George Orwell’ın Fili Vurmak’ında Kültürel Kimlik

Kimlik sorunsalı sömürge ve sömürge sonrası edebiyattaki temel konulardan biri haline gelmiştir. Sömürge toplumundaki kimlik kavramına belirsizlik eşlik eder. Sömürge toplumlar kendilerini sürekli olarak tanımlamaya çalışırlar. Diğer yandan yerleşimler ve sömürgeler kendi kendilerini keşfetme sorununun içinde sıkışmış olarak kendilerini bulurlar. Ezen ve ezilen toplumlar arasındaki gerilim yeni kimlik sorunlarının ortaya çıkmasına neden olur. Aynı zamanda yer ve yersizlik bir başka ana kaygı olarak sömürge sonrası kimlik krizini ortaya çıkartır. Homi K. Bhabha için bütün kültürel ifadeler ve sistemler bu ifadenin belirsiz alanında yapılanırlar. Diğer yandan Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel ‘ben’ ve ‘öteki’ ile ilgili diyalektiğe bağlı olarak insanın niçin değiştiğini açıklar. Fili Vurmak’ta George Orwell kendi yazısını Burma’da

CULTURAL IDENTITY IN GEORGE ORWELL’S SHOOTING AN ELEPHANT

The dilemma of identity has been one of the main issues in colonial and postcolonial literature. The very concept of ‘identity’ in a colonial society is accompanied by ambiguity. The colonial societies try to define themselves, constantly. On the other hand, settlements and colonies find themselves trapped in the dilemma of discovering themselves. Tension between the dominated and dominating societies causes the rising of new identity problems. Place and displacement, which is another major concern, also creates a postcolonial crisis of identity. For Homi K. Bhabha, all cultural statements and systems are constructed in this ambivalent space of enunciation. On the other hand, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel explains why people changes due to the dialectic related with ‘self’ and ‘other’. In Shooting An Elephant, George Orwell uses his writing to confess the inner conflict of sub-devisional, imperial police officer of a town in Burma and reflects his in-between position with references to imperialism, colonialism and cultural identiy. Therefore this study has been analyzed with references to colonial and postcolonial cultural identity problems in the light of Bhabian and Hegelian perspectives.Key words: Identity, colonialism, ambiguity, Bhabha, Orwell, Hegel, space, cultural difference, in-betweenness, other, imperial.

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ELECTRONIC REFERENCES

http://hilo.hawaii.edu/~tbelt/pols360-s08-reading-shootinganelephant.pdf. Access date: 6th June,.2016