Epistemophily and Women’s Temporality in Jeanette Winterson’s Sexing the Cherry

Year 2022, , 152 - 163, 28.10.2022

Şebnem Düzgün

https://doi.org/10.53048/johass.1131417

Abstract

Jeanette Winterson’s Sexing the Cherry (1989) offers a feminist interpretation of history by using epistemophilic language and a circular time structure as alternatives to epistemological patriarchal language and linear temporality. Epistemophilic language is used in the novel to argue that history is cyclical, fluid, and continuous, and there are not strict divisions between private and public histories, or between the past, present, and future. Winterson evaluates the personal histories of characters within the public history to remove the hierarchy between the private, which is associated with the feminine, and the public, which is associated with the masculine. Moreover, she depicts history as a subjective notion as each character reinterprets and re-evaluates history from their own perspectives. Characters that deviate from the dominant epistemologies emphasise the subjectivity of history by looking at history from a subjective, feminine perspective. In the light of the discussions on epistemophily and women’s temporality, mainly referring to the arguments of Julia Kristeva, this study aims to demonstrate that Winterson’s Sexing the Cherry challenges patriarchal epistemological language that favours singularity and linear temporality based on separation and divisions by describing history as a subjective recreation of the past which flows into the present and future.

Keywords

Jeanette Winterson, Sexing the Cherry, epistemophily, epistemology, women’s temporality

Epistemophily and Women’s Temporality in Jeanette Winterson’s Sexing the Cherry

Abstract

Jeanette Winterson’ın Vişnenin Cinsiyeti (1989) adlı eseri, epistemolojik ataerkil dile ve doğrusal zamansallığa alternatif olarak epistemofilik dil ve dairesel bir zaman yapısı kullanarak feminist bir tarih yorumu sunar. Romanda epistemofilik dil, tarihin döngüsel, akışkan ve sürekli olduğunu ve özel ve kamusal tarihler veya geçmiş, şimdi ve gelecek arasında katı ayrımlar olmadığını savunmak için kullanılır. Winterson, dişillikle ilişkilendirilen özel alan ile erillikle ilişkilendirilen kamusal alan arasındaki hiyerarşiyi ortadan kaldırmak için karakterlerin kişisel geçmişlerini kamusal tarih içinde ele alır. Ayrıca, her karakter tarihi kendi bakış açılarından yeniden yorumlayıp değerlendirdiği için tarihi öznel bir kavram olarak tasvir eder. Baskın epistemolojilerden ayrılan karakterler, tarihe öznel, feminen bir açıdan bakarak tarihin öznelliğini vurgularlar. Bu çalışma, epistemofili ve kadının zamansallığı üzerine yapılan tartışmalar ışığında, esas olarak Julia Kristeva'nın argümanlarına atıfta bulunarak, Winterson’ın Vişnenin Cinsiyeti adlı eserinin tarihi, şimdiye ve geleceğe uzanan geçmişin öznel bir yeniden yaratımı olarak tanımlayarak, tekilliği ve doğrusal zamansallığı destekleyen ataerkil epistemolojik dile karşı çıktığını göstermeyi amaçlar.

Keywords

Jeanette Winterson, Vişnenin Cinsiyeti, epistemofili, epistemoloji, kadının zamansallığı

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