An Analysis of Dorothy Richardson's Novels Within the Context of Henri Bergson's Philosophy
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T.C. İstanbul Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatõ Bilim Dalõ Yüksek Lisans Tezi An Analysis of Dorothy Richardson’s Novels Within the Context of Henri Bergson’s Philosophy Ayşegül Deniz Toroser Ateş 2501020037 Tez Danõşmanõ: Prof. Dr. Zeynep Ergün İstanbul 2005 T.C. İstanbul Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatõ Bilim Dalõ Yüksek Lisans Tezi An Analysis of Dorothy Richardson’s Novels Within the Context of Henri Bergson’s Philosophy Ayşegül Deniz Toroser Ateş 2501020037 Tez Danõşmanõ: Prof. Dr. Zeynep Ergün İstanbul 2005 TEZ ONAYI İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatõ Bilim Dalõ’nõn 2501020037 numaralõ öğrencisi Ayşegül Deniz Toroser Ateş’in hazõrladõğõ “An Analysis of Dorothy Richardson’s Novels Within the Context of Henri Bergson’s Philosophy” konulu YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ ile ilgili TEZ SAVUNMA SINAVI, Lisansüstü Öğretim Yönetmeliği’nin 10. Maddesi uyarõnca ................... günü saat ................’de yapõlmõştõr, sorulan sorulara alõnan cevaplar sonunda adayõn tezinin ..............................’ne* OYBİRLİĞİ / OYÇOKLUĞUYLA karar verilmiştir. JÜRİ ÜYESİ KANAATİ İMZA ......................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................... * BU KISMA SAVUNMA SONUCUNA GÖRE “KABUL”, “REDDİ” VEYA “DÜZELTİLMESİ” YAZILACAKTIR. ÖZ Yirminci yüzyõlõn başlarõnda Avrupa’da, Fransõz filozof Henri Bergson’un felsefesi oldukça yoğun bir tartõşma konusu olmuştur. Henri Bergson’un felsefesinin ve bu tartõşmalarõn çõkõşõ, on dokuzuncu yüzyõlõn sonlarõnda başlayõp hõzõnõ arttõrarak devam eden ve yirminci yüzyõlõn ilk çeyreğinde doruğa ulaşan Avrupa Modernizmi ile aynõ döneme rastlamaktadõr. Yine bu dönemde, yirminci yüzyõl başlarõndan itibaren yazmaya başlayan İngiliz romancõ Dorothy Richardson bir geçiş dönemi yazarõ olarak modernist yazõn alanõnda önemli bir yer edinmiştir. Richardson’un kõrk yõl boyunca yazdõğõ romanlarõnda Henri Bergson felsefesinin etkilerinin görüldüğü çeşitli eleştirmenlerce iddia edilmiştir. Bu tez çalõşmasõnda, Dorothy Richardson’un romanlarõ Henri Bergson’un felsefesi bağlamõnda ele alõnarak, romanlarda Bergson’un felsefesinin etkilerinin görülüp görülmediği, görülüyor ise bunun romanlara ne şekilde yansõdõğõ incelenmiştir. Bunun için, öncelikle bu dönemde gözlemlenen ve yazõn alanõnda İngiltere’de Richardson’un öncülü olduğu eleştirmenlerce iddia edilen Modernizm’in ne olduğu ve nasõl ortaya çõktõğõ araştõrõlmõş, daha sonra Bergson’un felsefesi Richardson’un Pilgrimage adlõ, toplam on üç romandan oluşan roman serisinde genel olarak incelenmiştir. Son olarak da, bu felsefenin romanlara yansõyõşõnõ detaylõ olarak görebilmek için bu seri içinden seçilen Revolving Lights ve March Moonlight adlõ romanlar aynõ bağlamda detaylõ olarak incelenmiştir. Bu incelemelerin sonunda, Richardson’un ilk romanlarõnda Bergson felsefesinden etkilendiği gözlemlenirken, son romanõnda sadece bu etkiler doğrultusunda yazmayõp, bu felsefeyi açõkça ortaya koyup desteklediği görülmüştür. ABSTRACT At the beginning of the twentieth century, the philosophy of the French philosopher, Henri Bergson, has been a matter of widespread discussions. The rise of Henri Bergson’s philosophy and these discussions coincide, in terms of period, with the European Modernism, which started at the end of the nineteenth century, gaining iii force as it developed, and reached its peak during the first quarter of the twentieth century. During the same period, the English novelist Dorothy Richardson, who started writing at the beginning of the twentieth century, gained an important place in the field of Modernist literature as a writer of the transition period. It has been argued by different critics that in Richardson’s novels, which she wrote within a time span of forty years, effects of Henri Bergson’s philosophy can be observed. In this thesis, whether or not the effects of Bergson’s philosophy can be observed in Richardson’s novels, and if such effects can be observed, in what way this is reflected in the writer’s work are studied within the context of Bergson’s philosophy. For this, what Modernism, which is observed in the same period, and in the literary field of which some critics considered Richardson as the initiator in England, is and how it started has been analysed first. Afterwards, Henri Bergson’s philosophy has been studied