Abstract
Bu makale Cormac McCarthy'nin Tanrı’nın Bir Kulu romanını İtalyan filozof Giorgio Agamben'in ifade ettiği şekliyle Kutsal İnsan'ın teorik çerçevesi üzerinden araştırmayı amaçlar. Cormac McCarthy'nin 1973'te yayımlanan Tanrı’nın Bir Kulu adlı romanı, sosyal olarak dışlanmış ve ahlaki açıdan marjinal bir figür olan ve ahlaksızlığa düşüşü insanlık ve toplumun sınırları hakkında temel soruları gündeme getiren Lester Ballard'ın sert gerçekçi öyküsünü sunar. Roman toplum ve birey arasındaki çatışmayı farklı bir gözle incelemeye fırsat verir. Öte yandan bireyin toplumdan tecrit edilişiyle ortaya çıkan soru ve sorunların da sebeplerinin tartışılmasına yol açan durumlardan bahseder. Güney gotiğine ait bir yazar olan Cormac McCarthy, bu akımın olan karanlık atmosfer, izolasyon, doğa-insan ilişkisi gibi başlıca özelliklerinden faydalanarak Tanrı’nın Bir Kulu’nda sembolik anlatımlardan yararlanarak görmezden gelinen, dışlanan ve istenmeyenlerin sert gerçekçi hallerini Lester Ballard karakteri üzerinden okura sunar. Roman, siyaset felsefesi açısından değerli görüşleri bulunan Agamben’in fikirlerini uygulamak için uygun bir zemin sağlamaktadır. Bu makale, kahraman Lester Ballard'ı Kutsal İnsan bağlamında analiz ederek romanın dışlanma, terk edilme ve insaniyet ile merhametsizlik arasındaki bulanık sınır temalarına ışık tutmaya çalışır. Metin, Giorgio Agamben'in Kutsal İnsan: Egemen İktidar ve Çıplak Hayat (1998) ve İstisna Hâli (2005) adlı çalışmalarında geliştirdiği şekliyle Kutsal İnsan'in teorik çerçevesini kullanarak Lester Ballard ve romana nüfuz eden dışlanma, terk edilme ve insanlıktan çıkarılma temalarıyla ana temas noktalarından bahsetmeye çalışır.
References
- Agamben, G. (2017). Kutsal İnsan: Egemen İktidar ve Çıplak Hayat. Ayrıntı Yayınları.
- Agamben, G. (2020). İstisna Hâli. Ayrıntı Yayınları.
- Agamben, G. (1999). Bartleby, or On Contingency. Potentialities: Collected Essays in Philosophy. California: Stanford University Press.
- Aggrawal, A. (2009). A new classification of necrophilia. Journal of forensic and legal medicine, 16 (6), 316-320.
- Altaç, İ. S. (2020). Sovereignty and State of Exception ın Wıllıam Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi SBE Dergisi, 10(1), 52-60. https://doi.org/10.30783/nevsosbilen.687071
- Combest, A. (2003). Lester Ballard as Savior? Representations of Christ in Cormac McCarthy's Child of God. Publications of the Mississippi Philological Association, 1417.
- Damai, P. (2023). Empire and Exception in Amy Kaplan’s Works, and Beyond. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 17(2), 212-224. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1340482
- Kang, W. (2020). Bartleby and the Abyss of Potentiality. Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies, 46(2), 37-61.
- Lancaster, A. C. (2008). From Frankenstein's Monster to Lester Ballard: The Evolving Gothic Monster. The Midwest Quarterly, 49 (2), 132-148, 113. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/frankensteins-monster-lester-ballard-evolving/docview/195702944/se-2
- Lekesizalın, F. (2020). Possessing Cold Bodies: Necrophilia and the Conflicts of Private Property in Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God, Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, 61 (3), 370-380, https://doi.org/10.1080/00111619.2020.1721421
- Madsen, M. (2011). The Uncanny Necrophile in Cormac McCarthy’s “Child of God;” or, How I Learned to Understand Lester Ballard and Start Worrying. The Cormac McCarthy Journal, 9 (1), 17-27. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42909422
- McCarthy. (2020). Tanrı’nın Bir Kulu. İthaki Yayınları.
- Melville (2016). Kâtip Bartleby (Koç, Trans.). İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
- Mouffe, C. (Ed.). (1999). The Challenge of Carl Schmitt. Verso.
