Bu çaly?mada Alman kolonyalizminin tarihsel geli?imi ve bunun politik temelleri gösterilerek, Alman kolonyalizmine kaynaklyk eden ve bir ba?yapyt olarak gösterilen Heinrich von Kleist'yn "Die Verlobung in St.Domingo" ba?lykly eserinde yrk kavramy ve kimlik sorunsaly sergilenmeye çaly?ylmy?tyr. Kleist'in bu eseri ile ilgili birçok ele?tirel çaly?mada, eserin yazyldy?y dönemden dolayy çok sesli bir yapysy oldu?u ve romanyn yrkçy söylemlerle birlikte Avrupa uygarly?ynyn hakkynda da ele?tirel söylemler içerdi?i fakat Kleist'yn bunu dengede tuttu?u belirtilmektedir. Bu makale ise romandaki yrkçylyk söylemlerini ortaya koyarak romanyn aslynda kolonile?tirilmi? insanlaryn barbarly?y ve vah?eti hakkyndaki mitleri kuvvetlendirdi?ini göstermeyi amaçlamaktadyr.

In this study, the concept of race and the problem of identity in Heinrich von Kleist's St. Domingo, which has been considered to be a significant source of German colonialism, have been studied through showing the development of German colonialism and its political bases. In most of the critical studies about this work of Kleist's, it has been said that there is a polyphonic structure in the novel due to the period in which it was written and that though the novel consists of the racist discourses along with the critical discourses of the European civilization, it does not appreciate the racism because Kleist balanced them in due portion in it. Yet, this essay aims at pinpointing the discourses about racism in the novel and showing that the novel, in effect, strengthens the myths about the barbarism and violence of the colonized people.