Animality against Humanism in Charles Chesnutt’s The Conjure Woman and The Marrow of Tradition

Year 2021, Issue: 1, 107 - 127, 28.10.2021

Joseph Sechrist

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15881882

Abstract

The fiction of Charles Chesnutt may be easily read and analyzed through his own Enlightenment humanist political lens. However, despite his politics, Chesnutt’s use of animality in The Conjure Woman and The Marrow of Tradition opens an unexpected space of critique towards humanist perspectives and strategies as he addresses racial injustice in the United States in the early 20th century. Given recent critiques of the racial and special construction of the human, animalizing comparisons in literature may be understood in a new light, working to challenge typical humanist understandings of racial degradation and “dehumanization.” I argue that Chesnutt’s fictional use of animality poses such a challenge, prompting a recognition of and response to white material interests, rather than ineffective humanist ideals.

Keywords

Humanism in literature , African American literature , animal rights , Charles Chesnutt , racial violence

Charles Chesnutt’ın The Conjure Woman ve The Marrow of Tradition’ında Hümanizme Karşı Hayvan

Abstract

Charles Chesnutt’ın kurmaca edebiyatı, hiç sorgulanmadan onun aydınlanmacı-hümanist politik görüşleri çerçevesinde değerlendirilip analiz edilebilir. Chesnutt’un bu politik görüşlere sahip olmasına karşın onun The Conjure Woman ve The Marrow of Tradition eserleri 20. yüzyıl ABD’sindeki ırksal adaletsizliği ele alır ve bu sırada hayvan mefhumunun kitaptaki kullanımı hümanist bakış açılarına ve stratejilere karşı beklenmedik bir eleştiri alanının kapısını aralar. İnsanların kendi ırklarını ve kişiliklerini değerlendirmelerine yönelik son zamanlarda yapılan tenkitler göz önüne alındığında onun bu eseri, günümüzdeki literatürde öne çıkan beyaz olmayanları aşağılayan “insanlık-dışı” aydınlanmacı-hümanist tipik anlayışları açık bir şekilde sorgulayan hayvan-odaklı telakkiler ışığında yeni bir perspektifle değerlendirilebilir. Bu açıdan makalemde, Chesnutt’ın eserlerinde hayvanların kurgusal kullanımı ile etkisini yitirmiş aydınlanmacı-hümanist ideallerden ziyade beyaz ırkın somut çıkarlarını ortaya koyan ve bunlara yanıt verilmesini teşvik eden bir meydan okuma zeminini ortaya koyduğunu iddia ediyorum.

Keywords

Edebiyatta hümanizm , Afro-Amerikan edebiyatı , hayvan hakları , Charles Chesnutt , ırksal şiddet

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