Kamila Shamsie’nin Kül Olmuş Gölgeler romanında bellek ve uzamın sembolleştirilmesi

Öz

Bellek ve edebiyat arasındaki ilişki edebiyat çevrelerinin gündemini yüzyıllar boyunca meşgul etmiştir. Bu ilişki o kadar güçlüdür ki belleği edebiyatta başat ve baskın bir konuma yükselten yeni edebi alttürlerin ortaya çıkmasına yol açmıştır. Öte yandan uzam ve kimlik de yazma sürecinde, başka bir ifadeyle (yeniden) icat etme ya da (yeniden) üretim sürecinde bu ilişkinin önemli bileşenleri olarak kabul edilir. Kamila Shamsie yapıtlarında bellek, uzam, kimlik ve edebiyat arasındaki ilişkiyi irdeleyen yazarlar arasındadır. Shamsie, Kül Olmuş Gölgeler adlı romanında II. Dünya savaşı esnasında Nagazaki’ye atılan atom bombasında yaralanan Japon bir kadının, Hiroko Tanaka’nın öyküsünü kurgular. Bombalama onda hem zihinsel hem de bedensel hasar bırakır. Yazar bu hasarları imgeler ve semboller üzerinden somutlaştırır. Bu makale yazarın somutlaştırdığı bu imgeler ve semboller aracılığıyla bellek, uzam, kimlik ve edebiyat arasındaki ilişkiyi tartışmayı amaçlar. Bu çalışmada, yazarın belleği sembolize eden imge olarak neden turna kuşunu tercih ettiği ve belleğin mekânı olarak neden Hiroko’nun sırtını seçtiği, edebiyatta bellek – uzam ilişkisi çerçevesinde irdelenmeye çalışılmıştır. Ayrıca bireyin kimlik arayışında bellek ve uzamın rolü ve katkısı, yaşam deneyimlerinin bireyin kimlik inşası açısından önemi yine bu çalışmanın ortaya koymaya çalıştığı amaçlardan biridir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Bellek
• Uzam
• Turna Kuşu
• Kamila Shamsie
• Kül Olmuş Gölgeler

Symbolisation of memory and space in Kamile Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows

Abstract

The relationship between memory and literature has occupied the agenda of literary environment for centuries. This bond seems to be so strong that new literary subgenres uplifting memory to a major and dominant position in literature have emerged. On the other hand, space and identity have also been regarded as the components of this relationship in the process of writing; or in other words, in the process of (re)invention or (re)production. Kamila Shamsie is among the authors examining the relation among memory, space, identity and literature in their works. In her novel, Burnt Shadows, she fictionalises the story of a Japanese lady, Hiroko Tanaka, injured in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki during the Second World War. The bombing has left both mental and physical damages on her. The author has externalised those damages through images and symbols. This article aims to discuss the relationship between memory and space through those externalised images and symbols. In this study, the reason why the author prefers the crane as the image symbolising the memory and why she chooses the back of Hiroko as the space of memory is tried to be examined within the frame of the relationship between memory and space in literature. In addition, the role and contribution of space and memory in the search of identity and the importance of life experience with regards to the construction of identity is also one of the goals of the study that is tried to be revealed.

Keywords

• Memory
• Space
• Crane
• Kamila Shamsie
• Burnt Shadows

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