Medieval Literary Representations of the Victimized Children in Middle English Metrical Romances

Orta İngilizce metrik romanslarında ebeveynleri, üvey ebeveynleri ya da büyük ebeveynleri tarafından hem kasten hem de istemsizce zulmedilip çile çeken birçok çocuk vardır. Bu makale, çocukluk döneminin toplum tarafından belirlenmiş aşamaları ve bakış açılarını kapsam dışında bırakarak, orta İngilizce metrik romanslarındaki çocuk mağdurların edebi tasvirlerini, kendi evlerinde ıstırap çekme sebeplerini ve çocukların bu çileler karşısındaki tepkilerini tartışmaktadır. Genellikle tasvir edildiği üzere, erkek çocuk mağdurlar kız çocuklarına kıyasla daha gençtir ve çoğunlukla daha bebekken anneleriyle birlikte sürgün edilirken, babaları tarafından zulmedilen kız çocukları yetişkindir ve sevgili, koca ve hatta kendileriyle sürgün edilen çocuklara sahip olacak yaştadırlar. Mağdurların çektikleri çileler her çilenin sonunda rahata erişildiği ve tüm zorlu sınanmaların sonunda ödül olduğu için ilahi olarak da mazur görülürken, bu anlatılar masumların feda edilmesinin nedeninin sorgulanması fikrini pekiştirir ve çekilen çilenin bir kefareti olduğu izlemini uyandırır. Zayıflık, masumiyet, basitlik çocuklarla özdeşleştirilir ve çocukların çektikleri çileler için daha fazla acıma ve merhamet uyandırılarak daha büyük anlamlar yüklenir. Buna ilaveten, mağdur edilen çocuklar sosyal bir gerçeği de ima ederek kendilerinden sorumlu anne ve babaların başarısızlıklarını da gözler önüne sererler. Dahası, çocukların onları yetişkinlerden ayıran Yedi Ölümcül Günahın kirinden muaf olmaları Hıristiyan okuyucu kitlesine iyi bir örnek teşkil eder. Böylelikle, metrik romanslar çocuk mağdurların tasvirleriyle toplumsal cinsiyet rollerindeki farklılıklara ilişkin toplumsal gerçekleri sunmaları dışında, hedef kitlelerinde dini ve sosyal öğreticilik algısı yaratırlar.

Orta İngilizce Metrik Romanslarında Mağdur Çocukların Edebi Tasvirleri

There are plenty of suffering children in Middle English metrical romances who are victimized by their birth parents, step parents or grandparents, either deliberately or unintentionally. By excluding the socially constructed stages and aspects of childhood, this article discusses the literary representations of the victimized children in Middle English metrical romances, the reasons for their suffering in their households and the children's reactions to these ordeals. As commonly represented, the male child victims are younger than the female ones and they are mostly exiled with their mothers when they are infants, while the female children victimized by their fathers are mature and old enough to have lovers, husbands and even children who are exiled with them. The victims' experience of suffering is theologically justified, because each suffering is followed by a relief, and all ordeals end with a final reward, enhancing the idea that these narratives question the reason for the sacrifice of the innocent and suggest that human suffering has redemptive value. Weakness, innocence, simplicity are associated with children and they give greater meaning to their victimization by evoking more compassion and pity. In addition to this, the victimized children reveal the failings of parents as responsible mothers and fathers which imply a social reality. Moreover, the children's being exempt from pollution of the Seven Deadly Sins which distinguishes them from the adults gives a good example to the Christian audience. Hence, through the depictions of the child victims, the metrical romances provide their audience with a sense of religious and social didacticism, in addition to the presentation of the societal facts in relation to the gender differences.

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