History as Fiction: D. M. Thomas’s The White Hotel as an Example of Historiographic Metafiction

Year 2019, , 13 - 28, 22.01.2019

Elzem Nazlı

https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.443651

Cited By: 1

Abstract

D. M. Thomas’s The White Hotel (1981) narrates the personal history of Lisa Erdman
who is mercilessly murdered in the Babi Yar massacre in 1941. The aim of this
paper is to analyze the ways D. M. Thomas uses history in The White Hotel and discusses the main concern of the novel
regarding history and its presentation. In order to make such an analysis, this
paper will make use of the arguments in the seminal work of Linda Hutcheon, A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory,
Fiction (1988), in which she illustrates the properties of “historiographic
metafiction” – a category encompassing the postmodern novel whose basic
motivation is to question the paradigms of traditional historiography. This
paper discusses that The White Hotel
offers an experimental handling of traditional historical representation by
dealing with the Holocaust as an historical event. In line with Hutcheon’s
argumentations, this study claims that through its metafictional qualities, The White Hotel deconstructs all the
techniques and methods on which traditional historiography builds itself. The
characteristics that The White Hotel
embodies, that it blends reality and fiction, problematizes traditional notions
of subjectivity, self-reflexively incorporates overtly different literary forms
and styles, and employs an unconventional plot structure, contribute
significantly to its status as an example of historiographic metafiction. The
employment of these experimental techniques inevitably leads reader to think about
the functions of these techniques, the writing process of the novel as well as
the writing process of history in general.

Keywords

D. M. Thomas, The White Hotel, Linda Hutcheon, historiographic metafiction, traditional historiography.

Kurgu Olarak Tarih: Bir Tarih Yazımcı Üstkurmaca Örneği Olarak D. M. Thomas’ın Beyaz Otel Romanı

Abstract

D. M.
Thomas’ın Beyaz Otel (1981) adlı
romanı 1941’de “Babi Yar” katliamında acımasızca katledilen Lisa Erdman’ın
kişisel tarihini anlatır. Bu makalenin amacı, D. M. Thomas’ın Beyaz Otel romanında tarihi nasıl
kullandığını analiz etmek ve bu romanın tarihe, tarihin betimlenmesine ilişkin
temel kaygısının ne olduğunu tartışmaktır. Böyle bir analizi yapmak için Linda
Hutcheon’in ufuk açıcı bir eseri olan A
Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction (1988)’daki
argümanlarından faydalanılacaktır. Hutcheon bu eserinde, geleneksel tarih
yazımı paradigmalarını sorgulayan, postmodern romanları da içine alan bir
kategori olan “tarih yazımcı üstkurmaca”nın özelliklerini açıklar. Bu makale,
tarihi bir olay olan Yahudi Soykırımı ile ilgilenen Beyaz Otel’in geleneksel tarih, tasvir biçimlerini deneysel bir
şekilde ele aldığını tartışır. Linda Hutcheon’ın savları doğrultusunda bu
çalışma, Beyaz Otel’in üstkurmaca
özellikleri dolayısıyla geleneksel tarih yazımının dayandığı tüm metodların ve
tekniklerinin yapı sökümünü yaptığını iddia eder. Beyaz Otel’in kurgu ve gerçeği iç içe geçirmesi, öznellik
kavramının geleneksel algılanış biçimini sorunsallaştırması, açık bir biçimde
farklı edebi tarzları ve üslupları kendini yansıtan bir şekilde kullanması,
geleneksel olmayan bir olay örüntü yapısını işe koşması gibi özelliklerin onun
tarih yazımcı üstkurmaca’nın bir örneği olarak tanımlanmasına katkı sağlar. Bütün
bu deneysel tekniklerin işe koşulması ise okuyucuyu kaçınılmaz olarak bu
tekniklerin işlevlerini, romanın yazım sürecini ve daha genel boyutta ise tarih
yazım sürecini düşünmeye iter

Keywords

D. M. Thomas, Beyaz Otel, Linda Hutcheon, tarih yazımcı üstkurmaca, geleneksel tarih yazımı

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