Araştırma Makalesi
BibTex RIS Kaynak Göster

“As Natural as Eating and Drinking”: Garbage Collection and Perpetual Recovery in Latife Tekin's Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills

Yıl 2022, Cilt: 3 Sayı: 2, 152 - 170, 30.12.2022
https://doi.org/10.58306/wollt.1198629

Öz

Latife Tekin’s novel, Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills (1984), tells the story of a migrant community, struggling to build squatter houses in the peripheries of an industrialized city. Although the name of the city is not explicitly mentioned in the novel, in an interview Tekin refers to Istanbul as the setting of her narrative. The community described by Tekin builds a unique relationship with garbage in this urban space, which has already been discussed in various contexts extending from urbanization to magical realism. This article aims to contibute to these discussions by foregrounding Tekin’s avoidance to name poverty and by exploring her way of narrating the community’s perpetual recovery. Not only does the article analyze how Tekin writes against sterilized life styles by presenting garbage as resource, but it also suggests that this narrative approach turns out to be even more conspicuous and relevant with the recent rise of street waste pickers in Turkey. The article pursues this discussion by drawing on influential scholars of waste and literature, namely Mary Douglas, Susan Signe Morrison, and William Viney, by performing close readings of the novel, and by engaging in the secondary literature on Tekin’s work. Therefore, the article examines the squatters’ fight against all destructive forces including nature, state-run demolitions, and various communities which try to settle on the same garbage hills. Then it illustrates how Istanbul as an unnamed setting, poverty as an unnamed condition, and folk medicine as a miraculous solution to health problems caused by harsh urban conditions contribute to Tekin’s emphasis on the community’s endless recoveries from all kinds of destructions and illnesses.

