Charlotte Perkins Gilman’ın Herland eserinde bir kesişimsel okuma denemesi: İkili karşıtlıkları sorgulamak

Öz

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’ın edebi ütopyası olan Herland (1915), ütopya edebiyatının öncü metinlerindendir. Hikâye, kadınlardan oluşan Herland isimli ütopik ülkeye dair izlenimlerini paylaşan erkek kararkter, Van Jennings tarafından anlatılmaktadır. Amerikalı Vandyck Jennings, Terry O. Nicholson ve Jeff Margrave’den oluşan üç erkek karakter Herland denilen gizemli ülkeyi bulmak için Güney Amerika taraflarında bir yere uçakla sefer düzenlerler. Tamamen kadınlardan oluşan böylesi bir ülke düşüncesi bu karakterleri heyecanlandırır. Bu yolculuk, her ne kadar farklı seviyelerde olsa da bu üç karakterin yansıtılan ataerkil toplum düzeninin iç mekaniğini yavaş yavaş sorgulamasını sağlar. Bu çalışma, karakterlerin coğrafi ve mecazi yolculuğunun ışığında, kesişimsel okuma yöntemiyle Herland eserini ele alarak tartışacaktır. Bu yaklaşım, kesişen faktörlerin toplumsal kapsayıcılık ya da toplumsal dışlanma konularında ne kadar önemli bir rol oynadığını ortaya çıkaracaktır. Ayrıca, bu bakış açısı Gilman’ın eserinin baskın söylemi, özcü kategorileri, ikili karşıtlıkları ve toplumsal cinsiyete dair kültürel olarak yerleşmiş varsayımları nasıl altüst edip çökerttiğini gösterecektir. Sonuç olarak bu eleştirel tartışmanın nihai amacı, ikili karşıtlıkların yer almadığı yeni bir yaklaşımı benimseme ihtiyacı olduğunu göstermektir çünkü ikili olmayan bir yaklaşım, mevcut söylemsel uygulamaların kısıtlayıcı sınırlarından uzak bir dünya oluşum olasılığını mümkün kılabilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Herland
• toplumsal cinsiyet
• kesişimsellik
• ikiliksiz

An intersectional reading of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland: Challenging dichotomies

Abstract

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s literary utopia, Herland (1915) is one of the pioneering texts of utopian literature. The story is narrated by a male character, Van Jennings, who shares his impressions of the utopian land of women, Herland. Three male characters, namely Vandyck Jennings, Terry O. Nicholson and Jeff Margrave, all American, go on an expedition by plane, somewhere in South America, to find out about the mysterious land called Herland, which consists entirely of women, as they are thrilled at the idea of such a country. This journey gradually leads these male characters to question the working mechanism of the projected patriarchal order, though on differing levels. In the light of these male characters’ geographical and metaphorical journey, this article analyzes and discusses Herland through an intersectional reading in order to illustrate how intersecting factors do play an integral role in social inclusion or exclusion. This approach also exposes how Gilman’s text challenges and disrupts the hegemonic discourse, essentialist categorizations, binary oppositions, and culturally embedded assumptions about gender. The ultimate aim of this critical discussion is then to demonstrate the need to adopt a non-binary approach in order to facilitate the formation of a world order that may be free from the restrictive boundaries of the existing discursive practices.

Keywords

• Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Herland
• gender
• intersectionality,
• non-binary

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