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Estrangement in the Intentional Community of Stepford Suburb in Ira Levin’s The Stepford Wives

Year 2021, Volume: 11, 235 - 248, 30.06.2021

Abstract

The concept of intentional community as a distanced geography or land which is estranged from the conventional and traditional social placement would be a convenient term to identify Ira Levin’s Stepford suburb. The neighbourhood in The Stepford Wives is depicted as an imaginary ideal place where the life is idealized by the husbands, and from the patriarchal perspective, it is regarded as a good place to live. The men are satisfied and pleased with their domestic, obedient, always incredibly beautiful, and overjoyed wives. The husband-oriented wives who show no sign of exhaustion, who have no interest or hobby apart from staying at home and doing the housework, who are doll-like figures, and additionally the unrealistic and euphoric atmosphere at homes in Stepford create the factor of estrangement here. Thus, in this paper, the intentional community of Stepford in Ira Levin’s literary work The Stepford Wives will be analysed by referring to Lucy Sargisson’s work on “intentional communities” to shed a light on the estrangement concept and its social and literary role to raise awareness of woman liberation in a sarcastic way in the times the work is published.

References

  • Banks, O. 1993, The Politics of British Feminism, 1918-1970. Hants.
  • Coovadia, I. 2020, Revolution and Non-Violence in Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Mandela. Oxford.
  • Das, V. 1988, “Science and Violence in Popular Fiction: Four Novels of Ira Levin.” Ed. Ashis Nandy. Science, Hegemony and Violence: A Requiem for Modernity. Tokyo. https://archive.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu05se/ uu05se00.htm#Contents
  • De Beauvoir, S. 1968, The Second Sex. (1949). Trans. H. M. Parshley. London.
  • Elliott, J. 2008, “Second-Wave Feminism, Domestic Labor, and the Representation of National Time”. Cultural Critique 70, 32-62.
  • Friedan, B. 1979, The Feminine Mystique. (1963). New York.
  • Kanter, R. M. 1972, Commitment and Community: Communes and Utopias in Sociological Perspective. Cambridge.
  • Kotani, M. 2007, “Doll Beauties and Cosplay”. Mechademia 2, 49-62.
  • Levin, I. 2000, The Stepford Wives. (1972). New York.
  • Parkin, C. (2011, August 13). “Adventures in Trash: The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin”. https://cassandraparkin.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/adventures-in-trash-the-stepford-wives-by-ira-levin/. Access Date: 25 September 2016.
  • Rhee, J. 2018, The Robotic Imaginary: The Human & the Price of Dehumanized Labor. Minneapolis.
  • Sargent, L. T. 1994, “The Three Faces of Utopianism Revisited”. Utopian Studies 5/1, 1-37.
  • Sargent, L. T. 2013, “Do Dystopias Matter?”. Ed. Fátima Vieira. Dystopia(n) Matters: On the Page, on Screen, on Stage, 10-13. Cambridge.
  • Sargisson, L. 2007, “Strange Places: Estrangement, Utopianism, and Intentional Communities”. Utopian Studies 18/3, 393-424.
  • Straub, P. 2000, “Afterword.” Stepford Wives, 187-195. New York.
  • Suvin, D. 1979, Metamorphoses of Science Fiction: On the Poetics and History of a Literary Genre. London.
  • Turner, M. 2003, The Women’s Century: A Celebration of Changing Roles 1900-2000. Richmond.
  • “Welcome Wagon: Our History.” https://welcomewagon.com/. Access Date: 10.04.2021.
  • Williams, A. 2007, “The Stepford Wives: What’s a Living Doll to Do in a Postfeminist World?”. Postfeminist Gothic: Critical Interventions in Contemporary Culture. Eds. Benjamin A. Brabon and Stéphanie Genz, 85-98. New York.
  • Wolf, N. 1991, The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women. London.

