@article{article_522477, title={The Absent Presence of the Middle Class in Ali Smith’s There But For The}, journal={Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi}, volume={18}, pages={674–684}, year={2019}, DOI={10.21547/jss.522477}, author={Pekşen, Seda}, keywords={gözetleme,olmayan varlık,yargılama,medeniyet,başkalarının acısından zevk almak}, abstract={<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:normal;"> <span lang="en-us" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;" xml:lang="en-us">In <i>There
But For The </i>Ali Smith takes the reader to an existentialist journey in a
capitalistic surveillance society where the consumerist middle class
contributes to the sustenance of the system by becoming an absent presence. One
member of this society shuts himself off of civilization simply by locking
himself into the guest room of a couple of strangers during a dinner party only
to become an absent presence himself. The havoc he causes through his absence
turns him into an even greater presence nationwide. Meanwhile, the discussions
that take place at the dinner party and after the realization of the man’s
rebellious act reveal how the judgmental presence of the people surrounding him
actually makes them rather an absence not only in his life but in the society
as a whole. The part of the proverb that is left out in the title of the novel
(“grace of God, go I”) also suggests, right from the beginning, that no matter
who it is, their presence will be one of <i>schadenfreude. </i>The fact that surveillance has been internalized by the middle class
members of the society ironically turns them into an embodiment of the system
itself. They are present only as surveillants and judges, while absent when it
comes to problem solving. The aim of this paper will be to scrutinize this absent
presence of the middle classes as part of an existentialist discussion on
civilization and its discontents.  </span> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>}, number={2}, publisher={Gaziantep Üniversitesi}