Kaynakça

  • Akbulut, M. R. and Başlık, S. (2011). Transformation of perception of the gecekondu phenomenon. METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture 28 (2): 1-44. doi: https://doi.org/10.4305/METU.JFA.2011.2.1
  • Akçeşme, B. (2016). Green literature: Cross-fertilization between literature and ecology in Latife Tekin`s Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills. In B. Akçeşme, H. Baktır, and E. Steele (eds.), Interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in humanities (pp. 10-24). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  • Arslan, A. D. (2017). Merkezî figürün “melez dil” ile sunumu: Berci Kristin Çöp Masalları’nda mekân. Monograf: Edebiyat Eleştirisi Dergisi 8: 198-212.
  • Atakan, D. (2021, March 18). Undervalued and unrecognized, Turkish waste pickers at mercy of formal recycling sector. Duvar English. Retrieved September 15, 2022 from https://www.duvarenglish.com/undervalued-and-unrecognized-turkish-waste-pickers-at-mercy-of-formal-recycling-sector-news-56700.
  • Balık, M. (2011). Latife Tekin’in romancılığı. PhD Thesis. Ankara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü. [This PhD thesis was published by Akçağ Yayınları in 2019].
  • Belge, M. (1998). Türk roman geleneği ve Sevgili Arsız Ölüm. In Edebiyat Üstüne Yazılar (pp. 233-242). İstanbul: İletişim.
  • Berger, J. (1993). Preface: rumour. In Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills by Latife Tekin (pp. 5-8). London and New York: Marion Boyars.
  • Douglas, M. (2001). Purity and danger: An analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo. London: Routledge.
  • Ergin, M. (2017). The ecopoetics of entanglement in contemporary Turkish and American literatures. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Frostick, L. (2019, May). Berji Kristin. Tales from the Garbage Hills. Bosphorus Review of Books. Retrieved October 15, 2022 from https://bosphorusreview.com/review-berji-kristin.
  • International Organisation for Migration (2018). World Migration Report 2018 (M. McAuliffe and M. Ruhs, eds). Geneva. Retrieved September 7, 2022 from https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/2018.
  • Kalfus, K. (1993, March 21). Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills. The New York Times.
  • Kaya, H. (2021). Liminality in Latife Tekin’s Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills. Journal of European Studies, 51 (1): 59-69. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047244120981167.
  • Morrison, S. S. (2015). The literature of waste: Material ecopoetics and ethical matter. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Özsoy, D. (2012). Yeni kent yoksulluğu, atık toplayıcıları ve temsil sorunsalı: Katık dergisi üzerine bir inceleme. İstanbul Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Dergisi, 43 (2): 105-121.
  • Paker, S. (1993). Introduction. In Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills by Latife Tekin (pp. 9-14). London: Marion Boyars.
  • Paker, S. (2001). Introduction. In Dear Shameless Death by Latife Tekin (pp. 7-17). London: Marion Boyars, 7-17.
  • Prieto, E. (2021). The possibilities of urban informality: Two views from Istanbul. In M. Salmela, L. Ameel, and J. Finch (eds.), Literatures of urban possibility (pp. 19-42). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Pryer, J. and Crook, N. (1988). Cities of hunger: Urban malnutrition in developing countries. Oxford: Oxfam.
  • Sadıkoğlu Asan, H. and Özsoy, A. (2018). The enduring influence of informality in Istanbul: Legalization of informal settlements and urban transformation.” Berkeley Planning Journal 30: 60-81. doi: https://doi.org/10.5070/BP330137619.
  • Seyhan, A. (2008). Tales of crossed destinies: The modern Turkish novel in a comparative context. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.
  • Tekdemir, H. (2011). Magical realism in the peripheries of the metropolis: A comparative approach to Tropic of Orange and Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills. The Comparatist 35: 40-54. doi: 10.1353/com.2011.0019.
  • Tekin, L. (1993). Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills (R. Christie, and S. Paker, Trans.). London: Marion Boyars.
  • Tekin, L. (2005). Latife Tekin Kitabı. Interview by P. Özer. İstanbul: Everest Yayınları.
  • Tekin, L. (2017). İmgeler yoluyla konuşmamız mümkün olabilse keşke. Interview by İ. Şahbenderoğlu. Monograf: Edebiyat Eleştirisi Dergisi 8: 248-61.
  • Tekin, L. (2018, November 15). Kötülüğün görünür hale gelmesi bertaraf etmek için bir fırsat. Interview by A. M. Özsoy. Gazete Duvar Kitap. Retrieved October 15, 2022 from https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/kitap/2018/11/15/latife-tekin-kotulugun-gorunur-hale-gelmesi-bertaraf-etmek-icin-bir-firsat.
  • United Nations World Food Programme and Earthscan (2007). World hunger series 2007: Hunger and health. Rome. Retrieved September 30, 2022 from https://www.wfp.org/publications/world-hunger-series.
  • Uygun-Aytemiz, B. (2017). Çöplükte biten yaşamlar: Berji Kristin’den Bit Palas’a İstanbul, kirlenme ve çöp. Turkish Studies: International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic 12 (5): 449-462. doi: 10.7827/TurkishStudies.11468.
  • Vernon, J. (2007). Hunger: A modern history. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  • Viney, W. (2014). Waste: A philosophy of things. London: Bloomsbury.
  • Wilks, A. (2021, October 8). Istanbul’s war on street waste collectors threatens migrants. Al-Monitor. Retrieved October 15, 2022 from https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/10/İstanbuls-war-street-waste-collectors-threatens-migrants.
  • Yeşilada, E. (2013). An overview of Turkish folk medicine; past and present. Current Drug Delivery 10 (1): 92-95. doi: 10.2174/1567201811310010015.

“Yemek İçmek Kadar Doğal”: Latife Tekin'in Berci Kristin Çöp Masalları Romanında Çöp Toplayıcılığı ve Bitimsiz İyileşme

Yıl 2022, Cilt: 3 Sayı: 2, 152 - 170, 30.12.2022
https://doi.org/10.58306/wollt.1198629

