Discursive (Re) Construction of Black Femininity: Venus from Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis Perspective

Abstract

One of the striking plays by a black female writer, Suzan-Lori Parks, Venus is analyzed through Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA) in this study. Inspired by a brutal historical reality, Parks (re)positions black women in the patriarchal and racist system. Her black woman, Venus, is objectified through her body, while she also struggles to be the subject of her own inner world. Focusing on the playwright’s discourse, this study sheds light on the complex structure of relationship between discourse and gender through FCDA. Its main concern is that gender is discursively constructed based on ideological and political factors. It claims that discourse justifies and perpetuates gender-based discrimination, resulting in strengthening the patriarchal system on linguistic level. Based on FCDA’s principles, this study infuses that Parks’s discourse positioning the black female body as an object of male domination is constructed to reflect power relations, which systematically oppress black women. Relatedly, this study suggests that Parks’s discourse in Venus illuminates the pervasive nature of the objectification and exploitation of the black female body and dismantles historical and societal realities through the systemic oppression and marginalization that black women have faced. By exposing these deep-rooted power imbalances based on white hegemony and patriarchy, Parks’s discourse challenges the longstanding societal norms that have subjugated black women for centuries.

Keywords

• Feminist Discourse
• Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis
• Venus
• Suzan-Lori Parks
• Black Femininity

Siyahi Feminenliğin Söylemsel Yeniden İnşası: Feminist Eleştirel Söylem Analizi Perspektfinden Venüs

Abstract

Bu çalışma, siyahi kadın yazar Suzan-Lori Park’ın çarpıcı oyunlarından biri olan Venüs’ü Feminist Eleştirel Söylem Analizi (FESA) ile incelemektedir. Parks, tarihsel bir gerçeklikten esinlenerek yazdığı oyununda siyahi kadını, ataerkil ve ırkçı düzende yeniden konumlandırır. Siyahi kadını, Venüs bir yandan bedeni üzerinden nesneleştirilirken, diğer yandan kendi iç dünyasının öznesi olarak çabalar. Yazarın söylemine odaklanan bu çalışmada, FESA aracılığı ile söylem ve cinsiyet arasındaki karmaşık ilişki ağına ışık tutulmaktadır. FESA’nın temel savı, cinsiyetin söylemsel olarak kurgulandığı ve bu kurgunun temelinde ideolojik ve politik unsurların yer aldığıdır. Söylemin cinsiyete dayalı ayrımcılığı meşrulaştırdığını ve devam ettirdiğini ve böylece ataerkil yapının dilsel düzlemde de güçlendirildiğini iddia eder. FESA’nın ilkelerinden yola çıkan bu çalışma, Parks’ın siyahi kadın bedenini eril tahakkümün bir nesnesi olarak konumlandıran söyleminin, siyahi kadını sistematik olarak ezen güç ilişkilerini yansıtacak şekilde kurgulandığını ileri sürmektedir. Dolayısıyla bu çalışma, Parks’ın Venus’teki söyleminin, siyah kadın bedeninin nesneleştirilmesinin ve sömürülmesinin yaygın doğasını aydınlattığını ve tarihsel ve toplumsal gerçekleri, siyahi kadınların maruz kaldıkları sistematik baskı ve ötekileştirme yoluyla ortaya çıkardığını iddia etmektedir. Parks’ın söylemi, hem beyaz hegemonyasına hem de ataerkilliğe dayanan bu köklü güç dengesizliklerini açığa çıkararak, yüzyıllardır siyahi kadınları boyunduruk altına alan uzun süredir devam ettirilmiş toplumsal normlara meydan okumaktadır.

Keywords

• Feminist Söylem
• Feminist Eleştirel Söylem Analizi
• Venüs
• Suzan-Lori Parks
• Siyahi Feminenlik

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