Gendered Pain during The War on Terror in A Door in The Earth

Yıl 2024, , 358 - 378, 30.11.2024

Betül Ateşci Koçak

https://doi.org/10.33708/ktc.1301494

Öz

September 11 and the U.S. war in Afghanistan have created huge changes in world politics. The twenty-year war started with its initiative to save Afghan women from the Taliban and give back their rights, which later proved to be nothing but more pain and suffering for them. Amy Waldman’s second novel A Door in The Earth (2019) displays realistic depiction of civil life during the War on Terror with a female perspective that centers on the effects of power politics on Afghan women whose lives are driven into more painful experiences each day. An author and former journalist Amy Waldman, who spent five years covering Afghanistan during the Afghan war, largely uses the Afghan women’s pain to fictionalise the reality of the country. Since the history of humanity is inextricably linked to the history of war, both of which are written from a male perspective, this study sheds light on the Western tendency to use the suffering of Afghan women to ensure the continuation of Western, and thus American power, through the works of dedicated postcolonial theorists in the field.

Anahtar Kelimeler

9/11, war on terror, Afghan women, colonialism, postcolonial feminism

A Door in The Earth'de Teröre Karşı Savaş Sırasında Cinsiyete Dayalı Acı

Öz

11 Eylül ve ABD'nin Afganistan'daki savaşı dünya siyasetinde büyük değişiklikler yaratmıştır. Afgan kadınlarını Taliban'dan kurtarma ve haklarını geri verme girişimiyle başlayan yirmi yıllık savaş, daha sonra onlar için daha fazla acı ve ıstıraptan başka bir şey olmadığını kanıtlamıştır. Amy Waldman'ın ikinci romanı A Door in The Earth (2019), Terörle Mücadele Savaşı sırasında sivil yaşamın gerçekçi bir tasvirini, güç politikaları yüzünden hayatları her geçen gün daha acı verici deneyimlere sürüklenen Afgan kadınları üzerindeki etkilerini merkeze alan bir kadın bakış açısıyla sunar. Afgan savaşı sırasında beş yıl boyunca Afganistan'da habercilik yapan yazar ve eski gazeteci Amy Waldman, ülkenin gerçekliğini kurgulamak için büyük ölçüde Afgan kadınların acılarını kullanmaktadır. Her ikisi de erkek bakış açısıyla yazılan insanlık tarihiyle savaş tarihi ayrılmaz bir şekilde birbirleriyle bağlantılı olduğundan, bu çalışma, Batının Afgan kadınların acılarını Batının ve dolayısıyla Amerikan gücünün devamını sağlamak için kullanma eğilimine, kendini bu alana adamış postkolonyal teorisyenlerin çalışmaları aracılığıyla ışık tutmaya çalışmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

