Abstract
İrlandalı yazar Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green başlıklı romanında yirminci yüzyıl İrlanda tarihinin en kaotik dönemeçlerinden biri olarak kabul edilen 1916 Paskalya Ayaklanmasını merkeze alan bir anlatı evreni kurar ve bu tarihsel süreçte Dublin’de küçük bir Anglo-İrlandalı camianın yaşadığı ahlaki çatışma ve ikilemleri ortaya koyan bir olay örgüsü sunar. Bu makalenin temel tartışma izleği, Iris Murdoch’un söz konusu romanını 1916 Paskalya Ayaklanmasının mito-poetik söylemi bağlamında okumak ve Murdoch’un İrlanda yakın tarihini kendi kökleri üzerinden nasıl yeniden düşündüğünü ortaya koymaktır. Yürütülecek tartışmanın temel önermesi, Paskalya Ayaklanmasının milliyetçilik söylemine dayalı savaş retoriğinde, Keltlerin mitik tahayyüllerinde ve anlatılarında başat rol oynayan feminen unsurların cinsellikten arındırılıp romantize ve idealize edilmiş olduğu ve bu söyleme yanıt olarak romanda anlatının merkezinde yer alan Millie karakterinin feminen arketipini ve Erotik ilkeyi temsilen bir karşı söylem olarak karakterize edildiğidir. Bu bağlamda yürütülecek tartışmada ortaya konacağı gibi romanın olay örgüsünün merkezinde yer alan Millie dişil arketip imgesi ve sembolik bir Eros temsili olarak Paskalya Ayaklanmasının eril şiddet ve savaş retoriğini sarsarak bir karşıt söylem üretir. Bu argüman çerçevesinde, Murdoch’un, İrlanda Diriliş hareketi ve zihniyetinin cinselliğinden arındırdığı, romantize ve idealize ettiği Hükümranlık Tanrıçası (Sovereignty Goddess) temsillerine cevap olarak Millie temsilinde bu feminen unsuru yeniden inşa ederek romanı eleştirel bir etos üzerine inşa ettiği söylenebilir.
Keywords
Iris Murdoch The Red and the Green Paskalya Ayaklanması Eros İrlanda Kelt hükümranlık tanrıçası
References
- Arnold, M. (1962). On the study of Celtic literature. In R. H. Super (Ed.), Lectures and essays in criticism. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
- Bhrolcháin, M. N. (1980). Women in early Irish myths and sagas. The Crane Bag. 4 (1), 12-19.
- Boyce, D. G. (1996). Nationalism in Ireland. London and New York: Routledge.
- Conradi, P. (1986). Iris Murdoch: the saint and the artist. London: Methuen.
- Corcoran, N. (1997). After Yeats and Joyce: reading modern Irish literature. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
- Dooley, G. & White, F. (2019). ‘A terrible beauty’: Iris Murdoch’s Irish novel, The Red and the Green. English Studies, 100 (8), 997-1009.
- Doyle, M. (1999). A spindle for the battle: feminism, myth, and the woman-nation in Irish revival drama. Theatre Journal, 51 (1), 33-46.
- Eagleton, T. (1985). Politics and sexuality in W. B. Yeats. The Crane Bag, 9 (2), 138-142.
- --------. (2001). The doubleness of Oscar Wilde. The Wildean, 19, 2-9.
- Foster. R. F. (1989). Modern Ireland, 1600-1972. London: Penguin.
- Freud, S. (1961). Beyond the pleasure principle. James Strachey (Ed. and Trans.). New York: Norton.
- Kearney, R. (1997). Postnationalist Ireland: politics, culture, philosophy. London and New York: Routledge.
- Lyons, F. S. L. (1973). Ireland since the famine. Glasgow: Fontana.
- Mac Cana, P. (1973). Celtic mythology. New York: The Hamyln Publishing.
- Murdoch, I. (1967). The Red and the Green. Middlesex: Penguin.
- Murphy, J. H. (2005). Broken glass and batoned crowds: Cathleen Ni Houlihan and the tensions of transition. In George Boyce and Alan O’Day (Eds.), Ireland in transition, 1867-1921 (pp.113-127). London and New York: Routledge.
