TR
EN
Inside Alex’s Mind: Language, Music, and Moral Engagement in A Clockwork Orange
Öz
This article examines Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange through the lens of Reader-Response Theory (Reception Theory, Reader-Oriented Criticism), particularly the perspectives of Wolfgang Iser and Stanley Fish. It argues that Burgess deliberately destabilizes moral judgment through first-person narration, the artificial language of Nadsat, and classical music. These formal strategies condition the reader’s response and implicate them in ethical reflection. Iser’s concepts of the implied reader (virtual reader, ideal reader) and interpretive gaps (indeterminacies, textual gaps), as well as Fish’s notion of interpretive communities (reading communities, discourse communities), are applied to show how Burgess guides interpretation while avoiding didacticism. This study investigates author/text and reader interrelation, and how the novel becomes not just a narrative of violence but a test of reader engagement and moral agency.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Kaynakça
- Bleich, D. (1980). Subjective criticism. In J. P. Tompkins (Ed.), Reader-response criticism: From formalism to post-structuralism (pp. 361–382). Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Burgess, A. (1986). A clockwork orange (Restored ed.). W. W. Norton.
- Burgess, A. (1990). You’ve had your time: Being the second part of the confessions of Anthony Burgess. Heinemann.
- Davis, T. F., & Womack, K. (2002). Formalist criticism and reader-response theory: Critical theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Evans, R. O. (1971). Nadsat: The argot and its implications in Anthony Burgess’ A clockwork orange. Journal of Modern Literature, 1(3), 406–410. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3831064
- Fish, S. (1980). Is there a text in this class? The authority of interpretive communities. Harvard University Press.
- Goh, R. B. H. (2000). Clockwork language reconsidered: Iconicity and narrative in Anthony Burgess’s A clockwork orange. Journal of Narrative Theory, 30(2), 263–280. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30224562
- Holland, N. N. (1975). 5 readers reading. Yale University Press.
Ayrıntılar
Birincil Dil
İngilizce
Konular
İngiliz ve İrlanda Dili, Edebiyatı ve Kültürü
Bölüm
Araştırma Makalesi
Yazarlar
Yayımlanma Tarihi
26 Eylül 2025
Gönderilme Tarihi
12 Ağustos 2025
Kabul Tarihi
25 Eylül 2025
Yayımlandığı Sayı
Yıl 2025 Sayı: 4
APA
Kaplan, N. (2025). Inside Alex’s Mind: Language, Music, and Moral Engagement in A Clockwork Orange. Melius: Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, 4, 42-49. https://doi.org/10.62425/melius.1760636
AMA
1.Kaplan N. Inside Alex’s Mind: Language, Music, and Moral Engagement in A Clockwork Orange. Melius: Journal of Narrative and Language Studies. 2025;(4):42-49. doi:10.62425/melius.1760636
Chicago
Kaplan, Necmettin. 2025. “Inside Alex’s Mind: Language, Music, and Moral Engagement in A Clockwork Orange”. Melius: Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, sy 4: 42-49. https://doi.org/10.62425/melius.1760636.
EndNote
Kaplan N (01 Eylül 2025) Inside Alex’s Mind: Language, Music, and Moral Engagement in A Clockwork Orange. Melius: Journal of Narrative and Language Studies 4 42–49.
IEEE
[1]N. Kaplan, “Inside Alex’s Mind: Language, Music, and Moral Engagement in A Clockwork Orange”, Melius: Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, sy 4, ss. 42–49, Eyl. 2025, doi: 10.62425/melius.1760636.
ISNAD
Kaplan, Necmettin. “Inside Alex’s Mind: Language, Music, and Moral Engagement in A Clockwork Orange”. Melius: Journal of Narrative and Language Studies. 4 (01 Eylül 2025): 42-49. https://doi.org/10.62425/melius.1760636.
JAMA
1.Kaplan N. Inside Alex’s Mind: Language, Music, and Moral Engagement in A Clockwork Orange. Melius: Journal of Narrative and Language Studies. 2025;:42–49.
MLA
Kaplan, Necmettin. “Inside Alex’s Mind: Language, Music, and Moral Engagement in A Clockwork Orange”. Melius: Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, sy 4, Eylül 2025, ss. 42-49, doi:10.62425/melius.1760636.
Vancouver
1.Necmettin Kaplan. Inside Alex’s Mind: Language, Music, and Moral Engagement in A Clockwork Orange. Melius: Journal of Narrative and Language Studies. 01 Eylül 2025;(4):42-9. doi:10.62425/melius.1760636