Joycean Rebirth in the “Abject” Womb

Year 2018, Issue: 33, 233 - 241, 25.10.2018

Kübra Kangüleç Coşkun

https://doi.org/10.30794/pausbed.425473

Abstract

The land/woman metaphor has always been an effective tool to define Ireland and Irish nationalists aligned their feminized land with patriarchal discourse and created the iconic Mother Ireland in the image of the Virgin Mary. Known for his anti-Revivalist arguments, James Joyce reveals that the cult of Mother Ireland must be demolished to reach the essence of Irish identity hidden in the “abject” maternal body. Therefore, in his struggle against colonialism, Joyce turns his attention to women, believing that Irishness starts with the exploration of a woman’s body. Using Kristeva’s abjection theory to re-interpret Joyce’s position as the “abject” child of Irish literature, this paper aims to analyze the writer’s prominent women characters in Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and in Ulysses in parallel to his search for an identity as an Irish writer and his anti-colonial struggle against patriarchy.

Keywords

James Joyce, Julia Kristeva, abject, semiotic chora, Irish mother, identity

Ötelenmiş Ana Rahminde Joyce'un Yeniden Doğuşu

Abstract

Kadın/vatan mecazı İrlanda’yı tanımlamak için kullanılan etkili bir siyasi araç olmuştur. İrlanda milliyetçileri “kadınlaştırılmış” topraklarını ataerkil söyleme uygun hale getirmiş ve Katolik Bakire Meryem imgesinde bir “Ana İrlanda” ikonu yaratmışlardır. Uyanışçılara karşı geliştirdiği tavrıyla bilinen James Joyce, cinsiyetçi Ana İrlanda kültünün yıkılması gerektiğini, çünkü İrlanda kimliğinin özünün İngilizler tarafından “abject” (iğrenç) kabul edilen anne bedeninde gizli olduğunu söylemiştir. Bu nedenle, sömürgeciliğe karşı geliştirdiği kendi kişisel mücadelesinde, Joyce dikkatini İrlandalı kadınlara yöneltmiş ve İrlandalı kimliğinin İngilizler tarafından küçük düşürülmüş kadın bedeninin keşfiyle mümkün olacağını iddia etmiştir. Bu çalışma, Joyce’un İrlanda edebiyatındaki aykırı duruşunu, Kristeva’nın “abjection” (iğrenme) teorisiyle yorumlamaya çalışacak ve yazarın önemli kadın karakterlerini Dublinliler, Sanatçının Bir Genç Adam Olarak Portresi ve Ulysses eserlerinde Joyce’un kendi kimlik arayışı ve sömürge karşıtı mücadelesiyle ilişkilendirecektir.

Keywords

James Joyce, Julia Kristeva, abject, semiyotik kora, İrlandalı anne, kimlik

References

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