castilo, A. (1977). Malintzin Tenepal: Preliminary Look into a New Perspective. In Sânchez, R. & Cruz, R. M. (Eds), Essays on La Mujer. Berkeley: California University Press, 124-149. google scholar
  • Johnson, E. (1986). The Incomprehensibility of God and the Image of God Male and Female. In Conn J. W. (Ed.) Women’s Spirituality: Resources for Christian Development. New York: Paulist, 245-260. google scholar
  • Gil, R. M. & Vâsques, C. I. (1996). The Maria Paradox: How Latinas Can Merge Old World Traditions with New World Self-Esteem. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. google scholar
  • Gramcsi, A. (1988). Intellectuals and Education. In Forgacs, D. (Ed.), An Antonio Gramsci Reader: Selected Writings, 1916-1935, New York: Schocken Books, 300-322. google scholar
  • Karadeniz, H. Ş. (2016). Ağıttan Direniş Çığlığına: Sandra Cisneros’un ‘Bağıran Kadın Çayı’ Öyküsünde La Llorona Söylencesinin Feminist Okuması. Dilbilim Dergisi, 30, 49-62. google scholar
  • Lafaye, J. (1976). Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe: The Formation of Mexican National Consciousness, 1531-1813. B. Keen. (Trans.). Chicago: Chicago University Press. google scholar
  • Leal, L. (1983). Female Archetypes in Mexican Literature. In Miller, B. (Ed.), Women in Hispanic Literature: Icons and Fallen Idols. Berkeley: California University Press, 227-242. google scholar
  • Leal, L. (1998). In Search of Aztlân. In Anaya, R. & Lometf, F. (Eds.), Aztlân: Essays on the Chicano Homeland. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 6-13. google scholar
  • Oleszliewicz-Perabla, M. (2007). The Black Madonna in Latin America and Europe: Tradition and Transformation. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. google scholar
  • Paz, O. (1961). The Labyrinth of Solitude. Kamp. L (Trans.) London: Penguin. google scholar
  • Phillips, R. (1983). Marina/Malinche: Masks and Shadows. In Miller, B. (Ed.), Women in Hispanic Literature: Icons and Fallen Idols. Berkeley: California University Press, 97-114. google scholar
  • Pina, M. (1998). The Archaic, Historical and Mythicized Dimensions of Aztlân. In Anaya, R. & Lometf, F. (Eds.), Aztlân: Essays on the Chicano Homeland. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 14-48. google scholar
  • Poole, S. (1995). Our Lady Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531-1797. Tuscon: Arizona University Press. google scholar
  • Rebolledo, T. (1995). Women Singing in the Snow: A Cultural Analysis of Chicana Literature. Tuscon: Arizona University Press. google scholar
  • Rodnguez, J. (1984). Review of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Austin Chronicle, 3(25), 23-24. google scholar
  • Said, E. (1988). Foreword. In Guha, R. & Spivak, G. (Eds.), Selected Subaltern Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, v-x. google scholar
  • Tatum, C. M. (2006). Chicano and Chicana Literature: otra voz del pueblo. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press. google scholar
There are 24 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

İrfan Cenk Yay 0000-0002-1680-7939

Publication Date December 6, 2021
Submission Date March 24, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 31 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Yay, İ. C. (2021). Azteklerin Susturduğu Kadınların Mango Sokağı’ndaki Ev’den Yükselen Sesleri. Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, 31(2), 687-713. https://doi.org/10.26650/LITERA2021-902314
AMA Yay İC. Azteklerin Susturduğu Kadınların Mango Sokağı’ndaki Ev’den Yükselen Sesleri. Litera. December 2021;31(2):687-713. doi:10.26650/LITERA2021-902314
Chicago Yay, İrfan Cenk. “Azteklerin Susturduğu Kadınların Mango Sokağı’ndaki Ev’den Yükselen Sesleri”. Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies 31, no. 2 (December 2021): 687-713. https://doi.org/10.26650/LITERA2021-902314.
EndNote Yay İC (December 1, 2021) Azteklerin Susturduğu Kadınların Mango Sokağı’ndaki Ev’den Yükselen Sesleri. Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies 31 2 687–713.
IEEE İ. C. Yay, “Azteklerin Susturduğu Kadınların Mango Sokağı’ndaki Ev’den Yükselen Sesleri”, Litera, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 687–713, 2021, doi: 10.26650/LITERA2021-902314.
ISNAD Yay, İrfan Cenk. “Azteklerin Susturduğu Kadınların Mango Sokağı’ndaki Ev’den Yükselen Sesleri”. Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies 31/2 (December 2021), 687-713. https://doi.org/10.26650/LITERA2021-902314.
JAMA Yay İC. Azteklerin Susturduğu Kadınların Mango Sokağı’ndaki Ev’den Yükselen Sesleri. Litera. 2021;31:687–713.
MLA Yay, İrfan Cenk. “Azteklerin Susturduğu Kadınların Mango Sokağı’ndaki Ev’den Yükselen Sesleri”. Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, vol. 31, no. 2, 2021, pp. 687-13, doi:10.26650/LITERA2021-902314.
Vancouver Yay İC. Azteklerin Susturduğu Kadınların Mango Sokağı’ndaki Ev’den Yükselen Sesleri. Litera. 2021;31(2):687-713.