“Ego-trips” versus Ecological Selves: A Deep Ecological Approach to Linda Hogan’s People of the Whale

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 10 Sayı: 2, 1073 - 1094, 31.08.2025

Nesrin Yavaş

https://doi.org/10.29110/soylemdergi.1693207

Öz

This study examines Linda Hogan’s People of the Whale (2008) through Arne Naess’s deep ecological philosophy, focusing on its critique of anthropocentrism and advocacy for biocentric egalitarianism. The novel explores the fictional Aatsika people’s profound relationship with the ocean and its creatures, offering a counter-narrative to exploitative environmental practices. By contrasting late capitalist ideologies with a deep ecological worldview, Hogan emphasizes all life forms' interconnectedness and intrinsic value while underscoring the consequences of humanity’s disconnection from nature. Through the journeys of its central characters, the narrative advocates for Self-realization, relational ethics, and ecological harmony, reflecting the core principles of deep ecology. This analysis positions the novel as a significant contribution to ecocritical literature, highlighting its relevance in addressing contemporary environmental crises. By challenging anthropocentric paradigms, Hogan’s work offers a transformative vision for ethical human-nature relationships, providing insights into the urgent need for sustainable and holistic approaches to ecological and cultural renewal.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Arne Naess , anthropocentrism , deep ecology , ecocriticism , environmental ethics , Linda Hogan

Ego Yolculuklarından Ekolojik Benliğe: Linda Hogan’ın People of the Whale Romanına Derin Ekoloji Felsefesinden Bakmak

Öz

Bu çalışma, Linda Hogan’ın People of the Whale (2008) adlı romanını Arne Naess’in derin ekoloji felsefesi ekseninde ele alarak, insanmerkezci yaklaşımlara yönelttiği eleştiriyi ve tüm yaşam biçimlerine eşit değer atfeden biyomerkezci bir etik anlayışı öne çıkarır. Kurgusal Aatsika halkının okyanus ve deniz canlılarıyla kurduğu derin bağ üzerinden Hogan, doğaya yönelik sömürücü yaklaşımlara karşı güçlü bir karşı anlatı sunar. Roman, geç kapitalist ideolojileri derin ekolojik bir bakış açısıyla karşılaştırarak, tüm canlı varlıkların içkin değerine ve doğadaki karşılıklı bağlılığa vurgu yapar; insanın doğadan kopuşunun yol açtığı yıkımı görünür kılar. Ana karakterlerin içsel yolculukları, öz farkındalık, ilişkisel etik ve ekolojik dengeye dayalı bir varoluş biçimini ifade eder; bu yönüyle roman, derin ekolojinin temel ilkelerini edebi düzlemde yansıtır. Çalışma, eseri çevreci edebiyat eleştirisinin çağdaş çevre krizlerine yanıt veren önemli örneklerinden biri olarak konumlandırır. Hogan’ın insanmerkezci paradigmaları sorgulayan anlatısı, insan ve doğa arasındaki ilişkiye dair dönüştürücü, etik temelli bir bakış açısı sunar ve sürdürülebilir, bütüncül bir ekolojik ve kültürel yeniden yapılanmanın gerekliliğine dikkat çeker.

Anahtar Kelimeler

insan-merkezcilik , derin ekoloji , çevreci edebiyat eleştirisi , çevre etiği , Linda Hogan

