STRANGERS IN THE SAME COUNTRY: THE COMPLEXITY OF SISTERLY SOLIDARITY IN CATHERINE FILLOUX’S THE BEAUTY INSIDE

Abstract

Through the depiction of a sisterly solidarity and the priority of our responsibility for the other, French-American playwright Catherine Filloux’s play The Beauty Inside makes its audience bear witness not only to the tragedy of honor killings in Turkey but also to an amity that flourishes between a Westernized lawyer Devrim and a rape survivor Yalova introducing a form of familial bond that stems from our shared ethical space. With the help of its unique characters and stress on compassion, The Beauty Inside exemplifies an outstanding play that enhances the publicity of the theatre genre itself. This paper argues that through its rendering of two noteworthy characters from two conflicting sub-cultures of Turkey and their attempts to acknowledge their responsibility for the other, the play portrays a complex sisterhood that justifies the uplifting impact of face-to-face interaction and proposes a novel approach to humanitarianism in human rights theatre. Moreover, it accentuates travel, both as a physical expedition and a mental exploration, in its attempt to encounter the other and “the non-intentionality of consciousness” – to quote from Emmanuel Levinas. Divided in two major sections, this paper first discusses the theoretical perspectives surrounding travel theory and the concept of witnessing vulnerability and atrocities by referring to human rights theorists as well as Levinas’s concept of “face-to-face interaction”  and then includes a close reading of The Beauty Inside as a distinguished play that aptly utilizes the theatre genre to serve a dual function: to publicize violations and to deliver an eye-opening alternative to our fear of the other by curtailing the proximity to the vulnerable.

Keywords

• Human rights theatre,contemporary women playwrights,honor killings,bearing witness

AYNI ÜLKEDE YABANCI OLMAK: CATHERINE FILLOUX’NUN İÇTEKİ GÜZELLİK OYUNUNDA KIZ KARDEŞLİĞİN KARMAŞASI

Abstract

Fransız Amerikalı oyun yazarı Catherine Filloux’nun “İçteki Güzellik” adlı oyunu, sahnelediği kız kardeşlik teması ve vurguladığı ötekine olan sorumluluğumuz kavramlarıyla iki önemli amaç ortaya koymaktadır: Seyircisini Türkiye’deki namus cinayetleri hakkında bilgilendirmek ve onlara Batılı bir avukat olan Devrim’le tecavüz mağduru Yalova arasında filizlenen arkadaşlığı göstererek ortak bir etik alanının olduğunun altını çizmek. Özgün karakterleri ve merhamet kavramına verdiği önemle, “İçteki Güzellik” tiyatronun halkla iç içe bir sanat olduğunu da gösteren seçkin bir oyundur. Bu makalede tartışılan nokta şudur: Türkiye’nin iki farklı alt-kültüründen gelen iki karakter ve onların ötekini anlama çabaları sonucu, bu oyun “yüz yüze etkileşimi” haklı gösteren ve insan hakları tiyatrosunda hümanitarizm kavramına yeni bir alternatif sunan kardeşce bir dayanışma ortaya koyar. Dahası, hem fiziksel hem de mental bir arayış olan seyahat kavramına ve onun ötekiyle karşılaşma arzusuna, ya da Emmanuel Levinas’in deyimiyle “bilincin niyetsizliğine”, dikkat çeker. İki bölümden oluşan bu makalenin ilk bölümünde seyahat teorisi çerçevesinde ve insan hakları ihlallerine şahit olma kavramı kapsamında insan hakları teorisyenlerinden ve Levinas’in “yüz yüze etkileşim” kavramından faydalanılmaktadır. İkinci bölümde ise, “İçteki Güzellik” oyununun detaylı bir okuması, bu oyundaki iki önemli kavramın (1-ihlalleri duyurma ve 2-ötekiyle olan mesafeyi kısaltarak yeni bir alternatif sunma) altı çizilerek yapılmaktadır.

Keywords

• İnsan hakları tiyatrosu,çağdaş kadın oyun yazarları,namus cinayetleri,şahit olma

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