The Subversion of Dualistic Thinking in Dylan Thomas's
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
ECOCENTRIC POLYPHONY: THE SUBVERSION OF DUALISTIC THINKING IN DYLAN THOMAS’S POETRY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ZÜMRÜT ALTINDAĞ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE JANUARY 2019 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Tülin Gençöz Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Sağın Şimşek Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurten Birlik Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Aytül Özüm (HACETTEPE U., IDE) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurten Birlik (METU, FLE) Asst. Prof. Dr. Dürrin Alpakın Martinez-Caro (METU, FLE) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Margaret J.M. Sönmez (METU, FLE) Asst. Prof. Dr. Serkan Ertin (KOCAELİ U., IDE) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Zümrüt Altındağ Signature : iii ABSTRACT ECOCENTRIC POLYPHONY: THE SUBVERSION OF DUALISTIC THINKING IN DYLAN THOMAS’S POETRY Altındağ, Zümrüt Ph.D., Department of English Literature Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurten Birlik January 2019, 312 pages As part of its subversion of dichotomous logic, ecocriticism draws attention to the significant function the literary works can play in the process of calling for fundamental changes in the ethical values regarding the appreciation of the ecological interconnectedness between the human and the nonhuman beings. In this respect, post-pastoral literature and ecopoetry target dichotomous logic and try to revitalise ecocentrism. This thesis argues that prior to the introduction of these two recent ecocritical frames, as part of his struggle with the crisis of representation, Dylan Thomas portrayed a polyphonic ecocentric world and composed post-pastoral and ecopoems that attack anthropocentrism by restoring the bond between man and nature, and celebrate the nonhuman and the oppressed other as speaking subjects. This study discusses how Thomas’s quest for meaning at the chaotic modernist backdrop motivated him to deconstruct man/nature, culture/nature dualities and to problematise the hegemony of time over space in the poems published in Collected Poems 1934-1953. This dissertation concludes that as a precursor of post-pastoral literature and ecopoetry, Thomas established ecocentrism as the centrepiece of both his life and works, and called for global ecological consciousness by portraying that the world is actually operating on non-hierarchical and non-anthropocentric laws that urge the ecological interconnectedness of all beings. Keywords: Ecocriticism, duality, post-pastoral literature, ecopoetry iv ÖZ EKOMERKEZLİ ÇOKSESLİLİK: DYLAN THOMAS’IN ŞİİRLERİNDE İKİLİ DÜŞÜNCE SİSTEMİNİN ÇÖKÜŞÜ Altındağ, Zümrüt Doktora, İngiliz Edebiyatı Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Nurten Birlik Ocak 2019, 311 sayfa Ekoeleştiri ikili düşünce sistemini yok etmek üzere geliştirdiği bakış açısının bir parçası olarak insan ve doğa arasındaki ekolojik bütünselliği vurgulamakta ve bu bilinci önceleyen etik değerlerin yeniden benimsenmesi sürecinde edebiyat eserlerinin oynadığı önemli role dikkat çekmektedir. Bu bağlamda, post-pastoral yazın ve ekoşiir ikili karşıtlıkları ortadan kaldırmayı ve ekomerkezci anlayışı canlandırmayı amaçlayan yakın dönemde ortaya çıkmış ekoeleştirel yönelimlerdir. Bu çalışma, Dylan Thomas’ın post-pastoral yazının ve ekoşiirin ortaya çıkışından önce, yaşamakta olduğu temsil kriziyle mücadelesinin bir parçası olarak, betimlediği ekolojik çoksesli dünyada, insanmerkezciliği eleştiren post-pastoral ve ekoşiirler yazarak, insan ve doğa arasındaki bağı yeniden kurmaya çalıştığını; insan olmayan ve ezilen öteki varlıkları konuşan özneler olarak tanımladığını ileri sürmektedir. Bu çalışma, Toplu Şiirleri 1934-1953’de yayınlanmış olan eserlerinde, yaşadığı dönemdeki epistemolojik karmaşayı ve anlamsızlığı aşma çabasının Thomas’ı nasıl insan/doğa, kültür/doğa ikiliklerinin yanı sıra zamanın uzam üzerindeki egemenliğini sorunsallaştırmaya yönelttiğini tartışmaktadır. Bu çalışma, post-pastoral ve ekoşiirin öcüsü olarak Dylan Thomas’ın ekomerkezci anlayışı, hem hayatının hem de eserlerinin temel ilkesi olarak benimsediğini ortaya koymakta ve evrensel ekolojik bilinç uyandırarak dünyanın insan merkezci ve hiyerarşik olmanın ötesinde, aslında v bütün canlıların ekolojik bağlılıklarını önceleyen kanunlar üzerine kurulu olduğunu yansıtan şiirler yazdığı sonucuna varmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Ekoeleştiri, ikilik, post-pastoral yazın, ekoşiir vi To my dear sons, Atakan & Egehan vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurten Birlik, who in this long process of thesis writing has always supported me with her encouragement, invaluable guidance and illuminating feedback on multiple drafts. It was a privilege to work with such a scholar in whose knowledge I have always had immense trust. I am grateful to the jury members Prof. Dr. Aytül Özüm and Asst. Prof. Dr. Dürrin Alpakın Martinez-Caro for their kindness, positive attitude and constructive feedback on my work. Also, I would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Margaret J.M. Sönmez and Asst. Prof. Dr. Serkan Ertin for accepting being in the examining committee and reading the dissertation. Above all, I am indebted to my husband and mother and all the other family members for their never ending love and support. I also feel indebted to all my friends and colleagues who have always been kind and supportive. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ...……………………………………………………………………iii ABSTRACT ...……………………………………………………………………...iv ÖZ ...………………………………………………………………………………....v DEDICATION ...…………………………………………………………………...vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...………………………………………………………viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...………………………………………………………...ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...………………………………………………………….1 1.1 Aim of the Study ...………………………………………………………2 1.2 Dylan Thomas in the English Literary Context ...……………………….5 1.3 Genealogy of Ecocriticism ……………………………………………..17 1.4 Nature Oriented Criticism ……………………………………………...20 1.5 Nature Oriented Literature ……………………………………………..25 2. DICHOTOMOUS LOGIC AND ITS ECOCRITICAL AND GREEN POLITICAL SUBVERSION ………………………………………….……33 2.1 Dualism as the Root Cause of the Contemporary Ecological Crisis …..33 2.2 Ecocritical Subversion of Dichotomous Logic ………………………...39 2.2.1 Man/nature Duality ………………………………….....……….40 2.2.2 The Hierarchical Codification of Culture over nature …………49 2.2.2.1 City/country Dichotomy ……………………………….55 2.2.3 The Hegemony of Time over space ……………………………59 2.3 The Green Political Challenges to Dualistic Thinking ………………...66 2.3.1 Deep Ecology ………………………………………….…….....67 2.3.2 Social Ecology ………………………………………………….68 2.3.3 The Environmental Justice Movement ………………………...70 ix 2.3.4 Ecofeminism …………………………...……………………...71 3. THE ATTACK ON MAN/NATURE DUALITY IN DYLAN THOMAS’S POETRY …………………………………………………………………...78 3.1 The Reconceptualisation of Man as Part of the Natural Ecosystem in Thomas’s Early Poetry ……………………………………………….79 3.2 Pantheism and the Revival of the Ecocentric Discourse in Thomas’s Mature Poetry ………………………………………………………..96 3.3 Ecocentric Polyphony and the Oppressed Other ……………………..122 4. THE RECOVERY OF THE BOND BETWEEN CULTURE AND NATURE IN DYLAN THOMAS’S POERTY …………………………...144 4.1 The Outcomes of the Marginalisation of the Ecocentric Discourse ….145 4.2 The Desire for Ecocentric Holism beyond Culture/nature Dichotomy ……………………………………………………………………………..169 5. THE DISSOLUTION OF THE HEGEMONY OF TIME OVER SPACE IN DYLAN THOMAS’S POETRY ………………………………………189 5.1 The Subversion of Linear Temporality and the Revitalisation of Space in Thomas’s Early Poetry …………………………………………...191 5.2. Retreat into the Ecocentric Past and the Celebration of Spatiotemporality in Thomas’s Mature Poetry ……………………..212 6. CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………….236 REFERENCES ...………………………………………………………………....247 APPENDICES A.THE LIST OF THE POEMS REFERRED TO …………………………... 260 B. CURRICULUM VITAE …………………………………………………..290 C. TURKISH SUMMARY / TÜRKÇE ÖZET .……………………………...291 D. TEZ İZİN FORMU / THESIS PERMISSION FORM ……….…………...312 x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Ecocriticism is the outcome of the endeavour to bring literature and ecology together in order to raise awareness about the environmental crisis the entire planet with all its inhabitants confronts. Determined to alter the fundamental ethical norms of human beings, ecocriticism attacks dichotomous logic along with its hierarchically codified ideology and institutions. Inspired by the holistic approach of ecology and the poststructuralist challenge to logocentrism as well as the Enlightenment project, ecocritics call for a non- hierarchical and nonanthropocentric reconceptualisation of man and nature. Although at its initial stage ecocriticism mainly targeted anthropocentrism, today, with the contributions of theories and developments in the scientific, philosophical, cultural, and political arenas, ecocriticism has evolved into a very comprehensive interdisciplinary project that challenges the exploitation of all the oppressed such as women, peoples