Öz

Latife Tekin’in Berci Kristin Çöp Masalları (1984) romanı, sanayileşmiş bir kente göç ederek söz konusu kentin çeperlerinde gecekondu inşa etmeye çalışan bir insan topluluğunu konu edinir. Romanda mekân açıkça “İstanbul” olarak adlandırılmasa da kendisiyle yapılan bir söyleşide Tekin, romanının İstanbul’da geçtiğini dile getirmiştir. Tekin’in betimlediği insanların çöple kurduğu ilişki kentsel yaşam beklentileriyle uyumsuzdur. Bu uyumsuzluk, romanın konu edildiği çalışmalarda kentleşme olgusundan büyülü gerçekçiliğe çeşitli bağlamlarda tartışılmıştır. Bu makale ise Tekin’in zor yaşam koşullarını betimlerken yoksulluğu dillendirmekten kaçınmasını ve çöplükte yaşam kuran insanların bitimsiz bir telafi ve iyileşme hâlinde olmalarını öne çıkararak söz konusu tartışmalara katkı sağlamayı amaçlamaktadır. Tekin’in çöpü bir kaynak olarak temsil etmek yoluyla steril yaşam tarzlarına karşı çıkışını çözümleyen makale, yazarın bu anlatısal yaklaşımının Türkiye’de kâğıt toplayıcılarının sayıca arttığı bir dönemde daha belirgin bir anlam kazandığını öne sürmektedir. Romanı yakın bir okumaya tabi tutan çalışma, Tekin’in yapıtlarına yönelik eleştirel çözümlemelerle birlikte çöp ve edebiyat üzerine düşünen Mary Douglas, Susan Signe Morrison ve William Viney’nin görüşlerinden de yararlanmaktadır. Bu çerçevede, gecekonducuların doğaya, devlet eliyle gerçekleşen yıkımlara ve çöp yığınlarında yerleşim kurmaya çalışan farklı topluluklara karşı verdiği mücadele ele alınmaktadır. Topluluğun her türlü yıkım ve hastalıktan iyileşerek kurtulmasında İstanbul’un ve yoksulluğun adının anılmamasının oynadığı rolün yanı sıra kent yaşamının sebep olduğu hastalıkların tedavisinde halk tıbbına atfedilen mucizevî gücün işlevi de ortaya konmaktadır.