- Spear, H. D. (1995). Iris Murdoch. Hampshire and London: MacMillan.
- The Tain. (1985). Trans. Thomas Kinsella. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press.
- Tymoczko, M. (1994). The Irish Ulysses. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Valente, J. (2010). The myth of manliness in Irish national culture, 1880-1922. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
- Yeats, W. B. (1989). Collected poems. Richard J. Finneran (Ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Abstract
In The Red and the Green the Irish writer Iris Murdoch creates a narrative universe that focuses on the Easter Rising of 1916, one of the most tumultuous turns in twentieth century Irish history, and introduces a rich web of moral conflicts and dilemmas experienced by members of an Anglo-Irish community in Dublin. The main concern of this article is to introduce a reading of Murdoch’s The Red and the Green in the context of the mythopoetic discourse of the Easter Rising of 1916, which predominantly reflected the nationalist rhetoric of the Irish Revivalist Movement, and to show how Murdoch revisualizes recent Irish history through her own cultural origins. The argument is grounded on the premise that Millie features in the novel as the embodiment of the feminine archetype and symbolic representation of the Erotic in stark contrast to the war rhetoric of the Easter Rising that relies heavily on the desexualized, romanticized and idealized versions of the feminine in Celtic mythic imagination. Millie’s feminine archetypal image and her symbolic representation of Eros distorts and shakes the masculine rhetoric of the Rising. As a response to the desexualized, sterile, and therefore displaced representations of the Sovereignty Goddess in the literature of the Irish Revival, Murdoch introduces a critical ethos in the novel by restoring the essence of this feminine element in the portrayal of Millie, the central character around whom the plot largely revolves.
References
- Arnold, M. (1962). On the study of Celtic literature. In R. H. Super (Ed.), Lectures and essays in criticism. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
- Bhrolcháin, M. N. (1980). Women in early Irish myths and sagas. The Crane Bag. 4 (1), 12-19.
- Boyce, D. G. (1996). Nationalism in Ireland. London and New York: Routledge.
- Conradi, P. (1986). Iris Murdoch: the saint and the artist. London: Methuen.
- Corcoran, N. (1997). After Yeats and Joyce: reading modern Irish literature. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
- Dooley, G. & White, F. (2019). ‘A terrible beauty’: Iris Murdoch’s Irish novel, The Red and the Green. English Studies, 100 (8), 997-1009.
- Doyle, M. (1999). A spindle for the battle: feminism, myth, and the woman-nation in Irish revival drama. Theatre Journal, 51 (1), 33-46.
- Eagleton, T. (1985). Politics and sexuality in W. B. Yeats. The Crane Bag, 9 (2), 138-142.
- --------. (2001). The doubleness of Oscar Wilde. The Wildean, 19, 2-9.
- Foster. R. F. (1989). Modern Ireland, 1600-1972. London: Penguin.
- Freud, S. (1961). Beyond the pleasure principle. James Strachey (Ed. and Trans.). New York: Norton.
- Kearney, R. (1997). Postnationalist Ireland: politics, culture, philosophy. London and New York: Routledge.
- Lyons, F. S. L. (1973). Ireland since the famine. Glasgow: Fontana.
- Mac Cana, P. (1973). Celtic mythology. New York: The Hamyln Publishing.
- Murdoch, I. (1967). The Red and the Green. Middlesex: Penguin.
- Murphy, J. H. (2005). Broken glass and batoned crowds: Cathleen Ni Houlihan and the tensions of transition. In George Boyce and Alan O’Day (Eds.), Ireland in transition, 1867-1921 (pp.113-127). London and New York: Routledge.
- Spear, H. D. (1995). Iris Murdoch. Hampshire and London: MacMillan.
- The Tain. (1985). Trans. Thomas Kinsella. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press.
- Tymoczko, M. (1994). The Irish Ulysses. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Valente, J. (2010). The myth of manliness in Irish national culture, 1880-1922. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
- Yeats, W. B. (1989). Collected poems. Richard J. Finneran (Ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Creative Arts and Writing |
| Journal Section | English Language and Literature |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | July 28, 2023 |
| Submission Date | January 17, 2023 |
| Acceptance Date | May 31, 2023 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023 Volume: 22 Issue: 3 |
