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Atonement : the Individual Progress of a Female Artist and the Evolution of Literary Conventions in the Postmodern Narrative by Ian Mcewan

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Atonement : the Individual Progress of a Female Artist and the Evolution of Literary Conventions in the Postmodern Narrative by Ian Mcewan T.C. İstanbul Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatı Bilim Dalı Yüksek Lisans Tezi Atonement : The Individual Progress of a Female Artist and the Evolution of Literary Conventions in the Postmodern Narrative by Ian McEwan Nuria Zinnurova 2501010679 Tez Danı şmanı: Prof. Dr. Zeynep Ergün Düzeltilmi ş Tez İstanbul, 2006 DÜZELTME METN İ Tez içerisinde anlam bütünlü ğünün sa ğlanması için bazı bölümler çıkarılmı ş ve yeni düzenlemelere gidelerek,bazı bölümlere yeni alıntılar ve yeni açıklamalar eklenip akıcılık sa ğlanmı ştır. Birçok cümle yeniden yazılmı ş, bazı paragrafların düzenlemeleri, bazılarının ise yerleri de ğiştirilmi ştir. Bunlara ek olarak tez metninde saptanan gramer hatalar düzeltilmi ştir. 2 TEZ ONAYI İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatı Bilim Dalının 2501010679 numaralı örencisi Nuria Zinnurova’nın hazırladı ğı “ Atonement : The Individual Prorgess of a Female Artist and the Evolution of Literary Conventions” konulu YÜKSEK L İSANS TEZ İ ile ilgili TEZ SAVUNMA SINAVI , Lisansüstü Ö ğretim Yönetmeli ği’nin 10. Maddesi uyarınca..................günü saat.............’de yapılmı ştır, sorulan sorulara alınan cevaplar sonunda adayın tezinin..........................’ne* OYB İRL İĞİ / OYÇOKLU ĞUYLA karar verilmi ştir. JÜR İ ÜYES İ KANAAT İ İMZA ....................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................... • BU KISMA SAVUNMA SONUCUNA ĞÖRE “KABUL”, “REDD İ” VEYA “DÜZELTMES İ” YAZILACAKTIR. 3 ÖZ Nuria Zinnurova Atonement : The Individual Progress of a Female Artist and the Evolution of Literary Conventions in the Postmodern Narrative by IanMcEwan Bu tez, McEwan’ın, insan hayatındaki de ğişik sosyal ve ruhsal yönler ile bir yazarın olu şumu ana temaları içeren ve postmodern bir çalı şma olan Kefaret adlı romanı incelemektedir. Romandaki karakterlerden Briony Tallis, fertlerin birbiriyle ili şkilerinin kopuk oldu ğu bir ailede büyümü ş, ki şili ğini bulma, karde ş rekabeti ve ergenlik gibi ki şisel sorunları olan bir kız çocu ğudur.Babası, ailesi ile ilgilenmeyen, kocalık ve babalık görevlerini yerine getirmeyen birisi, annesi ise hayal kırıklı ğına uğramı ş ve kendisini çatı arasındaki odaya kapatmayı tercih etmi ş bir kadındır. Briony bu durumdan kaçı şı ve kendini ispatlamayı edebiyatta bulmu ştur. Briony, ya şamının de ğişik dönemlerinde; halk hikayelerinin, romansın, modernizmin ve postmodern fikirlerin etkisinde kalmı ştır. Romanda, yazarın ki şisel geli şmenin yanısıra, sanatın konseptıne ve amacına yakla şımının de ğişimini de görüyoruz. Giri ş kısmı, edebiyat tarihine genel bir bakı ş içermektedir. Birinci bölüm, mitolojinin, destanın ve masalların, Briony’nin ilk edebi çalı şmalarını nasıl etkilediklerini göstermektedir. İkinci bölüm, Gotik Edebiyatı ile Kadın Goti ği ve Romantizmin birbirine ve Briony’nin yazarlı ğına etkisini ara ştırmaktadır. Üçüncü bölüm, romanda ilk once Briony’nin acemice yazdı ğı, daha sonra karakterlerin ciddi bir trajediye donü ştü ğü piyes olarak kar şımıza çıkan oyun türünü incelemektedir.Dördüncü bölüm, romanda sık kar şımıza çıkan mektupları ve mektupla şma biçiminde yazılmı ş eserlere yapılan göndermeleri inceleyerek yazmanın gözlemci yönünü ara ştırmaktadır. Be şinci bölüm, modernizmin etkisinde yazılmı ş olan Fıskiyeli Havuzun Yanındaki İki Figür adlı hikayeyi ve modernizmin tekniklerini incelemektedir. Altıncı bölüm, Kefaret romanındaki postmodernizmi ve metinler arasındaki ili şkiyi ara ştırmaktadır. Sonuç kısmı ise 4 tezin ana amacını sunmaktadır. Romanda , sanata bakı ş açısının nasıl de ğişti ğinin gösterilmesi bir yazarın basit hikayelerden bugüne nasıl geldi ğinin ortaya çıkarılması amacıyla de ğişik edebi türler kullanılmı ş ve birbirine karı ştırılmı ştır. 5 ABSTRACT This thesis examines Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement – the postmodern work describing various social and moral aspects of human life and making a formation of a writer one of its main concerns. We meet Briony Tallis, a child struggling with a particular phase of her unresolved conflicts – identity problem, sibling rivalry, pubertal sexuality, a girl who attempts to cope with all the aspects of childhood and approaching adulthood on the background