Abstract
Dünya tarihi kutsal kitaplarda anlatılan, şeytanın Tanrı’ya başkaldırısından itibaren
yaşanmış isyan ve başkaldırıların tarihidir. Bu çalkantılı ve devingen sürecin en dikkat
çeken örnekleri arasında; Rönesans’la insanın kiliseye, Fransız Devrimi’yle halkın krala ve
Modernizmle kadının ataerkil düzene ve erkeğe başkaldırısı yer alır. Aslında bu
başkaldırıların hepsinin arkasında, başkaldıran kitleye, onu yöneten kitle tarafından o güne
dek verilmemiş haklar bulunmaktadır. Nitekim bunların sonuncusu Batı kültürü içinde etkin
olarak 19. yüzyılda başlayan ve 20. yüzyıla yayılan bir kadın hakları mücadelesi şeklinde
geçer. Çalışmamızda incelenen “Onlardan Biri” başlıklı şiiriyle Anne Sexton, son yüzyılda
Amerikan kadın şiirinin mihenk taşlarından biri olarak eserlerini ortaya koyar. Binlerce yıldır
Havva arketipi nedeniyle kadına dayatılan itaatkâr ev kadını, namuslu anne ve sadık eş
rollerine meydan okuduğu bu şiirinde Sexton, geleneksel erkek bakış açısıyla
şekillendirilen bu rollerden sıyrılan kadının toplum tarafından dışlanmasına, suçlanmasına
ve damgalanmasına da karşı çıkar. Her kıtanın sonunda “Ben de onlardan biriyim.” diyerek
özgür ve bağımsız kadının manifestosunu yazar. Çalışmamızda Sexton’ın bu şiirinde
ortaya koyduğu manifesto, onu ortaya çıkaran koşullar odağında incelenmiş ve bu
başkaldırının aslında çok uzun yıllar süren bir baş eğişten kaynaklandığı sonucuna
varılmıştır. Bu baş eğişi Tanrı’nın kutsal kitapla, devletin kanunlarla, toplumun geleneklerle
ve erkeklerin de fiziksel ve ekonomik güçle kadına kabul ettirdiği inancıyla yazan Sexton,
erkeğe göre ikincil planda yer alan tüm bu gelenekselleşmiş ve kalıplaşmış kadın
kimliklerini reddeder ve 20. yüzyılın ikon kırıcı kadın figürlerinden biri olarak kadın
mücadelesi tarihine adını yazdırır.
Keywords
References
- ANAPOL, D. (2010). Polyamory in the Twenty-First Century: Love and Intimacy with Multiple Partners. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
- ÇELIK, Y. (2018). 20. Yüzyıl Amerikan Şiirinde Arayış Şairleri: 12 Kadın Şair ve 12 Şiir. Ankara: Kurgan Edebiyat.
- ÇELIK, Y. (2019). “Cennetteki Kadından ‘Evdeki Melek’e: Ataerkil Bir Toplumda İdeal Kadın Yaratmanın/Eğitmenin Şifreleri”. Er, A. & Çelik, Y. (ed.). Edebiyatta Kadın ve Eğitim. Ankara: Bilgin Kültür Sanat Yayınları.
- GILL, J. (2004). “Anne sexton and Confessional Poetics”. The Review of English studies, New Series, Vol. 55, No. 220, June, 425-445.
- GILL, R. (1995). Mastering English Literature. 2nd Edition. London: Macmillan Press Ltd.
- GRAY SEXTON, L. (1977). Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait Through Letters. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- HALL, C. (1989). Anne Sexton. Boston: G.K. Hall.
- HOLY BIBLE, https://www.bible.com/bible/111/GEN.2.NIV
- HOOK, B. (2000). Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics. Cambridge: South End Press. KURUP, P. K. J. (1991). Contemporary Indian Poetry in English. Delhi: Atlantic Publishers.
- LAL, P. (ed.). (1969). Introduction to Modern Indian Poetry in English. Calcutta: Writers’ Workshop, x-xii.
- LERNER, G. (1986). The Creation of Patriarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Madej-Stang, A. (2015). Which Face of Witch: Self-Representations of Women as Witches in Works of Contemporary British Women Writers. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- MARX, P. (1966). “Interview with Anne Sexton”. The Hudson Review, Vol. 18, No. 4, 560-570.
