RECONSTRUCTION OF HOME IN PHILIP PULLMAN’S HIS DARK MATERIALS

Öz

In children’s literature, representations of home give way to multifarious ideological, social, economic, and cultural inferences. Both home and its outside display dualistic nature in children’s literature, containing positive and negative connotations at the same. Family house as a sanctuary connotes safety and protection, yet it simultaneously comes to be a space where children’s freedom is limited. Similarly, the outside of house signifies unknown hence dangerous territories, but it concurrently offers independence and an opportunity for exploration and experiencing for children. Taking into consideration such multi-layered associations and dual nature of both spaces, this study inquiries into the possibility of reconceptualizing and restructuring home in children’s literature. In this vein, this paper reads Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials (1995-2000) as a radical text in terms of its unique and experimental representations of home. It suggests that Pullman deconstructs genre-based conservative, de facto, and traditional representations of home in the canon of children’s literature and argues that the meanings of such concepts as home and homelessness can be extremely fluid and subjective.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Philip Pullman
• His Dark Materials
• Children's Literature
• Home

PHILIP PULLMAN’IN KARANLIK CEVHER SERİSİNDE EVİN YENİDEN İNŞA EDİLMESİ

Öz

Çocuk edebiyatında ev tasvirleri çeşitli ideolojik, toplumsal, ekonomik ve kültürel çıkarımlara yol açmaktadır. Çocuk edebiyatında ev ve evin dışı ikili bir doğa sergilemekle birlikte aynı anda olumlu ve olumsuz çağrışımlar barındırırlar. Mabet niteliği gösteren aile evi bir yandan güven ve korunma anlamına gelirken, aynı zamanda çocukların özgürlüğünün kısıtlandığı bir mekân olarak karşımıza çıkar. Benzer şekilde evin dışı bilinmez dolayısıyla tehlikeli bölgeleri temsil ederken eş zamanlı olarak çocuğa bağımsızlık, keşfetme ve deneyim sahibi olma imkânı sunar. Bu çalışma her iki mekânın da çok katmanlı ve ikili doğasını ele alarak evin çocuk edebiyatında yeniden kavramsallaştırılması ve yeniden yapılandırılmasının imkanlarını irdeler. Bu doğrultuda, bu makale Philip Pullman’ın Karanlık Cevher (1995-2000) serisini deneysel ve özgün ev temsilleri açısından radikal bir metin olarak okur. Pullman’ın çocuk edebiyatı kanonundaki janra ile ilintili olarak ortaya çıkmış genel geçer, konservatif ve geleneksel ev tasvirlerini yıktığını önererek ev ve evsizlik gibi kavramların anlamlarının oldukça değişken ve öznel olabileceğini tartışır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Philip Pullman
• Karanlık Cevher
• Çocuk Edebiyatı
• Ev

Kaynakça

1. Alston, A. (2005). Your room or mine? Spatial politics in children’s literature. New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship, 11(1), 15-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13614540500105412
2. Clausen, C. (1982). Home and away in children’s literature. Children’s Literature, 10, 141-152. http://muse.jhu.edu/article/246044
3. Feldt, L. (2016). Contemporary fantasy fiction and representations of religion: Playing with reality, myth and magic in His Dark Materials and Harry Potter. Religion, 46(4), 550-574. https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2016.1212526
4. Gamble, N. & Yates, S. (2002). Exploring children’s literature: teaching the language and reading of fiction. London: Paul Chapman.
5. Greenwell, A. M. (2018). Remodeling home in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. The Lion and the Unicorn, 42(1), 20-36. https://doi.org/10.1353/uni.2018.0002
6. Levey, D. (2016). This wild abyss: the trope of home in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Scrutiny, 21(1), 18-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/18125441.2015.1073344
7. Mahon, A, & O’Brian, E. (2018). Risky subjectivities in Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 37(2), 181-193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-017-9581-4
8. McCulloch, F. (2011). Children’s literature in context. London: Continuum.

9. Nodelman, P. (2008). The hidden adult: Defining children’s literature. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
10. Pullman, P. (1998). Northern Lights. London: Scholastic.
11. Pullman, P. (2000). The Amber Spyglass. New York: Laurel-Leaf.
12. Pullman, P. (2007). The Subtle Knife. New York: Yearling.
13. Rustin, M. & Rustin, M. (2003). A new kind of friendship? - An essay on Philip Pullman’s The Subtle Knife. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 29(2), 227-241. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0075417031000138460
14. Thomson, S. (2004). The child, the family, the relationship. Familiar stories: Family, storytelling, and ideology in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. In K. Lesnik-Oberstein (Ed.), Children’s Literature: New Approaches (pp. 144-167). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.