of a family that lacks at- one-ment. Her father remains a shadowy and ineffectual figure throughout the story; her mother who is disappointed in her life chooses to shut herself up in ‘the room in the attic’. Briony finds escape and then realization in the realm of literature. Folklore, romance, modernist aestheticism and postmodernist ideas are shown in the novel to assert their influence upon Briony at different periods of her life. Together with the personal progress of the artist we observe the generic evolution and the progress of the attitude to the concept of art and its function. The introductory section gives a general review of the development of literary history. The first chapter demonstrates the influence of myths, legends and fairy tales on Briony’s early literary works. The second chapter’s concern is the relation and interrelation of Gothic literature, female Gothic and Romanticism on the back background of Briony’s development as a writer. The third chapter discusses the drama which is present in the novel first in the form of a clumsy play that later turns into a serious tragedy of fictional characters. The fourth chapter analyses the voyeuristic character of the writing displayed through the presence of numerous letters and references to famous novels written in the epistolary genre. The fifth chapter introduces Briony’s story Two Figures by a Fountain, written under the influence of Modernist Aestheticism and discusses the modernist techniques. The sixth chapter investigates postmodernism and intertextuality in Atonement in a much broader context that allows to discover the underpinnings of the philosophy of the postmodernist novel and identify its aims and goals. The conclusion of this study reveals the central argument of the treatise. Different literary genres are used and merged purposefully in the narrative in order to outline 6 the evolution of the perception of art and the identity of the artist from folklore up to the modern time. 7 FOREWORD This thesis is an analysis of Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement within the context of the evolution of English literary history. Many people have helped me during the preparation of this thesis. I am indebted to Prof. Zeynep Ergün for her invaluable comments and support with my studies. The Library of Bilkent University have kindly granted permission to use the books in their possession. The preparation of the final draft would not have been possible without the help of my friend Ay şegül Toroser to whom I owe my special thanks. And, finally, I am grateful to my husband Ça ğatay Saraç for his continued interest and support. 8 CONTENTS ÖZ................................................................................................................................ii i ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................. v FOREWORD…………………………………………..….……..….……….……...vi i CONTENTS………………………………………………………….…….…........vii i INTRODUCTION. - A Review of Literary History…………………………………...…..………..1 - Atonement: A Metafiction……...……..………..….…………………………5 1. Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales……………………...………………………...….7 2. Drama: A ‘Wrong Genre’? …………………………………………………....…23 3. Female Gothic, Romance and the Romantics…….................................................30 4. Epistolary Genre: Popular Voyeurism………………………….…………..…….49 5. Modernist Aestheticism…………………………......................…………………54 6. Postmodernist Novel…………………………………………………………..…60 CONCLUSION………………………………………….…………………….…....73 WORKS CITED………………………………………………………………..…...78 9 INTRODUCTION. A Review of Literary History. …at the age of thirteen [Briony] had written her way through a whole history of literature, beginning from the European tradition of folk tales, through drama with simple moral intent, to arrive at an impartial psychological realism which she had discovered for herself , one special morning during a heat wave in 1935. 1 The writers in different periods had different intention, be it instruction or delight, but there always existed an awareness of the possible influence of art on the reading public. Since this treatise traces an analogy between Briony’s individual progress as an artist and the evolution of forms within the narrative tradition, it is logical to have a general look at the history of literature and the evolution of genres mentioned in the novel in particular. Briony’s fancy for fairy tales and reading her stories aloud goes back to the tradition of oral narrative. The fairy tale which has
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