Mourning Becomes Electra: Aile Sistemlerinde Sistemik Dolaşıklık Olgusu

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 41 Sayı: 2, 723 - 732, 30.12.2024

Onur Ekler

https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.1489713

Öz

The present article aims to discuss the phenomenon of systemic entanglement in the Mannon family in Eugene O’Neill's famous trilogy, Mourning Becomes Electra. It also argues that this trilogy can be read as a pioneering work for the recently popularized theory of “family constellations” by Bert Hellinger, a German psychologist. According to this theory, some unresolved conflicts or events in the past may cause some unconscious entanglements to move in loops and induce intergenerational suffering. In other words, it argues that ancestral curses and/or sins can be inheritable. If not resolved, they can inflict similar sufferings on the lives of the future members of the family. This theory has been snubbed and labelled as pseudoscientific by the rationalist science. However, having little or no definitive explanation on rational scientific grounds does not mean we can breeze past a perennial phenomenon that manifests in different contexts from Ancient Greece to today’s world. O’Neill takes off from this phenomenon in Mourning Becomes Electra, a re-interpretation of Aeschylus’s Oresteia, considering the dynamics of his contemporary America. He argues whether systemic entanglement in unhealthy family systems may inflict repetitive suffering on future generations. This trilogy may be read with an exploratory eye to lift the veil on this mystical functioning of systemic entanglement in the family context.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Family, constellation, tragedy, guilt, O’Neill

Mourning Becomes Electra: The Phenomenon of Systemic Entanglement in the Family Systems

Öz

Bu makale, Eugene O’Neill’ın ünlü üçlemesi Mourning Becomes Electra adlı eserinde Mannon ailesindeki sistemik dolaşıklık olgusunu tartışmayı amaçlar. Ayrıca, bu üçlemenin, Alman psikolog Bert Hellinger tarafından geliştirilen ve son zamanlarda popülerleşen “aile dizilimi” teorisi için öncü bir eser olarak okunabileceğini savunur. Bu teoriye göre, geçmişte çözülmemiş bazı çatışmalar veya olaylar, döngüler halinde hareket eden bazı bilinçdışı dolaşıklıklara neden olabilir ve kuşaklar arası acıya yol açabilir. Başka bir deyişle, atalardan gelen lanet ve/veya günahın kalıtsal olabileceğini ve çözülmediği takdirde ailenin gelecekteki üyelerinin yaşamlarına da benzer acılar yaşatabileceğini savunur. Bu teori, rasyonalist bilim tarafından küçümsenmiş ve sözde-bilimsel olarak etiketlenmiştir. Ancak, rasyonel bilimsel zeminde çok az ya da hiç kesin açıklaması olmaması, Antik Yunan’dan günümüz dünyasına uzanan farklı bağlamlarda kendini gösteren bir olguyu es geçebileceğimiz anlamına gelmez. O’Neill, Aeschylus’un Oresteia’sını bulunduğu dönemin Amerika’sının dinamiklerini göz önünde bulundurarak yeniden yorumladığı Mourning Becomes Electra’da bu olgudan yola çıkıyor. Sağlıklı olmayan aile sistemlerinde sistemik dolaşıklığın gelecek nesillere tekrarlayan acılar yaşatıp yaşatmayacağı tartışmasına yer veriyor. Bu bağlamda, bu üçleme, aile bağlamındaki sistemik dolaşıklığın bu mistik işleyişi üzerindeki perdeyi kaldırmak için araştırmacı bir gözle okunabilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Aile, dizilim, trajedi, suç, O’Neill

Kaynakça

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