VİKTORYA DÖNEMİ DİSTOPİK ROMANLARDA DARWIN VE TERSİNE EVRİM: DR JEKYLL VE MR HYDE’IN TUHAF HİKAYESİ VE DÜNYALAR SAVAŞI

Year 2019, Issue: 37, 33 - 42, 24.10.2019

Ayda Önder

https://doi.org/10.30794/pausbed.526884

Abstract

Viktorya
Dönemi İngilteresi’nde birçok insan sadece Darwin’in evrim teorileri yüzünden
değil aynı zamanda tersine evrim ihtimalleri sebebiyle endişeye kapılmıştır.
Buna bağlı olarak, Stevenson ve Wells distopyalarını Darwin’in evrim teorileri
ve Viktoryenlerin tersine evrim korkuları üzerine inşa ettiler. Dr. Jekyll ve Mr. Hyde’da, Stevenson
insanın yabanileşmesini içgüdüsel dürtülerin dizginlenmesini isteyen Viktoryen
ahlaki değerlerin baskıcılığının bir sonucu olarak hayal etmektedir. Romanında,
sadece bastırılmış arzuların vahşete dönüşmesini değil aynı zamanda
ağırbaşlılık maskesi ardında ahlaksızlıktan haz almanın bir sonucu olan
sapkınlığı da ortaya koymaktadır. Benzer biçimde, Dünyalar Savaşı’nda Wells insanın yozlaşmasını toplumlardaki doğal
seleksiyon fikriyle ile ilişkelendirmektedir. Wells, ayrıca, insan bedeninin
bazı parçalarının fonksiyonunu üstlenerek ve insani duyguları ortadan
kaldırarak teknolojinin insan evrimine dahil olduğu bir geleceği tahmin
etmektedir. Her iki distopik romanın da, Darwin’in evrim teorileri ve tersine
evrim ihtimali ile ilişkili olarak gelecek ile ilgili Viktoyen kaygıları
yansıttığı sonucuna varılmıştır. 

Keywords

Distopya, Darwin, Evrim, Tersine Evrim, Doğal Seleksiyon, Viktorya Toplumu

DARWIN AND DEVOLUTION IN VICTORIAN DYSTOPIA: STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE AND THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

Abstract

In
the Victorian Age, many people were apprehended not only by Darwin’s theories
of evolution, but also the possibilities for a reverse evolution. Thus,
Stevenson and Wells build their dystopias on Darwin’s evolutionary theories and
Victorian fears of devolution. In Strange
Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Stevens imagines man’s degeneration into
savagery as the result of the repressiveness of the Victorian morals that
demanded restraint of instinctive urges. He illustrates not only the potential
of repressed desires to burst out into ferocity, but also perversity that may
result from indulgence in vice behind the mask of sobriety. Similarly, in The War of the Worlds, Wells relates
human devolution to the idea of natural selection in human societies. Besides,
he anticipates a future in which technology is involved in human evolution,
overtaking the functions of certain parts of human body and leaving men deprived
of feelings for each other. It is concluded that both of the dystopian novels
project the Victorian concerns about the future in relation to the Darwinian
theories of evolution and the possibility of devolution.        

Keywords

Dystopia, Darwin, Evolution, Devolution, Natural Selection, Victorian Society

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