TY - JOUR T1 - ON THE DIVINE FEMININE: READING FAY WELDON’S PUFFBALL THROUGH THUNDER: PERFECT MIND TT - ON THE DIVINE FEMININE: READING FAY WELDON'S PUFFBALL THROUGH THUNDER: PERFECT MIND AU - Çetiner-öktem, Züleyha PY - 2020 DA - June JF - Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi JO - CUJOSS PB - Sivas Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi WT - DergiPark SN - 1305-5143 SP - 69 EP - 82 VL - 44 IS - 1 LA - en AB - Focussing on gynocentric issues, Fay Weldon’s Puffball is a text open to many types offeminist readings but one that has yet to be explored is a metaphysical readingof the novel focussing on the divine feminine. Although the novel seems toportray everyday characters, the allusions to biblical, mythical, and mysticalelements allow for this type of an analysis. The ebb and flow between theprotagonist Liffey and antagonist Mabs, who are experiencing various stages ofwomanhood, portray two very different types of mothers. Yet, in tune with Neumann’sGreat Mother archetype, both women ironically complement each other through thesecontradictions. The transformations Liffey and Mabs undergo inherently balancesthe text offering a dualistic yet unified approach. This unification throughcontradictions is most illustrative in the ancient gnostic text dubbed Thunder: Perfect Mind, where a divinefeminine voice describes herself through clashing images. By reading Puffball through the lens of Thunder, it becomes possible to see howopposing forces may be considered as aspects of a whole. In this vein, thispaper suggests that elements of Weldon’s Puffballresonate with ancient gnostic discourses specifically with the Thunder text where otherwise discordantaspects are fused in the image of the divine feminine. KW - Fay Weldon KW - Puffball KW - Gnosticism KW - Thunder: Perfect Mind KW - Great Mother N2 - Kadın merkezciliğine odaklanan Fay Weldon’ın Kurtmantarı adlı romanı birçok feministokumaya açık olmasına rağmen henüz kutsal dişilliğe odaklanarak metafizikselaçıdan incelenmemiştir. Roman her ne kadarolağan karakterlerle örülmüş gibi gözükse de dini, mitik ve mistik öğelereolan göndermeler nedeniyle bu tür bir analizin yapılması mümkün kılınır.Kadınlığın farklı dönemlerinde olan başkahraman Liffey ve karşı karakter Mabs’ınarasındaki gelgitler birbirinden çok farklı iki anneyi tasvir eder. Fakat,Neumann’ın Yüce Ana arketipiyle uyumlu bir şekilde her iki kadın da butezatlıklar sayesinde ironik bir biçimde birbirini tamamlar. Liffey ve Mabs’in geçirdikleridönüşümler metni dengeleyerek düalistik fakat bütüncül bir yaklaşım sunar. Tezatlıklardanyola çıkarak varılan bu bütüncül yaklaşımı kutsal dişil bir sesin kendinikarşıt imgelerle tanımladığı GökGürlemesi: Kusursuz Zihin adıyla anılan antik gnostik metinde deyansımasını görmek mümkün. Kurtmantarı’nıGök Gürlemesi ışığında okuyarakkarşıt güçlerin nasıl bir bütünün parçaları olabileceğini görmek mümkün olur.Bu bağlamda, bu makale Kurtmantarı romanındakiöğelerin antik gnostik söylemlerle, özellikle Gök Gürlemesi metniyle, yüklü olduğunu önererek ahenksizmiş gibigörünen yönlerinin kutsal dişil imgesinde nasıl birleştiğini irdeler. CR - BUCKLEY, Jorunn Jacobsen; “Sex, Suffering, and Incarnation: Female Symbolism in Gnosticism”, The Allure of Gnosticism: The Gnostic Experience in Jungian Psychology and Contemporary Culture, (Ed. Robert A. Segal), Open Court, Illinois, 1995. CR - CANE, Aleta F.; “Demythifying Motherhood in Three Novels by Fay Weldon”, Family Matters in the British and American Novel, (Eds. 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