11 Eylül, Teröre Karşı Savaş, Afgan kadınlar, kolonyalizm, postkolonyal feminizm

Kaynakça

• 10 Things You Need to Know About Nato. (2024). NATO. Retrieved 8 April 2024, from https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/126169.html.
• Afghan Civilians. (2022). The Costs of War. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human/civilians/afghan.
• Bahramitash, R. (2005). The War on Terror, Feminist Orientalism and Orientalist Feminism: Case Studies of Two North American Bestsellers. Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies, 14 (2), 221–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/10669920500135512.
• Barfield, T. J. (2023). Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History. Princeton University Press.
• Berry, K. (2003). The Symbolic Use of Afghan Women in The War on Terror. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 27 (2), 137–160.
• cooke, miriam. (2002). Saving Brown Women. Signs, 28 (1), 468–470. https://doi.org/10.1086/340888.
• Dauphinée, E. (2007). The Politics of the Body in Pain: Reading the Ethics of Imagery. Security Dialogue, 38 (2), 139–155.
• Department Of State. (2001). Report on the Taliban’s War Against Women. Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm.
• Elshtain, J. B. (2004). Just War Against Terror: The Burden of American Power In A Violent World. Basic Books.
• Ferguson, M. L. (2005). “W” Stands for Women: Feminism and Security Rhetoric in the Post-9/11 Bush Administration. Politics & Gender, 1 (1), 9–38. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X05050014.
• Foust, J. (2012). Five Lessons We Should Have Learned In Afghanistan: Strategic Issues in Policy Planning. American Security Project. https://www.americansecurityproject.org/ASP%20Reports/Ref%200066%20-%20Five%20Lessons%20We%20Should%20Have%20Learnt%20In%20Afghanistan.pdf.
• Gairola, R. K., & Ali, A. (2017). Ambivalence and Security in the Anglo-American Empire: A Critical Dialogue with Professor Homi K. Bhabha. Journal of Narrative Theory, 47(1), 143–162.
• Howard Zinn at MIT 2005—The Myth of American Exceptionalism. (2019). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6ym9B6I3UM.
• John Winthrop Dreams of a City on a Hill, 1630. https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/colliding-cultures/john-winthrop-dreams-of-a-city-on-a-hill-1630/.
• Juan, E. S. (2002). Nation-State, Postcolonial Theory, and Global Violence. Social Analysis: The International Journal of Social and Cultural Practice, 46(2), 11–32.
• Kastrup, M. C. (2006). Mental health consequences of war: Gender specific issues. World Psychiatry, 5 (1), 33–34.
• Khan, S. (2001). Between Here and There: Feminist Solidarity and Afghan Women. Genders 1998-2013. https://www.colorado.edu/gendersarchive1998-2013/2001/03/01/between-here-and-there-feminist-solidarity-and-afghan-women.
• Loomba, A. (2015). Colonialism/Postcolonialism. Routledge.
• Mohanty, C. T. (2011). Imperial Democracies, Militarised Zones, Feminist Engagements. Economic and Political Weekly, 46(13), 76–84.
• Mohanty, C. T. (2003). Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity. Duke University Press.
• Nordin, A. H. M., & Öberg, D. (2015). Targeting the Ontology of War: From Clausewitz to Baudrillard. Millennium, 43 (2), 392–410. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305829814552435.
• Peter, T. A. (2015, February 2). Paved roads a positive legacy of Afghan war. But who fixes potholes? Christian Science Monitor. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2015/0202/Paved-roads-a-positive-legacy-of-Afghan-war.-But-who-fixes-potholes.
• Ramazani, V. K. (2007). Writing in Pain: Literature, History, and the Culture of Denial. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Report on the Taliban’s War Against Women. (2001). Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm.
• Rights and Aspirations of the People of Afghanistan: President Bush’s remarks. (2004). https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/afghanistan/20040708.html.
• Said, E. W. (1994). Culture and Imperialism. Vintage.
• Situation analysis of Children and Women in Afghanistan. (2021). UNICEF Afghanistan. https://www.unicef.org/afghanistan/media/6301/file/Summary-Situation%20Analysis.pdf.
• Sontag, S. (2004). Regarding the Pain of Others. Penguin.
• Spivak, G. C. (1985). Three Women’s Texts and a Critique of Imperialism. Critical Inquiry, 12(1), 243–261.
• Spivak, G. C. (2004). Terror: A Speech After 9-11. Boundary 2, 31(2), 81–111. https://doi.org/10.1215/01903659-31-2-81.
• Spivak, G. C. (2010). Can the Subaltern Speak? In R. Morris (Ed.), Can the Subaltern Speak?: Reflections on the History of an Idea (21–78). Columbia University Press.
• Taylor, D. (2002). Ground Zero. Signs, 28 (1), 448–450. https://doi.org/10.1086/340877.
• Text: Laura Bush on Taliban Oppression of Women. (2001). Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/laurabushtext_111701.html. Text: President Bush Addresses the Nation. (2001). Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/bushaddress_092001.html.
• The Taliban & Afghan Women. (n.d.). Feminist Majority Foundation. https://feminist.org/our-work/afghan-women-and-girls/the-taliban-afghan-women/.
• Thiong’o, N. wa. (1986). Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. James Currey Ltd / Heinemann.
• Tickner, J. A. (2002). Feminist Perspectives on 9/11. International Studies Perspectives, 3 (4), 333–350.
• Toohey, E. (2019, September 17). A Nuanced Critique of ‘Soft Power’ in ‘A Door in the Earth’. Christian Science Monitor. https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2019/0917/A-nuanced-critique-of-soft-power-in-A-Door-in-the-Earth.
• Veil of Tears: Afghans’ stories of loss in childbirth. (2009). Integrated Regional Information Networks.
• Waldman, A. (2019). A Door in the Earth. Little, Brown and Company.
• Waldman, A. (2019, August 31). Amy Waldman On ‘A Door In The Earth’ (S. Simon, Interviewer) [Interview]. https://www.keranews.org/2019-08-31/amy-waldman-on-a-door-in-the-earth.
• Zeweri, H., & Osman, W. (2021). Afghan women have a long history of taking leadership and fighting for their rights. The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/afghan-women-have-a-long-history-of-taking-leadership-and-fighting-for-their-rights-167872.