THE ORDEAL OF URBAN WOMEN IN SEARCH FOR IDENTITY IN KATHERINE ANNE PORTER'S THEFT AND FLOWERING JUDAS

Bu çalışma Katherine Anne Porterın, içselleştirdikleri Ötekilik ve Nesne kimliği olan kentli kadın kahramanlarının öznel kimlik arayışlarını ve toplumlarındaki Özne olma mücadelesini incelemektedir. Çalışmada 20. yüzyılın ilk yıllarının havasını yansıtan ve Amerikada geçen Theft (1929) ve Meksikada geçen Flowering Judas (1929) kentli kadınlar açısından ele alınmıştır. Porter öykülerde, ataerkil düzene göre yetiştirilmiş, ama hızla modernleşen Amerikan toplumunda kendi ayakları üzerinde durabilen, öte yandan tinsel yaşamında yalnız ve mutsuz olan kadın kahramanları betimlemektedir. Yazar, kadın kahramanların mücadelesini anlatırken kimlik arayışlarındaki başarısızlıklarında bütünüyle ataerkil düzeni suçlamaz, onların karakterlerinde de kusurlar bulur. Karakterler bir yanda eğitimli ve ekonomik özgürlük sahibidirler ama düşledikleri yaşam ve gerçeklikleri, toplumsal cinsiyetleri, toplumsal statüleri ve karşı cinsle olan ilişkileri arasına sıkışıp kalmışlardır. Düşlerini gerçekleştirmek için yeteri kadar cesaret ve gerçeklik hissine sahip değillerdir. Dolayısıyla Porter kadın karakterlerin kimlik oluşturmada benzer sıkıntıları yaşadıklarını gösterir.

Katherine Anne Porter in Theft ve Flowering Judas Adlı Öykülerinde Kimlik Arayışı İçindeki Şehirli Kadınların Zorlu Sınavı

This study explores the subjective pursuit of identity in Katherine Anne Porter s urban heroines with their internalized identity of Other ness and the Object and their struggle of being the Subject in their societies. It deals with Theft (1929) whose setting is America and Flowering Judas (1929) taking place in Mexico which reflect the aura of the early decades of the 20th century in terms of urban women. Porter in the stories, depicts the women characters who are grown up in accordance with patriarchy but who can stand on their feet in the rapidly modernizing American society, on the other hand alone and unhappy in their spiritual lives. While telling their struggle, she does not completely blame patriarchy for the failure of the women characters search for identity; she also finds defects in their characters. Although they are educated and have financial independence, they are squeezed between the life they dream and their realities; their gender, social status and their relationships with the opposite sex. They do not have enough courage and sense of reality to realize their dreams. Therefore, Porter displays that female protagonists undergo similar hardships in the formation of identity.

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