Isabella Whitney’nin Şiirlerinde Öncü-feminist Düşüncenin İzini Sürmek

Abstract

Bu makale, Isabella Whitney’in eserlerinde kadın yanlısı bir tartışmanın izini sürmek amacıyla, The Copy of a Letter (1567) ve A Sweet Nosegay (1573) adlı şiir koleksiyonlarındaki şiirleri incelemektedir. Whitney'in şiirlerinde işlediği temalar ve konular, onun on altıncı yüzyılın İngiltere’sinde marjinal bir kadın şair olduğu gerçeğine işaret ediyor çünkü erkekler tarafından manipüle edilebilecek deneyimsiz kadınlar için bir danışman rolünü üstleniyor. On altıncı yüzyılın kadın yazarlarından beklendiği gibi sade ve çekingen bir şekilde yazmak yerine, şiirlerinde iddialı ve eleştirel bir tavır benimsiyor. Whitney, şiirlerinde bu kadın yanlısı argümanı dile getirerek, Ovid geleneğine saldırıyor ve mitlerde ve erkek metinlerinde geleneksel olarak susturulan kadın figürlerinin hikayelerini yeniden okuyup ve bazen de yeniden yazıyor. Whitney, şiirlerinde ataerkil metinlerde kültürel ve sosyal olarak kapana kısılmış kadınlar için çözüm arıyor.

Keywords

• Isabella Whitney
• Ovid
• Öncü-Feminist
• Kadın Şair
• Rönesans Şiiri

“Trust Not A Man At The Fyrst Sight”: Tracing a Proto-Feminist Thought in Isabella Whitney’s Poetry

Abstract

This paper examines the poems in Isabella Whitney’s two poetry collections, The Copy of a Letter (1567) and A Sweet Nosegay (1573) to trace a pro-woman argument in her works. In her poems, Whitney’s themes and subject matter point out that she is a marginal woman poet of sixteenth-century England since she assumes the role of a counsellor for the inexperienced women who might be manipulated by men. Instead of writing in a low-key manner as expected from the woman writers of the sixteenth century, she adopts an assertive and critical style in her poetry. By articulating this pro-woman argument in her poems, Whitney attacks Ovidian tradition and she re-reads and sometimes rewrites the stories of the traditionally silenced female figures in myths and male texts. Whitney seeks solutions for women who are culturally and socially trapped in the patriarchal texts.

Keywords

• Isabella Whitney
• Ovid
• Proto-Feminism
• Woman Poet
• Renaissance Poetry

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