VİKTORYA DÖNEMİ DİSTOPİK ROMANLARDA DARWIN VE TERSİNE EVRİM: DR JEKYLL VE MR HYDE’IN TUHAF HİKAYESİ VE DÜNYALAR SAVAŞI

Öz

Viktorya Dönemi İngilteresi’nde birçok insan sadece Darwin’in evrim teorileri yüzünden değil aynı zamanda tersine evrim ihtimalleri sebebiyle endişeye kapılmıştır. Buna bağlı olarak, Stevenson ve Wells distopyalarını Darwin’in evrim teorileri ve Viktoryenlerin tersine evrim korkuları üzerine inşa ettiler. Dr. Jekyll ve Mr. Hyde’da, Stevenson insanın yabanileşmesini içgüdüsel dürtülerin dizginlenmesini isteyen Viktoryen ahlaki değerlerin baskıcılığının bir sonucu olarak hayal etmektedir. Romanında, sadece bastırılmış arzuların vahşete dönüşmesini değil aynı zamanda ağırbaşlılık maskesi ardında ahlaksızlıktan haz almanın bir sonucu olan sapkınlığı da ortaya koymaktadır. Benzer biçimde, Dünyalar Savaşı’nda Wells insanın yozlaşmasını toplumlardaki doğal seleksiyon fikriyle ile ilişkelendirmektedir. Wells, ayrıca, insan bedeninin bazı parçalarının fonksiyonunu üstlenerek ve insani duyguları ortadan kaldırarak teknolojinin insan evrimine dahil olduğu bir geleceği tahmin etmektedir. Her iki distopik romanın da, Darwin’in evrim teorileri ve tersine evrim ihtimali ile ilişkili olarak gelecek ile ilgili Viktoyen kaygıları yansıttığı sonucuna varılmıştır. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Distopya,Darwin,Evrim,Tersine Evrim,Doğal Seleksiyon,Viktorya Toplumu

DARWIN AND DEVOLUTION IN VICTORIAN DYSTOPIA: STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE AND THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

Öz

In the Victorian Age, many people were apprehended not only by Darwin’s theories of evolution, but also the possibilities for a reverse evolution. Thus, Stevenson and Wells build their dystopias on Darwin’s evolutionary theories and Victorian fears of devolution. In Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Stevens imagines man’s degeneration into savagery as the result of the repressiveness of the Victorian morals that demanded restraint of instinctive urges. He illustrates not only the potential of repressed desires to burst out into ferocity, but also perversity that may result from indulgence in vice behind the mask of sobriety. Similarly, in The War of the Worlds, Wells relates human devolution to the idea of natural selection in human societies. Besides, he anticipates a future in which technology is involved in human evolution, overtaking the functions of certain parts of human body and leaving men deprived of feelings for each other. It is concluded that both of the dystopian novels project the Victorian concerns about the future in relation to the Darwinian theories of evolution and the possibility of devolution.        

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Dystopia,Darwin,Evolution,Devolution,Natural Selection,Victorian Society

Kaynakça

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