generally in Richardson’s novel series of thirteen novels, called Pilgrimage. Finally, in order to observe thoroughly the reflection of this philosophy in the novels, two novels selected from this series, namely Revolving Lights and March Moonlight, have been studied in detail within the aforementioned context. At the end of these studies, it has been observed that while Richardson was affected by Bergson’s philosophy in the earlier novels, in her last novel, she did not only write in accordance with those ideas but also explicitly supported them. iv FOREWORD This thesis is an analysis of Dorothy Richardson’s novel series Pilgrimage within the context of Henri Bergson’s philosophy. The introduction focuses on the views on Dorothy Richardson as a Modernist writer and Henri Bergson as a philosopher whose ideas form the basis of the Modernist approach in literature during the first decades of the twentieth century. As Bergson’s ideas are a major basis for the Modernist literature and Richardson is the first English writer who applies the new ideas into her literary work, the first chapter focuses on the sources of Modernism in Europe and its reflection in literature. As well as the separate novels in the Pilgrimage series, Richardson’s novel series as a whole forms a major aspect of Richardson’s parallelism with Bergson. Therefore, the second chapter focuses on an overall analysis of Richardson’s novel series as a framework that presents the general aspects of parallelism between Richardson and Bergson. In the third chapter, Revolving Lights, the seventh novel in Richardson’s novel series is analysed in detail as to how Richardson is influenced by Bergson and how this is reflected in her work. The fourth chapter analyses Richardson’s final novel March Moonlight for its representation of Bergson’s philosophy both in technique and as the theme discussed throughout the novel. Finally, the conclusion includes the results arrived at by the analysis of Richardson’s novels in relation to Bergson’s philosophy and Modernism. I would like to thank Prof. Zeynep Ergün for her invaluable comments and support with my studies and Prof. Esra Melikoğlu and Assoc. Prof. Murat Seçkin for their overall encouragement and support. v CONTENTS Öz …………………………………………………………………….……...... iii Abstract ……………………………………………………………………....… iii Foreword ………………………………………………………………….......... v Contents ………………………………………………………………….......... vi Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 1 1. Modernism Through Europe to England …………………...……………...... 6 2. Pilgrimage and Henri Bergson: An Overall Analysis ……………………… 16 3. Revolving Lights: Midpoint in Miriam’s Duration ……...………………...… 50 4. March Moonlight: Advocation of Bergsonian Philosophy …………...……… 68 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………........ 101 Works Cited …………………………………………………………………….. 105 vi INTRODUCTION Ever since she wrote Pointed Roofs Dorothy Richardson has been referred to as the initiator of the stream of consciousness technique in England. Walter Allen, in his introduction to Pilgrimage writes, “to render current existence as reflected in the consciousness of her heroine, Miriam Henderson, was precisely the task she set herself…” (Allen, 1967: 3). According to Allen, Richardson had “the will to re- create the sense of immediate experience, the thoughts and sensations of human beings at the actual moment of living” (Allen, 1967: 3). May Sinclair refers to “the startling ‘newness’ of Miss Richardson’s method, and her form,” and states that Richardson’s form and method are perfect (Sinclair, 1979: 91-93). That Richardson is referred to as an innovator brings to mind the questions “why does she create something new? What are the motivations that push Richardson into forming a new novel technique?” The search for an answer takes us to the psychologist William James and the philosopher Henri Bergson. The ideas of these two people have been influential in the formation of the Modernist view, and Bergson has applied his theory to the field of aesthetics too. The initial point we find Richardson’s stream of consciousness technique embedded in is William James, the psychologist, and his work The Principles of Psychology. As Melvin Friedman, Walter Allen, and many other critics assert, James is the first person to use the phrase “stream of consciousness” in his work (Friedman, 1955: 74). Allen quotes James’s use of the term: Every definite image of the mind is steeped and dyed in the free water that flows round it. The significance,