KALINTILAR ARASINDAKİ YAŞAMLAR: LOUIS DE BERNIÈRES’IN KANATSIZ KUŞLAR ROMANINDA YUNAN MİLLİYETÇİLİĞİ

Year 2021, Volume: 3 Issue: 1, 143 - 166, 23.04.2021

Yasemin Şahin

Abstract

Louis de Bernières’in Kanatsız Kuşlar adlı romanı, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun yıkılmanın eşiğine geldiği dönemlerde kurgusal bir köyde geçen hayat hikayelerini ele almaktadır. Romanda, köy sakinleri içerisinde, amacı Yunan milliyetçiliğini yaymak olan, Yunan öğretmen Daskalos Leonidas da bulunmaktadır. Roman, Likya, Helen ve Roma kalıntılarının arasında kurgulandığı için, okuyucuya mekanla zamansal bir ilişki kurmasına olanak tanınmaktadır. Yayılmacı milliyetçi bir roman karakterini, böylesi çok katmanlı ve tarihsel açıdan dinamik bir ortamda kurgulayarak, de Bernières, milliyetçi ve yayılmacı ideolojilerin meşruluğunu sorgulamaktadır. Bu makalede, Yunan yayılmacılığının meşruluğu, medeniyet, ata toprağı ve milliyetçilik kavramlarının incelenmesi yoluyla analiz edilmektedir. Bu makale, Yunan milliyetçiliğine dair inançların inşasını bu çerçeveden ele alarak, aynı zamanda, de Bernières’in milliyetçi çıkarlar adına tarihin kötüye kullanımına dair getirdiği eleştirisine de bir ışık tutmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, romanda, toplumsallık bilinci, medeniyetler arasında hiyerarşi beklentisinde olduğu gibi, kasıtlı bir duygu olarak betimlenmiştir.

Keywords

Yunan, Milliyetçilik, Yayılmacı Milliyetçilik, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu, Medeniyet

LIVES AMIDST RUINS: GREEK NATIONALISM IN LOUIS DE BERNIÈRES’S BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS

Abstract

Louis de Bernières’s Birds Without Wings offers an account of a fictional Ottoman town on the brink of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Among the inhabitants of the town is Daskalos Leonidas, an irredentist Greek teacher, whose purpose is to promote Greek nationalism among the Greek inhabitants of the town. The novel is set amidst the Lycian, Hellenic and Roman ruins, allowing the reader to engage diachronically with the setting. By positioning an irredentist character in such a multi-layered and ever-changing setting, de Bernières is able to question the legitimacy of nationalist and irredentist ideologies. In this article, the legitimacy of Greek irredentism is analysed through the examination of the concepts of civilisation, ancestral land and nationalism. By debating the construction of Greek nationalist notions within this framework, this article sheds some light on de Bernières’s criticism of the exploitation of historical knowledge for nationalist gains. Ultimately, the sense of community is delineated as a deliberate feeling in the novel as well as the de-sire for civilisational hierarchies. 

Keywords

Greek, Nationalism, Irredentism, Ottoman Empire, Civilisation.

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