Hayaller ve Gerçekler Arasında: A Raisin in the Sun’da Beneatha’nın Pan-Afrikanist İdealleri ve Seçim Paradoksunun Yapısökümü

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 10 Sayı: 2, 967 - 984, 31.08.2025

İbrahim Koç

https://doi.org/10.29110/soylemdergi.1691192

Öz

Bu makale, Lorraine Hansberry'nin A Raisin in the Sun oyunundaki Beneatha Younger karakterinin yaşadığı ideolojik değişime yönelik eleştirel bir incelemedir. Oyunun birçok eleştirel okuması, Beneatha'nın George Murchison'ın romantik beklentisini reddedip Joseph Asagai'nin Pan-Afrikanizmini benimsemesinin bireysel özgürlüğe doğru bir yol açtığını ileri sürerken, bu çalışma konuyu biraz daha çağdaş ve farklı bir perspektiften ele almaktadır. Beneatha'nın asimilasyondan uzaklaşıp geleneksel Afrika değerlerine yaklaşması 1950'lerin radikal siyasi hareketleriyle örtüşmektedir; ancak seçtiği ideoloji hem uzun vadeli hedefleriyle hem de toplumun maddi gerçekleriyle uyuşmuyor gibi görünmektedir: Beneatha'nın seçiminin ekonomik ve toplumsal cinsiyetle ilgili boyutları, materyalist Amerikan toplumunda idealizm ile pragmatizm arasındaki niteliksel çatışmayı yansıtmaktadır. Asagai'nin pan-Afrikanist eğilimi entelektüel açıdan ilgi çekici olsa da Beneatha için anlamlı bir seçenek olmaktan uzaktır, çünkü genç bir Afrikalı Amerikalı kadının sömürge sonrası Afrika toplumuna kolayca entegre olabileceği varsayımına dayanmaktadır. Buna karşılık, George Murchison'ın finansal pragmatizm ve sosyal hareketlilik temelli asimilasyonist duruşu, dönemin sosyo-ekonomik koşullarıyla daha uyumlu bir alternatif sunuyor. Beneatha'nın seçimlerini bu geniş çerçeve içine yerleştiren bu makale, onun karakterine ilişkin aşırı basit yorumlara meydan okumakta ve ideolojik bağlılıkları pragmatik gerçeklerle uzlaştırma ihtiyacını vurgulamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Pan-Afrikanizm , Asimilasyon , Irksal Kimlik , Siyah Feminizm

Between Dreams and Realities: Deconstructing Beneatha’s Pan-Africanist Ideals and the Paradox of Choice in A Raisin in the Sun

Öz

This essay is a critical exploration of Beneatha Younger’s ideological shift in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. While many critical readings of the play contend that Beneatha’s rejection of George Murchison’s romantic prospect and embrace of Joseph Asagai’s Pan-Africanism starts a path for self-liberation, this study addresses the issue from a more contemporary and different perspective. Beneatha’s turning away from assimilation and getting closer to traditional African values align with the radical political movements of the 1950s; however, her chosen ideology appears to mismatch both her long-term objectives and the material realities of the society: economic and gender-related dimensions of Beneatha’s choice reflect a qualitative conflict between idealism and pragmatism in materialistic American society. Asagai’s pan-Africanist tendency is intellectually intriguing, but it is far from being a credible option for Beneatha, because it depends on the assumption that a young African American woman will easily integrate into a post-colonial African society. In contrast, George Murchison’s assimilationist stance, grounded in financial pragmatism and social mobility, presents an alternative more in harmony with the socio-economic conditions of the era. By situating Beneatha’s choices within this broader framework, the essay challenges overly simplistic interpretations of her character and emphasizes the need to reconcile ideological commitments with pragmatic realities.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Pan-Africanism , Assimilation , Racial Identity , Black Feminism

Kaynakça

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