THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NATIONAL IDENTITY: W. B. YEATS’ POETRY

Öz

Yeats is the most prominent devotee and initiator of the Irish Literary Revival in the early 20th century. Irishness/Irish culture was a theme he handled since his early ages. His poetic themes ranging from love to the art of poetry are preoccupied with the theme of Irishness reinforced with images and stories from Irish/Celtic mythologies and present Irish sites. Yeats’ praxis of mythic/past elements together with Irish sites in his poetic universe creates a bondage between old and present Irishness. Hence his poetry is turned into a declaration of opinions and intentions on an idealized Irish culture. This study aims at presenting how Yeats is manifesting an ideology to fight for a heritage and national identity by visiting Irish and Celtic mythologies as well as current Irish sites, and thus creating a performative discourse in his poetry that promotes conceptual and practical understanding of Irishness to be exercised.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• W. B. Yeats
• national identity
• Irishness
• Irish mythology
• Irish sites

ULUSAL KİMLİĞİN İNŞASI: W.B. YEATS’İN ŞİİRİ

Öz

Yeats, 20. yüzyılın başlarındaki İrlanda Edebi Uyanışı'na kendini adayan ve kuruluşunda yer alan önemli bir şahsiyettir. İrlandalılık veya İrlanda kültürü de erken yaşlarından itibaren ele aldığı hem ilk hem de geç temalardan biridir. Aşktan şiir sanatına kadar uzanan şiirsel temaları bile İrlanda/Kelt mitolojisi ve bugünkü İrlanda ile ilgili mekânsal imgeler ile yoğrulmuştur. Çelişkili görünse de Yeats’in mitolojik/tarihsel unsurları İrlanda’ya özgü bugünün mekanlarıyla birlikte kullanması, eski ve şimdiki İrlandalılık arasında bir bağ oluşturur. Böylelikle şiirleri, idealize edilmiş İrlanda kimliği üzerine fikirlerinin ve temennilerinin bir deklarasyonu haline gelir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Yeats'in İrlanda/Kelt mitolojilerinin yanı sıra İrlanda’ya özgü mekânsal öğeleri ele alarak bir miras ve kimlik için mücadele etme ideolojisini nasıl ortaya koyduğunu ve böylece şiirinde İrlandalılığın tatbik edilebileceği kavramsal ve pratiğe dönük bir anlayışı destekleyen performatif bir söylem yarattığını ortaya koymaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• W. B. Yeats
• ulusal kimlik
• İrlandalılık
• İrlanda mitolojisi
• İrlanda mekanları

Kaynakça

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