- Pettigrew, M. (2019). Fantasy, opportunity, homicide: Testing classifications of necrophilic behaviour. Journal of police and criminal psychology, 34 (1), 14-22.
- Xan, C. (2019). Moral Ambiguity in the Works of Cormac McCarthy. (Yüksek Lisans Tezi). https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/5226
Abstract
This article aims to investigate Cormac McCarthy's novel Child of God through the theoretical framework of Homo Sacer, as expressed by the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben. Cormac McCarthy's novel Child of God, published in 1973, presents the harshly realist story of Lester Ballard, a socially outcast and morally marginal figure whose descent into depravity raises fundamental questions about humanity and the limits of society. The novel gives the opportunity to examine the conflict between society and individual from a different perspective. On the other hand, the novel takes into account situations that lead to discussion of the reasons for the questions and problems that arise when the individual is isolated from society. Cormac McCarthy, a Southern Gothic writer, takes advantage of the main features of this movement, such as the dark atmosphere, isolation, nature-human relationship, and presents the reader with the harsh realistic states of the ignored, excluded and unwanted, through the character of Lester Ballard, by making use of symbolic expressions in Child of God. The novel provides a suitable basis for applying the ideas of Agamben, who has valuable views in terms of political philosophy. This article tries to shed light on the novel's themes of exclusion, abandonment, and the blurred border between humanity and savagery by analyzing the hero Lester Ballard in the context of the Homo Sacer. Using the theoretical framework of Homo Sacer as developed by Giorgio Agamben in his works Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life (1998) and State of Exception (2005), the article tries to analyze Lester Ballard and the themes of exclusion, abandonment, and dehumanization in the novel.
References
- Agamben, G. (2017). Kutsal İnsan: Egemen İktidar ve Çıplak Hayat. Ayrıntı Yayınları.
- Agamben, G. (2020). İstisna Hâli. Ayrıntı Yayınları.
- Agamben, G. (1999). Bartleby, or On Contingency. Potentialities: Collected Essays in Philosophy. California: Stanford University Press.
- Aggrawal, A. (2009). A new classification of necrophilia. Journal of forensic and legal medicine, 16 (6), 316-320.
- Altaç, İ. S. (2020). Sovereignty and State of Exception ın Wıllıam Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi SBE Dergisi, 10(1), 52-60. https://doi.org/10.30783/nevsosbilen.687071
- Combest, A. (2003). Lester Ballard as Savior? Representations of Christ in Cormac McCarthy's Child of God. Publications of the Mississippi Philological Association, 1417.
- Damai, P. (2023). Empire and Exception in Amy Kaplan’s Works, and Beyond. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 17(2), 212-224. https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1340482
- Kang, W. (2020). Bartleby and the Abyss of Potentiality. Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies, 46(2), 37-61.
- Lancaster, A. C. (2008). From Frankenstein's Monster to Lester Ballard: The Evolving Gothic Monster. The Midwest Quarterly, 49 (2), 132-148, 113. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/frankensteins-monster-lester-ballard-evolving/docview/195702944/se-2
- Lekesizalın, F. (2020). Possessing Cold Bodies: Necrophilia and the Conflicts of Private Property in Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God, Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, 61 (3), 370-380, https://doi.org/10.1080/00111619.2020.1721421
- Madsen, M. (2011). The Uncanny Necrophile in Cormac McCarthy’s “Child of God;” or, How I Learned to Understand Lester Ballard and Start Worrying. The Cormac McCarthy Journal, 9 (1), 17-27. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42909422
- McCarthy. (2020). Tanrı’nın Bir Kulu. İthaki Yayınları.
- Melville (2016). Kâtip Bartleby (Koç, Trans.). İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
- Mouffe, C. (Ed.). (1999). The Challenge of Carl Schmitt. Verso.
- Pettigrew, M. (2019). Fantasy, opportunity, homicide: Testing classifications of necrophilic behaviour. Journal of police and criminal psychology, 34 (1), 14-22.
- Xan, C. (2019). Moral Ambiguity in the Works of Cormac McCarthy. (Yüksek Lisans Tezi). https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/5226
Details
| Primary Language | Turkish |
|---|---|
| Subjects | North American Language, Literature and Culture |
| Journal Section | Research Articles |
| Authors | |
| Early Pub Date | March 29, 2024 |
| Publication Date | March 31, 2024 |
| Submission Date | December 5, 2023 |
| Acceptance Date | February 13, 2024 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2024 Volume: 7 Issue: 1 |
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