ON THE QUESTION OF REFASHIONING AND ITS LIMITS IN SIR THOMAS MORE’S UTOPIA

Year 2025, Volume: 8 Issue: 4, 1875 - 1885, 31.12.2025

Nazım Çapkın

https://doi.org/10.37999/udekad.1783577

Abstract

Thomas More’s juxtaposition of the domestic and social spheres, a consequence of a lifelong process of identity construction guided by the prevailing ‘power’ of his era, is ingeniously likened by Stephen Greenblatt (2005) in his seminal work, The Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare, to Holbein’s painting “The Ambassadors,” which serves as a meticulous attempt to illuminate the intricacies of More’s mentality during the composition of his work. The analytical approach adopted by Greenblatt, emphasizing the absence of a defined selfhood, is appropriate to the text. Still, it does have the potential to detract from an appreciation of More’s humanist endeavours and his rhetorical prowess. Drawing on close textual analysis of Utopia alongside Greenblatt’s Renaissance Self-Fashioning and subsequent debates on culture, subjectivity and counsel, this article argues that Greenblatt’s emphasis on “self-cancellation” underestimates the dialogic, seriocomic and Menippean dimensions of More’s humanism. The present study aims to highlight a tension between the power of institutional life and Thomas More’s self-positioning vis-à-vis the power of culture in Stephen Greenblatt’s deconstructive reading of Utopia. Then I propose alternative interpretations to Greenblatt’s that emerge from the investigation of More’s remarks on counselling and his extensive use of the rhetorical device of litotes to achieve his humanist project in Utopia, where he practices and satirizes a wide range of ideas under scrutiny at the time.

Keywords

Thomas More , Utopia , Self-Fashioning , Renaissance Humanism , Litotes , Menippean Satire

Ethical Statement

This study, titled “On the Question of Refashioning and Its Limits in Sir Thomas More’s Utopia”, is based entirely on textual analysis of published literary and critical sources. It does not involve human participants, personal data, fieldwork, or any procedures requiring ethical review. As such, the research does not fall under the category of studies requiring the approval of an ethics committee. There are no conflicts of interest to declare.

SIR THOMAS MORE'UN ÜTOPYA ESERİNDE ÖZNENİN YENİDEN TASARIMI VE SINIRLARI ÜZERİNE

Abstract

Stephen Greenblatt, The Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare adlı eserinde özel ve kamusal alanların bir aradalığına vurguyla ve otoritenin güdümünde, ömür boyu süren bir kimlik inşası sürecini tarif etmek ve More'un Ütopya’yı yazarken içinden geçtiği zihin karmaşıklığını aydınlatmak için Holbein'in “Büyük Elçiler” tablosunu kullanır. Greenblatt'ın benimsediği, verili bir benliğin noksanlığını vurgulayan analitik yaklaşım metin bağlamında yer yer anlaşılır olsa da More'un hümanist çabalarını ve retorik becerisini gölgelene riskini de beraberinde getirir. Bu makale, Stephen Greenblatt'ın Ütopya okumasında kullandığı dekonstrüktivist dilinde saklı bulunan, kurumsal yaşamın tahakkümü ve Thomas More'un yine bu güce karşı geliştirdiği kendi konumu arasındaki gerilimi vurgulamaktadır. Makale, Ütopya’nın yakın okumasını Greenblatt’ın Renaissance Self-Fashioning’i ve özne, kültür ve krala danışmanlık tartışmalarına dair sonraki eleştirel literatürle birlikte ele alarak, Greenblatt’ın “self-cancellation” vurgusunun More’un hümanizminin diyalojik, seriokomik ve Menippea boyutlarını geri plana ittiğini ileri sürmektedir. Ayrıca bu çalışmada yer verilen, More'un iktidarın hizmetinde bulunma hakkındaki sözleri ve Ütopya'daki hümanist projesini gerçekleştirmek için kullandığı litotes retorik aracını kapsamlı bir şekilde incelenmesi, Greenblatt'ın okumasına alternatif bir okuma sunar, zira More, eserinde, döneminin tartışmalı birçok meselesine de eğilmekte ve bunları hicvetmektedir.

Keywords

Thomas More , Ütopya , Özne Tasarımı , Rönesans Hümanizmi , litotes , Menippea Yergisi

References

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