Etin Cinsel Politikası ve David Mitchell’ın Bulut Atlası Romanında Hayvanlaştırılan Kadın Klonlar

Öz

Vegan-feminist eleştirmen Carol J. Adams’ın aynı adlı kitabında ortaya attığı “etin cinsel politikası” kuramından yola çıkan bu makale, ataerkil toplumlarda cinsel şiddet ve et yeme arasında sıkı bir bağ olduğunu iddia etmektedir. Nitekim ataerkinin kadınlara ve hayvanlara yönelttiği, cinselleştirilmiş bir eril şiddettir. Teorik ve pratik olmak üzere iki bölümden oluşan makalenin kuramsal bölümü, ataerkinin çıkış noktası ve Batı düşünce sisteminin temellerini oluşturan ikili karşıtlıkları incelemeyle başlamaktadır. “İnsan-hayvan” ve “erkek-kadın” ikiliklerinin temelde “insan=erkek-kadın=hayvan” şeklinde tek bir ikilik olduğunun ileri sürüldüğü bu bölümde özne pozisyonundaki erkeğin, ikinci konuma itilen kadını ve hayvanı nesneleştirerek sömürdüğü tartışılmaktadır. Kuramsal bölümün ikinci kısmı, Adams’ın vegan-feminist kuramı ışığında şiddete uğrayan kadınların hayvanlaştırılmasını ve ete dönüştürülen hayvanların cinselleştirilip dişilleştirilmesini ele almaktadır. Bu kısım özellikle Adams’ın aynı kitapta tartıştığı “kayıp gönderge” kavramı üzerinden ilerlemektedir; çünkü ataerki, kayıp gönderge sistemi vasıtasıyla kadınlara ve hayvanlara uyguladığı benzer şiddetleri ötekinin maruz kaldığı muameleyi akıllara getirerek maskelemekte ve kuvvetlendirmektedir. Uygulama bölümüyse İngiliz yazar David Mitchell’ın Bulut Atlası (2004) adlı romanının “Sonmi~451’in Niyazı” başlıklı distopik anlatısında kesilerek ete dönüştürülen kadın klonlar üzerinden etin cinsel politikasını incelemektedir. Kadın klonların, Papa Song isimli kapitalist işletmecinin mezbahasında ete dönüştürüldükten sonra zincir restoranlarında servis edilmeleri kayıp gönderge kavramıyla ele alınmakta ve gördükleri bu muamelenin hayvanlaştırılmalarından kaynaklandığı ileri sürülmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Etin cinsel politikası
• kayıp gönderge
• kadınlar
• hayvanlar
• Bulut Atlası

The Sexual Politics of Meat and Animalized Female Clones in David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas

Öz

Drawing on vegan-feminist critic Carol J. Adams’s theory of “the sexual politics of meat” that she introduced in her book of the same title, this article claims that there is a close relationship between sexual violence and meat-eating in patriarchal societies. As a matter of fact, it is the sexualized masculine violence of patriarchy that connects women and animals. The article consists of two parts: theory and practice. The theoretical part is divided into two sections, and the first section explores the origins of patriarchy and the binary oppositions that constitute the roots of the Western thought system. In this section, it is argued that the binary oppositions “human-animal” and “male-female” are not separate, but essentially a single binary reformulated as “human=male-female=animal.” The privileged position of the male in this binary opposition, as the subject over the objectified female and animal, enables the former’s oppression and abuse of the latter. Following such a trajectory, in light of Adams’s vegan-feminist theory, the second section of the theoretical part delves into the animalization of oppressed and abused women, and the sexualization and feminization of butchered animals. Even more specifically, the discussion of this section is built upon the concept of the “absent referent” that Adams discusses in the same book. Through the structure of the absent referent, patriarchy manages to mask and reinforce the violence it inflicts on women and animals by evoking the treatment the other is subjected. The second part of the article scrutinizes the sexual politics of meat with respect to the butchered female human clones that are transformed into meat in the dystopian narrative “An Orison of Sonmi~451” of British writer David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas (2004). The butchering of the female clones in the capitalist employer Papa Song’s slaughterhouse and the serving of their meat in his restaurants are analyzed with respect to the concept of the absent referent, and it is asserted that such treatment of these women stems from their animalization.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• The sexual politics of meat
• absent referent
• women
• animals
• Cloud Atlas

Kaynakça

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