The Rebuplic of Turkey Suleyman Demirel University Faculty of Arts and Sciences Western Languages and Literature Department of English Language and Literature
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THE REBUPLIC OF TURKEY SULEYMAN DEMIREL UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES WESTERN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Metafictional Aspects in Federman’s To Whom It May Concern and Winterson’s Boating For Beginners Layth Taher Tawfeeq 1330224059 MA DEGREE Thesis Advisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer ŞEKERCİ ISPARTA – 2016 T.C SÜLEYMAN DEMİREL ÜNİVERSİTESİ FEN VE EDEBİYAT FAKÜLTESİ BATI DİLLERİ VE EDEBİYATI BÖLÜMÜ Federman’ın “To Whom It May Concern” ve Winterson’ın “Boating for Beginners” adlı Eserlerindeki Üstkurgu Layth Taher Tawfeeq 1330224059 YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ Danışman Doç. Dr. ÖMER ŞEKERCİ ISPARTA – 2016 i ii ÖZET Federman’ın “To Whom It May Concern” ve Winterson’ın “Boating for Beginners” adlı Eserlerindeki Üstkurgu Layth Taher Tawfeeq Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi, Batı Dilleri ve Edebiyatı Bölümü Yüksek Lisans Tezi, 2016 Danışman: Doç. Dr. Ömer ŞEKERCİ Bu çalışma, Federman’ın “To Whom It May Concern” ve Winterson’ın “Boating For Beginners” adlı eserlerindeki üstkurguyu ele almaktadır. Federman’ın eseri İkinci Dünya Savaşının dehşetini ortaya koymaktadır. Federman’nın eserinde çok özel ve seçkin tarzıyla kulanmış olduğu üstkurgu unsurları eseri çok etkili ve olağanüstü kılmaktadır. Federman’nın eserinde kullanmış olduğu üstkurgusal unsurlar eserin anlamını ve önemini daha da derinleştirmektedir. Winterson’ın “Boating for Beginners” adlı eseri öyküsünü İncil’e dayandırmaktadır. Winterson eserinde yapıbozuculuk unsurları da kullanarak Hıristiyanlığı’n yanlışlarını ve maskaralıklarını parodisel bir üslupla ele almaktadır. Winterson, Hıristiyanlık dininde görmüş olduğu yanlışlara, ve yanlış öğretilere sert bir şekilde saldırmaktadır. Winterson’ın bu eserinde yapmaya çalıştığı şey Hırisitiyanlıkta görmüş olduğu eksiklikleri düzeltmektir. Bu çalışmada, her iki eserdeki üstkurgusal unsurları ele aldık. ANAHTAR KELİMELER: Üstkurgu, Federman, Winterson, İkinci Dünya Savaşı, İncil iii Metafictional Aspects in Federman’s To Whom It May Concern and Winterson’s Boating for Beginners Layth Taher Tawfeeq Suleyman Demirel University, Institute of Social Sciences Department of English Language and Literature 2016 Advisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer ŞEKERCİ ABSTRACT This study deals with two works: Federman’s To Whom It May Concern and Winterson’s Boating for Beginners. Federman’s story reflects the horrors of the Second World War. The way how Federman uses the postmodern elements in his work with an elegant and unique approach which makes his work one of the most influential with an extraordinary treatment of metafictional aspects. Federman’s uses of metafictional elements in his work broaden the story’s unlimited horizon and unbounded meaning. Winterson’s Boating for Beginners is based on the Bible. She utilizes elements like deconstruction, parody, and playfulness to attack the wrong Christian perceptions. She harshly attacks those miscomprehended concepts and teachings mentioned in the Bible. What she is trying to do is to fulfill what is left missing in the Bible. We have tried to exhibit the metafictional elements used in both works. Keywords: Metafiction, Federman, Winterson, the Second World War, Bible iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research project would not have been possible without the support of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Omer ŞEKERCİ for his support, guidance, effort, and immense knowledge, he has been more than a teacher, a dear friend responsible, patient, motivated. His guidance helped me all the time in research and writing of this thesis. I could not imagine having a better advisor and mentor for my MA Study than him. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Beture Memmedova for her care and motherhood spirit and immense knowledge which inspired me to go on with the novel. I can not express how thankful I am and blessed to meet Assist. Prof. Dr. Sule Ozun who helped and encouraged me to write this topic, her lessons were of a great influence on me, her presence was a joy and inspiration. I would also like to add my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Hüseyinağa Razayev for his careful attention and generous help. I would like to thank Yrd Doc. Dr. Mustafa Caner for his precious time and bearing the trouble of traveling to Isparta. I can not forget to thank my family for their never-ending support and patience. My wife and my parents, my dear uncle, who bear the heavy work, following my progress all the time. Special thanks go to my Turkish friends for their help and support, Ayse, Ertan, Pinar, Suzan, Ilker and others whom I am honored to know. I also would like to thank the department for providing such an academic staff who are glowing sparks enlighten us all the way. v TABLE OF CONTENTS TEZ SAVUNMA SINAV TUTANAĞI ......................................................................................... i YEMİN METNİ ............................................................................................................................. ii ÖZET ............................................................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..............................................................................................................v TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. vi CHAPTER I 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................1 Aim of the Study ......................................................................................................................4 The Significance of the Study ..................................................................................................4 The Scope of the Study.............................................................................................................4 Methodology.............................................................................................................................5 The Review of Literature..........................................................................................................5 Limitations ................................................................................................................................6 1.2. Introduction to Metafiction ..................................................................................................7 1.3. Historical Development Postmodernism ............................................................................10 1.4. Use of Metafiction and Leading Figures ............................................................................15 1.5. Novel and Metafiction ........................................................................................................25 1.6. Metafiction in Winterson’s Works .....................................................................................28 1.7. Metafiction in Federman’s Works ......................................................................................33 CHAPTER II 2.1. Winerson’s Boating for Beginners .....................................................................................39 2.2. Federman’s To Whom It May Concern ..............................................................................49 2.3. Similarities and Differences ...............................................................................................57 2.4. Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................63 BİBİLİOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................65 CV .................................................................................................................................................71 vi CHAPTER I 1.1. Introduction We know the genre of novels through certain features which are known to every student of literature. The characters, organization of the novel, theme, plot, the end which is usually sad or happy, but since the 20th century, rapid changes started to overlap this form of literature.1 Experimental types of novels can be seen with modernism, which had some common features with our new form which started by nearly mid-20th century with postmodern fiction, new aspects developed and put in practice, new concepts of reality and history embodied through 2 metafiction and historiographic metafiction, parody, playfulness. The main reason for choosing to write about such a subject is because of its uniqueness, and because it’s the first of its kind in the academic field in Iraq. Metafiction and all the forms that are floating around set a whole new world of thinking, new ideas, mind provoking, and thinking out of the box. This subject will not only show metafictional aspects of both novels, but I will go through metafiction in general and what is related to it, how it was developed throughout history. The most important leading figures like Gass, who coined the term and other theorists like Derrida, Hutcheon, Barth and Federman who contributed to develop this new form, which will be explained in each part of this thesis. The thesis will be in two chapters. Each chapter contains several parts as it is shown in the content. Chapter one will be an introductory chapter which will give an overview