- MIDDLEBROOK, D. W. (2000). “On Her Kind”. Modern American Poetry, Nelson, C. (ed.). Department of English, University of Illinois at Urbana.
- MITCHELL, J. (2000). Mad Men and Medusas. New York: Basic Books.
- MOORE, H. (1985). “Interview with Anne Sexton”. Colburn, S. E. (ed.). No Evil Star: Selected Essays, Interviews and Prose – Anne Sexton, Michigan. University of Michigan Press.
- NAPIKOSKI, L. (2020). “Patriarchal Society According to Feminism: Feminist Theories of Patriarchy”. https://www.thoughtco.com/patriarchal-society-feminism-definition-3528978
- NATHAN, D., KELKAR, G. & XIAOGANG, Y. (1988). “Women as Witches and Keepers of Demons: Cross-Cultural Analysis of Struggles to Change Gender Relations”. Economic and Political Weekly, 33(44), (October), 50-51.
- NIELSEN, L. (2012). Father-Daughter Relationships: Contemporary Research and Issues. London: Routledge.
- OGDEN, A. S. (1986). The Great American Housewife: From Helpmate to Wage Earner, 1776-1986. Westport: Greenwood Press.
- OLSON, L. M. (2003). “Virginia Woolf’s Cotton Wool of Daily Life”. Journal of Modern Literature, Vol. 26, No. 2, (Winter), 42-65.
- ÖZATA, C. (2021). “Cinderella Complex Created through Male Dominance in Shakespearean Context: The Taming of the Shrew”. Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa Dergisi Sosyal Bilimler Araştırma Dergisi, June, Summer Issue, 49-55.
- RICH, A. (2012). “Anne Sexton: 1928-1974”. American Poetry Review, November/December, 7.
- ROSENTHAL, M. L. (1959). “Poetry as Confession”. The Nation, 189, 154-5.
- SEXTON, A. (1960). To Bedlam and Part Way Back. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- SEXTON, A. (1962). All My Pretty Ones. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- SEXTON, A. (2007). The Complete Poems: Anne Sexton. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- SEXTON, L. G. (1977). Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait Through Letters. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- WALBY, S. (1990). Theorizing Patriarchy. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd.
- WEEDON, C. (1987). Feminist Practice and Poststructuralist Theory. Cambridge: Blackwell.
Abstract
World history is the history of rebellions and revolts experienced since the
devil’s rebellion against God, described in holy books. Among the most striking examples
of this turbulent and dynamic process are man’s revolt against the church with
Renaissance, people’s against the king with French Revolution, and women’s against
patriarchal order and men with Modernism. The rights not given to the rebels by their rulers
are indeed behind all these rebellions. In fact, the last one is referred to as a women’s
rights struggle that started in the 19th century and spread to the 20th century in western
culture. Anne Sexton, with her poem titled “Her Kind” and analysed in our study, presents
her works as one of the cornerstones of American women’s poetry in the last century. In
this poem in which she challenges the roles of obedient housewife, chaste mother and
faithful wife imposed on women for thousands of years due to Eve archetype, Sexton also
opposes the social exclusion, accusation and stigmatization of women who get rid of these
roles shaped by traditional male perspective. She writes the manifesto of the free and
independent woman by stating firmly on the last line of each stanza “I am her kind”. In our
study, the manifesto that Sexton produces in this poem is examined with a focus on its
precursors, and it is concluded that this rebellion actually stemmed from long years of
obedience. Writing with the belief that God imposes this obedience on women with His
holy books, the state with its laws, society with its traditions and men with their physical
and economic power, Sexton rejects all these traditional and stereotyped female identities,
secondary to men. Thus she proves to be one of the iconoclast female figures of the 20th
century, thereby writing her name in the history of women’s struggle.
Keywords
References
- ANAPOL, D. (2010). Polyamory in the Twenty-First Century: Love and Intimacy with Multiple Partners. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
- ÇELIK, Y. (2018). 20. Yüzyıl Amerikan Şiirinde Arayış Şairleri: 12 Kadın Şair ve 12 Şiir. Ankara: Kurgan Edebiyat.