Ira Levin’in Stepford Kadınları Romanında Kasıtlı Topluluk Olarak Stepford Banliyösünde Yabancılaştırma

Year 2021, Volume: 11, 235 - 248, 30.06.2021

Abstract

Uzak bir coğrafya veya geleneksel toplum yerleşiminden uzak bir toprak olarak kasıtlı topluluk kavramı, Ira Levin’in Stepford banliyösü için uygun bir tanımlama olacaktır. Stepford Kadınları romanında tasvir edilen muhit, buradaki hayatın eril egemen bakışla idealleştirilmesi ve yaşanabilecek en iyilerden olması sebebiyle hayali bir ideal yer gibi tasvir edilmiştir. Erkekler, sürekli evde olan ve evle ilgilenen, inanılması güç biçimde güzel ve fazlasıyla mutlu olan eşlerin varlığından çok memnundurlar. Yorgunluk belirtisi göstermeyen, evde oturmaktan ve ev işi yapmaktan başka meşgalesi olmayan, oyuncak bebek benzeri karakterler olan, kocalarını hayatının merkezine koyan kadınlar ve Stepford evleri için tasvir edilen gerçekdışı ve keyif verici ortam aslında okuyucuda yabancılaşma benzeri bir etki yaratır. Bu nedenle de bu çalışmada Ira Levin’in Stepford Kadınları romanında Stepford yerleşkesi, Lucy Sargisson’ın “kasıtlı topluluklar” üzerine yaptığı çalışma ışığında incelenecek ve bu kasıtlı topluluk kurma anlayışında yabancılaş(tır)manın kadın özgürleşmesi ile ilgili farkındalığı artırmadaki etkisi hem toplumsal bağlamda hem de edebi anlamda yazıldığı döneme gönderme yapılarak tartışılacaktır.

References

  • Banks, O. 1993, The Politics of British Feminism, 1918-1970. Hants.
  • Coovadia, I. 2020, Revolution and Non-Violence in Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Mandela. Oxford.
  • Das, V. 1988, “Science and Violence in Popular Fiction: Four Novels of Ira Levin.” Ed. Ashis Nandy. Science, Hegemony and Violence: A Requiem for Modernity. Tokyo. https://archive.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu05se/ uu05se00.htm#Contents
  • De Beauvoir, S. 1968, The Second Sex. (1949). Trans. H. M. Parshley. London.
  • Elliott, J. 2008, “Second-Wave Feminism, Domestic Labor, and the Representation of National Time”. Cultural Critique 70, 32-62.
  • Friedan, B. 1979, The Feminine Mystique. (1963). New York.
  • Kanter, R. M. 1972, Commitment and Community: Communes and Utopias in Sociological Perspective. Cambridge.
  • Kotani, M. 2007, “Doll Beauties and Cosplay”. Mechademia 2, 49-62.
  • Levin, I. 2000, The Stepford Wives. (1972). New York.
  • Parkin, C. (2011, August 13). “Adventures in Trash: The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin”. https://cassandraparkin.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/adventures-in-trash-the-stepford-wives-by-ira-levin/. Access Date: 25 September 2016.
  • Rhee, J. 2018, The Robotic Imaginary: The Human & the Price of Dehumanized Labor. Minneapolis.
  • Sargent, L. T. 1994, “The Three Faces of Utopianism Revisited”. Utopian Studies 5/1, 1-37.
  • Sargent, L. T. 2013, “Do Dystopias Matter?”. Ed. Fátima Vieira. Dystopia(n) Matters: On the Page, on Screen, on Stage, 10-13. Cambridge.
  • Sargisson, L. 2007, “Strange Places: Estrangement, Utopianism, and Intentional Communities”. Utopian Studies 18/3, 393-424.
  • Straub, P. 2000, “Afterword.” Stepford Wives, 187-195. New York.
  • Suvin, D. 1979, Metamorphoses of Science Fiction: On the Poetics and History of a Literary Genre. London.
  • Turner, M. 2003, The Women’s Century: A Celebration of Changing Roles 1900-2000. Richmond.
  • “Welcome Wagon: Our History.” https://welcomewagon.com/. Access Date: 10.04.2021.
  • Williams, A. 2007, “The Stepford Wives: What’s a Living Doll to Do in a Postfeminist World?”. Postfeminist Gothic: Critical Interventions in Contemporary Culture. Eds. Benjamin A. Brabon and Stéphanie Genz, 85-98. New York.
  • Wolf, N. 1991, The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women. London.
There are 20 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Translation and Interpretation Studies, British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture
Journal Section Araştırma Makaleleri
Authors

Emine Şentürk

Publication Date June 30, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 11

Cite

APA Şentürk, E. (2021). Estrangement in the Intentional Community of Stepford Suburb in Ira Levin’s The Stepford Wives. Akdeniz İnsani Bilimler Dergisi, 11, 235-248.
Adres:
Akdeniz İnsani Bilimler Dergisi
Akdeniz Üniversitesi, Edebiyat Fakültesi
07058 Kampüs, Antalya / TÜRKİYE
E-Posta:
mjh@akdeniz.edu.tr