T.S. Eliot James Joyce hakkında haklı mıydı?: Ulysses’in ezber bozan bir okuması

Öz

Mitlerin modern yazarlar tarafından kullanılması, buna “mitsel yöntem” adını veren ve James Joyce’un Ulysses romanını öne çıkan bir örnek olarak gösteren T.S. Eliot tarafından oldukça övülmüştür. Ulysses, Order and Myth isimli ünlü makalesinde, T.S. Eliot yalnızca Joyce’a yöneltilen eleştirileri cevaplamakla kalmamış fakat aynı zamanda mitlerin kaos ve kargaşaya karşı savaşlarında modern yazarların ihtiyaç duyduğu tek silah olduğunu da iddia etmiştir. Bununla birlikte, Eliot tarafından böyle ateşli bir şekilde savunulmasına rağmen Joyce’un bu muazzam eserini yazarken benzer bir amaca sahip olup olmadığı da tartışmaya açıktır. Ulysses’i yazarken Joyce Odyssey destanını kitabının kurgusunun belkemiği olarak kullanmış ve aynı zamanda açık biçimde destanın karakterlerine göndermelerde bulunmuştur. Yine de dikkatli bir bakış Eliot’un yorumları ve anlayışının ötesinde birşeyleri ortaya dökebilir. Bunun nedeni eser içinde din, milliyetçilik ve ataerkil düzene yöneltilen ve Batı geleneğinin baskın ideolojilerini ve kurumlarını tamamen ters yüz eden parodilerle karşılaşmamızdır. Joyce yalnızca batı düşüncesinin derinlerine kök salmış mitleri ters yüz etmekle kalmaz aynı zamanda sömürgeciler tarafından boynuna dolanan bir boyunduruk olarak nitelediği dili de yıkıma uğratır. Dahası, yarattığı karakterler kimliklerin çoğaldığı ve karıştığı, aynı zamanda sınırların ve büyük anlatıların yok edildiği geleceğin dünyasını sembolize etmektedirler. Sonuç olarak, bu çalışma Eliot’un muhafazakar ve gelenekçi beklentilerinin aksine Joyce’un Ulysses’de kullandığı yıkıcı tavra ve Joyce’un insanlığın geleceği olduğuna inandığı “yeni insan” ile ilgili fikirlerine odaklanmayı amaçlamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• James Joyce
• T.S. Eliot
• mit
• mitsel yöntem
• yıkıcılık

Was T.S. Eliot right about James Joyce?: A Subversive reading of Ulysses

Abstract

The employment of myth among modern writers was highly praised by T.S.Eliot who pointed at James Joyce’s Ulysses as an outstanding example of what he called “the mythical method”. In his famous essay entitled Ulysses, Order and Myth, he not only answered the criticism directed at Joyce but also claimed that myth was the one and the only weapon needed by the modern writers in their battle against chaos and anarchy. However, although defended by Eliot in such fierce attitude, it is a question whether Joyce shared a similar purpose in writing his massive work. In Ulysses, Joyce uses the epic of Odyssey as the backbone of his plot while he clearly refers to the epic characters at the same time. Yet a careful look reveals something beyond Eliot’s comments and understanding for we come across with a parodical approach towards religion, nationalism and the patriarchal order throughout the work, which totally subvert the dominant ideologies and established institutions of Western tradition. Joyce subverts not only myths that are deeply rooted in western mind but also language which he regards as a yoke put around his neck by the colonizer. Furthermore, his characters stand as the symbols of a future world where identities are multiplied and mingled whereas borders and metanarratives are destroyed. As a result, this paper aims to focus on Joyce’s subversive attitude in Ulysses contrary to the conservative and traditionalist expectations of Eliot and on Joyce’s suggestions on the “new man” who he believes is the future of mankind.

Keywords

• James Joyce
• T.S. Eliot
• myth
• the mythical method
• subversion

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