- ÇELIK, Y. (2019). “Cennetteki Kadından ‘Evdeki Melek’e: Ataerkil Bir Toplumda İdeal Kadın Yaratmanın/Eğitmenin Şifreleri”. Er, A. & Çelik, Y. (ed.). Edebiyatta Kadın ve Eğitim. Ankara: Bilgin Kültür Sanat Yayınları.
- GILL, J. (2004). “Anne sexton and Confessional Poetics”. The Review of English studies, New Series, Vol. 55, No. 220, June, 425-445.
- GILL, R. (1995). Mastering English Literature. 2nd Edition. London: Macmillan Press Ltd.
- GRAY SEXTON, L. (1977). Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait Through Letters. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- HALL, C. (1989). Anne Sexton. Boston: G.K. Hall.
- HOLY BIBLE, https://www.bible.com/bible/111/GEN.2.NIV
- HOOK, B. (2000). Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics. Cambridge: South End Press. KURUP, P. K. J. (1991). Contemporary Indian Poetry in English. Delhi: Atlantic Publishers.
- LAL, P. (ed.). (1969). Introduction to Modern Indian Poetry in English. Calcutta: Writers’ Workshop, x-xii.
- LERNER, G. (1986). The Creation of Patriarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Madej-Stang, A. (2015). Which Face of Witch: Self-Representations of Women as Witches in Works of Contemporary British Women Writers. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- MARX, P. (1966). “Interview with Anne Sexton”. The Hudson Review, Vol. 18, No. 4, 560-570.
- MIDDLEBROOK, D. W. (2000). “On Her Kind”. Modern American Poetry, Nelson, C. (ed.). Department of English, University of Illinois at Urbana.
- MITCHELL, J. (2000). Mad Men and Medusas. New York: Basic Books.
- MOORE, H. (1985). “Interview with Anne Sexton”. Colburn, S. E. (ed.). No Evil Star: Selected Essays, Interviews and Prose – Anne Sexton, Michigan. University of Michigan Press.
- NAPIKOSKI, L. (2020). “Patriarchal Society According to Feminism: Feminist Theories of Patriarchy”. https://www.thoughtco.com/patriarchal-society-feminism-definition-3528978
- NATHAN, D., KELKAR, G. & XIAOGANG, Y. (1988). “Women as Witches and Keepers of Demons: Cross-Cultural Analysis of Struggles to Change Gender Relations”. Economic and Political Weekly, 33(44), (October), 50-51.
- NIELSEN, L. (2012). Father-Daughter Relationships: Contemporary Research and Issues. London: Routledge.
- OGDEN, A. S. (1986). The Great American Housewife: From Helpmate to Wage Earner, 1776-1986. Westport: Greenwood Press.
- OLSON, L. M. (2003). “Virginia Woolf’s Cotton Wool of Daily Life”. Journal of Modern Literature, Vol. 26, No. 2, (Winter), 42-65.
- ÖZATA, C. (2021). “Cinderella Complex Created through Male Dominance in Shakespearean Context: The Taming of the Shrew”. Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa Dergisi Sosyal Bilimler Araştırma Dergisi, June, Summer Issue, 49-55.
- RICH, A. (2012). “Anne Sexton: 1928-1974”. American Poetry Review, November/December, 7.
- ROSENTHAL, M. L. (1959). “Poetry as Confession”. The Nation, 189, 154-5.
- SEXTON, A. (1960). To Bedlam and Part Way Back. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- SEXTON, A. (1962). All My Pretty Ones. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- SEXTON, A. (2007). The Complete Poems: Anne Sexton. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- SEXTON, L. G. (1977). Anne Sexton: A Self-Portrait Through Letters. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- WALBY, S. (1990). Theorizing Patriarchy. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd.
- WEEDON, C. (1987). Feminist Practice and Poststructuralist Theory. Cambridge: Blackwell.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Turkish Language and Literature (Other) |
| Journal Section | Research Articles |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | June 23, 2023 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023 Issue: 8 |
Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi (HEFAD) Creative Commons Atıf-GayriTicari 4.0 Uluslararası Lisansı ile lisanslanmıştır.