Batı’nın Gücü, Doğu’nun Sessizliği: Edward Said ve Lu Xun’un Eleştirilerinde Ortak Noktalar

Abstract

Bu makale, postkolonyal teorinin kurucusu Edward Said ile modern Çin edebiyatının öncüsü Lu Xun’un entelektüel projelerini karşılaştırmalı bir perspektifle incelemektedir. Farklı tarihsel ve coğrafi bağlamlardan gelmelerine rağmen, her iki düşünürün de temel bir sorunsal olan hegemonik güç yapılarının yarattığı “sessizlik” olgusu etrafında birleştiği iddia edilmektedir. Said, Oryantalizm kavramsallaştırmasıyla Batı’nın söylemsel gücünün Doğu’yu nasıl nesneleştirdiğini ve dışarıdan bir güçle nasıl susturduğunu analiz eder. Buna karşılık Lu Xun, “demir ev” ve “Ah Q ruhu” gibi metaforlar aracılığıyla Çin toplumunun kendi içine kapalı ataletini, kayıtsızlığını ve ahlaki felcini, yani kendi kendine nasıl sustuğunu teşhis eder. Makale, bu iki farklı sessizlik biçiminin (dışarıdan dayatılan ve içeriden üretilen) birbirini besleyen diyalektik bir ilişki içinde olduğunu savunmaktadır. Dışsal hegemonya, içsel atalete zemin hazırlarken; içsel kayıtsızlık da dışsal tahakkümü kolaylaştırmaktadır. Bu ortak sorun karşısında her iki düşünür de benzer bir çözüm önerir. Said’in sürgün entelektüeli ile Lu Xun’un savaşçı entelektüelinin, bu sessizliği kırmak ve rahatsız edici hakikatleri dile getirmek gibi ortak bir misyonu paylaştığı sonucuna varılmaktadır.

Keywords

• : Edward Said
• Lu Xun
• Oryantalizm
• Entelektüel
• Hegemonya.

The Power of the West, the Silence of the East: Common Ground in the Critiques of Edward Said and Lu Xun

Abstract

This article examines the intellectual projects of Edward Said, the founder of postcolonial theory, and Lu Xun, the pioneer of modern Chinese literature, from a comparative perspective. Despite coming from different historical and geographical contexts, it is argued that both thinkers converge around the phenomenon of ‘silence’ created by hegemonic power structures, a fundamental issue. Said analyses how the West's discursive power objectifies the East and silences it through external force, using his conceptualisation of Orientalism. In contrast, Lu Xun diagnoses Chinese society's self-imposed inertia, apathy, and moral paralysis-that is, how it silences itself-through metaphors such as the ‘iron house’ and the ‘spirit of Ah Q.’ The article argues that these two different forms of silence (imposed from outside and produced from within) exist in a dialectical relationship that feeds off each other. External hegemony paves the way for internal inertia, while internal indifference facilitates external domination. Faced with this shared and suffocating problem, both thinkers propose a similar solution. It is concluded that Said's exiled intellectual and Lu Xun's militant intellectual share a common mission: to break this silence and articulate uncomfortable truths.

Keywords

• Edward Said
• Lu Xun
• Orientalism
• Intellectual
• Hegemony.

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