Kaynakça

  • Akbulut, M. R. and Başlık, S. (2011). Transformation of perception of the gecekondu phenomenon. METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture 28 (2): 1-44. doi: https://doi.org/10.4305/METU.JFA.2011.2.1
  • Akçeşme, B. (2016). Green literature: Cross-fertilization between literature and ecology in Latife Tekin`s Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills. In B. Akçeşme, H. Baktır, and E. Steele (eds.), Interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in humanities (pp. 10-24). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  • Arslan, A. D. (2017). Merkezî figürün “melez dil” ile sunumu: Berci Kristin Çöp Masalları’nda mekân. Monograf: Edebiyat Eleştirisi Dergisi 8: 198-212.
  • Atakan, D. (2021, March 18). Undervalued and unrecognized, Turkish waste pickers at mercy of formal recycling sector. Duvar English. Retrieved September 15, 2022 from https://www.duvarenglish.com/undervalued-and-unrecognized-turkish-waste-pickers-at-mercy-of-formal-recycling-sector-news-56700.
  • Balık, M. (2011). Latife Tekin’in romancılığı. PhD Thesis. Ankara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü. [This PhD thesis was published by Akçağ Yayınları in 2019].
  • Belge, M. (1998). Türk roman geleneği ve Sevgili Arsız Ölüm. In Edebiyat Üstüne Yazılar (pp. 233-242). İstanbul: İletişim.
  • Berger, J. (1993). Preface: rumour. In Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills by Latife Tekin (pp. 5-8). London and New York: Marion Boyars.
  • Douglas, M. (2001). Purity and danger: An analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo. London: Routledge.
  • Ergin, M. (2017). The ecopoetics of entanglement in contemporary Turkish and American literatures. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Frostick, L. (2019, May). Berji Kristin. Tales from the Garbage Hills. Bosphorus Review of Books. Retrieved October 15, 2022 from https://bosphorusreview.com/review-berji-kristin.
  • International Organisation for Migration (2018). World Migration Report 2018 (M. McAuliffe and M. Ruhs, eds). Geneva. Retrieved September 7, 2022 from https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/2018.
  • Kalfus, K. (1993, March 21). Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills. The New York Times.
  • Kaya, H. (2021). Liminality in Latife Tekin’s Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills. Journal of European Studies, 51 (1): 59-69. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047244120981167.
  • Morrison, S. S. (2015). The literature of waste: Material ecopoetics and ethical matter. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Özsoy, D. (2012). Yeni kent yoksulluğu, atık toplayıcıları ve temsil sorunsalı: Katık dergisi üzerine bir inceleme. İstanbul Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Dergisi, 43 (2): 105-121.
  • Paker, S. (1993). Introduction. In Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills by Latife Tekin (pp. 9-14). London: Marion Boyars.
  • Paker, S. (2001). Introduction. In Dear Shameless Death by Latife Tekin (pp. 7-17). London: Marion Boyars, 7-17.
  • Prieto, E. (2021). The possibilities of urban informality: Two views from Istanbul. In M. Salmela, L. Ameel, and J. Finch (eds.), Literatures of urban possibility (pp. 19-42). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Pryer, J. and Crook, N. (1988). Cities of hunger: Urban malnutrition in developing countries. Oxford: Oxfam.
  • Sadıkoğlu Asan, H. and Özsoy, A. (2018). The enduring influence of informality in Istanbul: Legalization of informal settlements and urban transformation.” Berkeley Planning Journal 30: 60-81. doi: https://doi.org/10.5070/BP330137619.
  • Seyhan, A. (2008). Tales of crossed destinies: The modern Turkish novel in a comparative context. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.
  • Tekdemir, H. (2011). Magical realism in the peripheries of the metropolis: A comparative approach to Tropic of Orange and Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills. The Comparatist 35: 40-54. doi: 10.1353/com.2011.0019.
  • Tekin, L. (1993). Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills (R. Christie, and S. Paker, Trans.). London: Marion Boyars.
  • Tekin, L. (2005). Latife Tekin Kitabı. Interview by P. Özer. İstanbul: Everest Yayınları.
  • Tekin, L. (2017). İmgeler yoluyla konuşmamız mümkün olabilse keşke. Interview by İ. Şahbenderoğlu. Monograf: Edebiyat Eleştirisi Dergisi 8: 248-61.
  • Tekin, L. (2018, November 15). Kötülüğün görünür hale gelmesi bertaraf etmek için bir fırsat. Interview by A. M. Özsoy. Gazete Duvar Kitap. Retrieved October 15, 2022 from https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/kitap/2018/11/15/latife-tekin-kotulugun-gorunur-hale-gelmesi-bertaraf-etmek-icin-bir-firsat.
  • United Nations World Food Programme and Earthscan (2007). World hunger series 2007: Hunger and health. Rome. Retrieved September 30, 2022 from https://www.wfp.org/publications/world-hunger-series.
  • Uygun-Aytemiz, B. (2017). Çöplükte biten yaşamlar: Berji Kristin’den Bit Palas’a İstanbul, kirlenme ve çöp. Turkish Studies: International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic 12 (5): 449-462. doi: 10.7827/TurkishStudies.11468.
  • Vernon, J. (2007). Hunger: A modern history. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  • Viney, W. (2014). Waste: A philosophy of things. London: Bloomsbury.
  • Wilks, A. (2021, October 8). Istanbul’s war on street waste collectors threatens migrants. Al-Monitor. Retrieved October 15, 2022 from https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/10/İstanbuls-war-street-waste-collectors-threatens-migrants.
  • Yeşilada, E. (2013). An overview of Turkish folk medicine; past and present. Current Drug Delivery 10 (1): 92-95. doi: 10.2174/1567201811310010015.
Toplam 32 adet kaynakça vardır.

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil İngilizce
Bölüm Araştırma Makalesi
Yazarlar

Hivren Demir Atay 0000-0001-8249-2181

Hakan Atay 0000-0002-0829-4619

Yayımlanma Tarihi 30 Aralık 2022
Gönderilme Tarihi 2 Kasım 2022
Yayımlandığı Sayı Yıl 2022 Cilt: 3 Sayı: 2

Kaynak Göster

APA Demir Atay, H., & Atay, H. (2022). “As Natural as Eating and Drinking”: Garbage Collection and Perpetual Recovery in Latife Tekin’s Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills. Dünya Dilleri, Edebiyatları Ve Çeviri Çalışmaları Dergisi, 3(2), 152-170. https://doi.org/10.58306/wollt.1198629