Exploring The Garden as an “Interstitial Space” For Women in Francis Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden and Shahrnush Parsipur’s Women Without Men

Year 2025, Issue: 74, 33 - 42, 25.06.2025

Onur Ekler

https://doi.org/10.55590/literatureandhumanities.1502700

Abstract

This article is an inquiry dedicated to exploring the function of the garden as an interstitial space for the anti-Oedipal female characters in Francis Hodgson Burnett’s famous novel, The Secret Garden (1911), Shahrnush Parsipur’s Women Without Men (1989). This inquiry is grounded on two complementary levels. As it examines the female characters’ constant exposure to systematic victimization in the restricting frames of the patriarchal dominions of Victorian England and the Iranian Regime, it also sheds light on both Burnett and Parsipur’s intentional design of the garden as a liminal zone at the nexus where magic and real converge. This article highlights the intersecting points concerning woman’s position and garden in both works though not using a direct comparative method. To show the universality of the problems concerning subjugated women in patriarchal societies, this article intentionally takes on two works across borders, having different socio-historical contexts. The originality of this article lies in the exploration regarding how both works map out the garden as a female space in contrast to the traditional view of the garden as a place that has served man’s pleasures.

Keywords

woman , space , heterotopia , interstice , garden

Francis Hodgson Burnett’in ̇ Gizli Bahçe’sinde ve Shahrnush Parsipur’un Erkeksiz Kadınlar’inda Bahçeyi Kadinlar İçin Bir “Kesişme Alani” Olarak Keşfetmek

Abstract

Bu makale, Francis Hodgson Burnett’in ünlü romanı Gizli Bahçe (1911) ve Shahrnush Parsipur’un Erkeksiz Kadınlar (1989) adlı eserlerindeki Ödipal karşıtı kadın karakterler için bir kesişme alanı olarak bahçenin işlevini keşfetmeyi amaçlayan bir araştırmadır. Bu araştırma birbirini tamamlayan iki temel hususa dayanır. Viktorya dönemi İngiltere’sinin ve İran Rejimi’nin ataerkil egemenliklerinin kısıtlayıcı çerçeveleri içinde, kadın karakterlerin sürekli olarak sistematik mağduriyete maruz kalmalarını bir yandan incelerken hem Burnett’in hem de Parsipur’un büyünün ve gerçeğin birleştiği bir noktada bahçeyi bir kesişme bölgesi olarak tasarlamalarına da ışık tutar. Bu makale, doğrudan karşılaştırmalı bir yöntem kullanmasa da her iki eserde de kadının konumu ve bahçeyle ilgili kesişen noktaları vurgular. Ataerkil toplumlarda ezilen kadınlarla ilgili sorunların evrenselliğini göstermek için bu makale, farklı sosyo-tarihsel bağlamlara sahip, sınırları aşan iki eseri ele alır. Bu makalenin özgünlüğü, bahçeyi erkeklerin zevklerine hizmet eden bir yer olarak gören geleneksel görüşün aksine, her iki eserin de bahçeyi kadınlara özgü bir mekân olarak nasıl tasvir ettiklerini göstermede yatar.

Keywords

Kadın , Mekan , Heterotopya , Kesişme , Bahçe

Ethical Statement

Etik çerçeve içerisinde teslim edildiğini beyan ederim

Supporting Institution

Yok

Thanks

İlgiliz İçin şimdiden teşekkür ederim

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