Kaynakça

• Barnhill, Davis L., and Roger S. Gottlieb (2010). “Introduction”. Deep Ecology and World Religions: New Essays on Sacred Ground. (Ed. Davis L. Barnhill and Roger S. Gottlieb). Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1–15.
• Collins, Cary C. (2012). “The Water Is Our Land: The Di·ya· Treaty Council of 1855”. The Pacific Northwest Quarterly 104(1), 21–39. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24628758.
• Cote, Charlotte (2010). Spirits Of Our Whaling Ancestors. Edinburgh: AK Press.
• Devall, Bill (1988). Simple In Means, Rich in Ends: Practicing Deep Ecology. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith.
• Devall, Bill and George Sessions (1985). “Deep ecology”. The Environmental Ethics and Policy Book: Philosophy, Ecology, Economics, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. 221–226.
• Fox, Warwick (1995). Toward A Transpersonal Ecology: Developing New Foundations for Environmentalism. Boston, MA: Shambhala.
• Gaard, Greta (2001). “Tools For a Cross-Cultural Feminist Ethics: Exploring Ethical Contexts and Contents in The Makah Whale Hunt”. Hypatia 16(1), 1–26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3810712.
• Grim, John A. (2010). “Indigenous Traditions and Deep Ecology”. Deep Ecology and World Religions: New Essays on Sacred Ground. (Ed. Davis L. Barnhill and Roger S. Gottlieb). Albany, NY: SUNY Press. 35–57.
• Haraway, Donna J. (2008). When Species Meet. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
• Hogan, Linda (1995a). Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World. New York, NY: Touchstone.
• Hogan, Linda (1995b). Solar Storms. New York, NY: Scribner.
• Hogan, Linda (2008). People of the Whale. W. W. Norton.
• Hogan, Linda (1996, December 15). “Silencing Tribal Grandmothers—Traditions, Old Values at Heart of Makah’s Clash Over Whaling”. Seattle Times. Retrieved November 15, 2024, from https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19961215&slug=2363468.
• Leopold, A. (1970). A Sand County Almanac. New York: Ballantine Books.
• McLaughlin, Andrew (1993). Regarding Nature: Industrialism and Deep Ecology. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
• Miller, Robert J. (2000). “Exercising Cultural Self-Determination: The Makah Indian Tribe Goes Whaling”. American Indian Law Review 25(2), 165–273. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20070661.
• Naess, Arne (1973). “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary”. Inquiry, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 95–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/00201747308601682
• Naess, Arne (1986). “The Shallow and The Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movements: A Summary”. Inquiry 16(1), 95–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/00201747308601682.
• Naess, Arne (1989). Ecology, Community, And Lifestyle: Outline of An Ecosophy (Trans.David Rothenberg). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Naess, Arne (1995a). “The Deep Ecological Movement: Some Philosophical Aspects”. Deep Ecology for the 21st Century. (Ed. George Sessions). Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications. 64–84.
• Naess, Arne (1995b). “Self-realization: An Ecological Approach to Being in the World.” In G. Sessions (Ed.), Deep Ecology for the Twenty-First Century (Ed. George Sessions). Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications. 225–239.
• Naess, Arne (2005). “The Deep Ecology Movement: Some Philosophical Aspects”. The Selected Works of Arne Naess. (Ed. Alan Drengson). Dordrecht: Springer. 33–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4519-6_88
• Naess, Arne and George Sessions (1985). “Platform Principles of The Deep Ecology Movement”. Deep Ecology: Living As If Nature Mattered. (Ed. Bill Devall and George Sessions). Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith. 69–73.
• Peterson, Brenda (1996, December 22). “Who Will Speak for the Whales? Elders Call for A Spiritual Dialogue on Makah Tribe’s Whaling Proposal”. The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 15, 2024, from https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19961222/2366339.
• Reid, Joshua L. (2019). “Whale Peoples and Pacific Worlds”. New Histories of Pacific Whaling. (Ed. Ryan Tucker Jones and Angela Wanhalla). Munich, Germany: RCC Perspectives. 119–124. https://doi.org/10.5282/rcc/9183.
• Renker, Ann M., and Erna Gunther (1990). “Makah”. Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 7). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
• Riley, Carroll L. (1968). “The Makah Indians: A Study of Political and Economic Organization”. Ethnohistory 15(1), 57–95. https://doi.org/10.2307/480818.
• Roberts, Charlotte (2010). “Treaty Rights Ignored: Neocolonialism and The Makah Whale Hunt”. The Kenyon Review 32(1), 78–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40600263.
• Rothenberg, David (1989). “Introduction”. Ecology, Community and Lifestyle: Outline of an Ecosophy. By Arne Naess. Translated and revised by David Rothenberg, Cambridge University Press, 1989, pp. 1–14.
• Singer, Peter (2015). Animal Liberation. London, UK: Bodley Head.
• Stevens, John (2017). “Of Whaling, Judicial Fiats, Treaties and Indians: The Makah Saga Continues”. American Indian Law Journal 1(1), 98–126. https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/ailj/vol1/iss1/4.
• van Ginkel, Rob (2004). “The Makah Whale Hunt and Leviathan’s Death: Reinventing Tradition and Disputing Authenticity in The Age of Modernity”. Etnofoor 17(1/2), 58–89. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25758069.