THE SIGNATURE OF A MURDEREE: DEMYTHOLOGISING FASHION, LOVE, AND TRAGEDY IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT (1970)

Öz

Roland Barthes employs myth for a distinct analytical purpose. In Barthes’s semiotic world, myth functions as a process of signification through which the historical and ideological are presented as natural and inevitable. He thinks there are hidden meanings within the artefacts of mass culture, and it is important to liberate man from the tyranny of mass-produced consciousness. This essay argues that the British novelist Muriel Spark’s The Driver’s Seat (1970) can be examined through Barthesian semiotic analysis around his idea of mythology. It analyses the meanings underlying the protagonist Lise’s obsession with fashion by drawing attention to Barthes’s ‘plastic’ myth. The essay finds new forms of signification on which Spark focuses, such as the colours demonstrated in the novel. This approach offers an alternative standpoint on the author’s literary strategy. The essay first describes Spark’s literary world. Then, it presents Barthes’s discourse in Mythologies, in the background, incorporating the views of some thinkers such as Jean Baudrillard. Finally, the text is subjected to close reading within the framework of Barthes’s theorisation of myth. The essay concludes that Spark draws on some Barthesian myths in her narrative and that Spark and Barthes share a similar wit and critical consciousness in their analyses of mass culture.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Muriel Spark
• myth
• novel
• Roland Barthes
• The Driver's Seat

KURBANIN İMZASI: SÜRÜCÜ KOLTUĞU’NDA (1970) MODA, AŞK VE TRAJEDİYİ MİTLERDEN ARINDIRMAK

Öz

Roland Barthes, miti farklı bir analitik amaçla kullanır. Barthes’ın gösterge-bilimi dünyasında, mit, tarihsel ve ideolojik olanın doğal ve kaçınılmazmış gibi sunulduğu bir anlamlandırma süreci olarak işlev görür. Barthes kitle kültürünün eserlerinde gizli anlamların bulunduğunu ve insanı kitle üretimi bilincinin tiranlığından kurtarmanın önemli olduğunu düşünür. Bu makale, Britanyalı romancı Muriel Spark’ın romanı Sürücü Koltuğu’nun Barthes’ın mitoloji fikri çerçevesinde gösterge-bilimsel analiz yoluyla incelenebileceğini savunur. Romanın başkişisi Lise’in moda takıntısının altında yatan anlamları, Barthes’ın ‘plastik’ mitine dikkat çekerek analiz eder. Makale, Spark’ın odaklandığı yeni anlamlandırma biçimlerini bulur; örneğin, romanda gösterilen renkler... Bu yaklaşım, yazarın edebi stratejisine alternatif bir bakış açısı getirir. Makale, ilk olarak, Spark’ın edebi dünyasını tanımlar. Ardından, Barthes’ın Mitolojiler’deki söylemini, Jean Baudrillard gibi düşünürlerin görüşlerini de arka plana ekleyerek sunar. Son olarak, metin, Barthes’ın mit kuramlaştırması bağlamında yakın okumayla incelenir. Makale, Spark’ın anlatısında bazı Barthesçı mitleri kullandığı ve Spark ile Barthes’ın kitle kültürü analizlerinde benzer bir nükteli dili ve eleştirel bilinci paylaştığı sonucuna varır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Muriel Spark
• mit
• roman
• Roland Barthes
• Sürücü Koltuğu

Kaynakça

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