PATRICK MCCABE’İN THE BUTCHER BOY ADLI ROMANINDA KÖTÜCÜL NOSTALJİ

Öz

Nostalji, etimolojik olarak, bireyin, kendisine mutluluk veren bir yere veya zamana dönme arzusu anlamına gelir. Travma sonrası gibi bazı durumlarda ise nostaljik duyguların şiddeti, patolojik seviyeye ulaşarak bireyi saldırgan ve suç nitelikli davranışlara yöneltebilir. Önde gelen çağdaş İrlandalı romancılar arasında yer alan Patrick McCabe, The Butcher Boy (1992) adlı romanında, bu tür, ‘kötücül’ bir nostalji duygusunu tasvir eder. Romanın ana karakteri Francie Brady, bozuk aile yapısı, bencil ve ikiyüzlü çevresi ve yozlaşmış devlet kurumlarının sebep olduğu bir dizi travmatik olayla karşılaşır. Bu anlamda, bu çalışma, nostalji kavramının, Francie’nin durumunda bir patolojiye dönüştüğünü savunmakta ve onun, geçmişi geriye getirme arzusunun bir saplantıya dönüşerek kendisini hangi açılardan bunalıma sürüklediğini açıklamaktadır. Bu çalışma ayrıca, ana karakterin ailevi anlamdaki nostalji hissinin, geleneksel İrlanda kimliğine yeniden ulaşma özlemini temsil ettiğini ileri sürmektedir.  

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Nostalji
• İrlandalılık
• Kasap Çırağı
• Saplantı
• Sanrı

‘THEM WAS THE DAYS’: MALIGNANT NOSTALGIA IN PATRICK MCCABE’S THE BUTCHER BOY

Abstract

Nostalgia etymologically corresponds to a longing for returning to a euphoric place or time in past. In some cases (i.e. post-traumatic states), the acuteness of nostalgic feelings is pathologically aggravated so as to lead individual to some belligerent and even delinquent conducts. This sort of a ‘malignant’ nostalgia is delineated by Patrick McCabe, a pre-eminent contemporary Irish novelist, in his most acclaimed novel, The Butcher Boy (1992). McCabe’s protagonist, the schoolboy Francie Brady, undergoes a series of traumatic incidents triggered by his dysfunctional family, hypocritical and self-centered milieu and the corrupt public institutions. This paper, suggesting that nostalgia becomes a pathology in Francie’s case, discusses the ways in which Francie, being overcome with a pathetic obsession to bring the past back, loses his touch with the reality of the present.. This paper also argues that the protagonist’s domestic sense of nostalgia represents a longing for reattaining traditional Irish identity.  

Keywords

• Nostalgia
• Irishness
• The Butcher Boy
• Obsession
• Delusion

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