ON THE DIVINE FEMININE: READING FAY WELDON’S PUFFBALL THROUGH THUNDER: PERFECT MIND

Yıl 2020, Cilt: 44 Sayı: 1, 69 - 82, 19.06.2020

Züleyha Çetiner-öktem

Öz

Focussing on gynocentric issues, Fay Weldon’s Puffball is a text open to many types of
feminist readings but one that has yet to be explored is a metaphysical reading
of the novel focussing on the divine feminine. Although the novel seems to
portray everyday characters, the allusions to biblical, mythical, and mystical
elements allow for this type of an analysis. The ebb and flow between the
protagonist Liffey and antagonist Mabs, who are experiencing various stages of
womanhood, portray two very different types of mothers. Yet, in tune with Neumann’s
Great Mother archetype, both women ironically complement each other through these
contradictions. The transformations Liffey and Mabs undergo inherently balances
the text offering a dualistic yet unified approach. This unification through
contradictions is most illustrative in the ancient gnostic text dubbed Thunder: Perfect Mind, where a divine
feminine voice describes herself through clashing images. By reading Puffball through the lens of Thunder, it becomes possible to see how
opposing forces may be considered as aspects of a whole. In this vein, this
paper suggests that elements of Weldon’s Puffball
resonate with ancient gnostic discourses specifically with the Thunder text where otherwise discordant
aspects are fused in the image of the divine feminine.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Fay Weldon, Puffball, Gnosticism, Thunder: Perfect Mind, Great Mother

ON THE DIVINE FEMININE: READING FAY WELDON'S PUFFBALL THROUGH THUNDER: PERFECT MIND

Öz

Kadın merkezciliğine odaklanan Fay Weldon’ın Kurtmantarı adlı romanı birçok feminist
okumaya açık olmasına rağmen henüz kutsal dişilliğe odaklanarak metafiziksel
açıdan incelenmemiştir. Roman her ne kadar
olağan karakterlerle örülmüş gibi gözükse de dini, mitik ve mistik öğelere
olan göndermeler nedeniyle bu tür bir analizin yapılması mümkün kılınır.
Kadınlığın farklı dönemlerinde olan başkahraman Liffey ve karşı karakter Mabs’ın
arasındaki gelgitler birbirinden çok farklı iki anneyi tasvir eder. Fakat,
Neumann’ın Yüce Ana arketipiyle uyumlu bir şekilde her iki kadın da bu
tezatlıklar sayesinde ironik bir biçimde birbirini tamamlar. Liffey ve Mabs’in geçirdikleri
dönüşümler metni dengeleyerek düalistik fakat bütüncül bir yaklaşım sunar. Tezatlıklardan
yola çıkarak varılan bu bütüncül yaklaşımı kutsal dişil bir sesin kendini
karşıt imgelerle tanımladığı Gök
Gürlemesi: Kusursuz Zihin adıyla anılan antik gnostik metinde de
yansımasını görmek mümkün. Kurtmantarı’nı
Gök Gürlemesi ışığında okuyarak
karşıt güçlerin nasıl bir bütünün parçaları olabileceğini görmek mümkün olur.
Bu bağlamda, bu makale Kurtmantarı romanındaki
öğelerin antik gnostik söylemlerle, özellikle Gök Gürlemesi metniyle, yüklü olduğunu önererek ahenksizmiş gibi
görünen yönlerinin kutsal dişil imgesinde nasıl birleştiğini irdeler.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Fay Weldon, Kurtmantarı, Gnostisizm, Gök Gürlemesi: Kusursuz Zihin, Yüce Ana

Kaynakça

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