CONSTRUCTING AND DECONSTRUCTING CHIVALRIC ROMANCE AND MODERN FANTASY LITERATURE A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY TUĞÇE ÇANKAYA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE DECEMBER 2015 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurten Birlik 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. Asst. Prof. Dürrin Alpakın Martinez-Caro Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nazan Tutaş (Ankara Uni, DTCF) Assist. Prof. Dr. Dürrin Alpakin Martinez-Caro (METU, FLE) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurten Birlik (METU, FLE) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurdan Gürbüz (METU, FLE) Assist. Prof. Dr. Kuğu Tekin (Atılım Uni, FEF) 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 : Tuğçe Çankaya Signature : iii ABSTRACT CONSTRUCTING AND DECONSTRUCTING CHIVALRIC ROMANCE AND MODERN FANTASY LITERATURE Çankaya, Tuğçe Ph.D., Department of English Literature Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dürrin Alpakin Martinez-Caro December 2015, 260 pages Although generic, psychoanalytic and postcolonial approaches differ in nature, each of them might be helpful in revealing the strong affinity between chivalric romance and modern fantasy. In the light of generic analysis of these two genres, it is apparent that modern fantasy is the generic revival of the chivalric romance. Among these generic features, the quest motif, adventures to the other worlds, imaginary characters/settings and the battle between light and darkness, circular plot pattern and anachronism, highlight a substantial common point between these genres: the quest for “I”. This quest for “I” also prepares the ground to analyse these texts from Lacanian and Saidian vantage points: Subjectivity (in Lacanian epistemology) and configuration of national markers (in Saidian frame) display itself clearly in Sir Perceval of Galles (on a subjective level) and Guy of Warwick (on a social level) as chivalric romances and Belgariad (on both levels) as modern fantasy. Thus, the intertextuality between these two genres is laid bare even more strikingly within these theoretical perspectives. Keywords: Intertextuality, generic, psychoanalytic, postcolonial, quest iv ÖZ ŞÖVALYE ROMANSI VE MODERN FANTASTİK EDEBİYATIN YAPISALCI VE YAPIBOZUCU ÇÖZÜMLEMESİ Çankaya, Tuğçe Doktora, Yabancı Diller Eğitim Fakültesi Bölümü – İngiliz Edebiyatı Tez Yöneticisi : Yrd. Doç. Dürrin Alpakin Martinez-Caro Aralık 2015, 260 sayfa Her ne kadar türsel, psikanalitik ve sömürgecilik sonrası yaklaşımlar temelde çok farklı olsalar da, her biri ortaçağ şövalye romansı ve modern fantezi türleri arasındaki güçlü bağı göstermede yardımcı olabilir. Bu iki türün türsel analizi ışığında görülüyor ki, modern fantezi, ortaçağ romansının yeniden doğuşudur. Bu ortak türsel elementler içinde, arayış motifi, başka dünyalara yolculuklar, hayali kahramanlar ve dünyalar, aydınlıkla karanlığın mücadelesi, döngüsel olay örgüsü ve çağaşım tekniği, iki tür arasındaki önemli bir ortak özelliğe dikkat çekmektedir: Kimlik arayışı. Bu kimlik arayışı da, metinlerin Lacancı ve Saidci bakış açılarından incelenmesine zemin hazırlamaktadır: Öznellik (Lacancı epistemolojide) ve ulusal belirleyicilerin biçimlendirilmesi (Saidci çerçevede) şövalye romansları, Sir Perceval of Galles (öznel bağlamda) ve Guy of Warwick’de (sosyal bağlamda), ve modern fantezi yapıtı, Belgariad’da (her iki bağlamda) açıkça görülmektedir. Böylece, bu iki tür arasındaki metinlerarasılık, bu kuramsal bakış açılarının çerçevesinde, daha da çarpıcı bir şekilde açıkça ortaya konulmaktadır. Anahtar sözcükler: Metinlerarasılık, türsel, psikoanalitik, postkolonyal, arayış v For the whole who makes me whole vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “No man is an island, entire of itself”, said John Donne. And no individual work has been achieved individually. In this process, I would like to thank my supervisor, Assist. Prof. Dr. Dürrin Alpakın Martinez-Caro for her guidance, throughout the research. Many thanks to the jury members, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nazan Tutaş, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurdan Gürbüz, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurten Birlik and Assist. Prof. Dr. Kuğu Tekin for their feedback and advice. I would also like to express my gratitude to TÜBİTAK for supporting this research and giving me the opportunity to carry out my research in England. And of course, I cannot forget Prof. Dr. David Rudd, who has helped me with the process with his encouragement and motivation. I also thank him for his efforts to provide every single academic opportunity for me to carry out my research, for his positive feedback, and insight that has enriched my vision in the field. Many thanks to the staff in the University of Bolton for their encouraging and welcoming attitude. I would like to express my gratitude to my family for their support and tolerance during this difficult process. Sincere thanks to Richard Simpson for his proofreading as well as for his encouragement and patience during my studies. I thank so much for Prof.Dr. Türkmen Derdiyok for his support and encouragement. And thanks to Mustafa Çalı, Dr. Aslı Açan and Tuğçe Tekçe for their help and motivation throughout the research. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ...................................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... iv ÖZ .......................................................................................................................................... v DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................1 1.1 Aim and Methodology of the Study ........................................................................1 1.2 Romance and Fantasy Reality on a Subjective and Social level ...........................4 1.3 Conclusion .................................................................................................................19 2. AN INTERGENERIC RELATION BETWEEN CHIVALRIC ROMANCE AND HIGH FANTASY ...........................................................................................................21 2.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................21 2.2 A Pluralistic Approach to the Concept of the Genre ..........................................22 2.3 A Brief Background to Fantasy as a Genre ..........................................................27 2.4 A Brief Background to Romance as a Genre ........................................................42 2.5 Romance Elements in Eddings’s Belgariad as a High Fantasy ...........................52 2.6 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................66 3. EPIC JOURNEYS LEADING TO A PSYCHIC QUEST: LACANIAN ‘OTHER’ ...72 3.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................72 3.2 Introduction to Lacanian Other ..............................................................................73 3.2.1 Lacanian Epistemology: Language, Desire and Lack ....................................74 3.3 Garion’s Subjection to the ‘Other’ in Belgariad .....................................................82 3.3.1 Imaginary: The Motherly and Fatherly Figures .............................................84 viii 3.3.2 Motherly Space (Plenitude) and Fatherly Place (Lack) ............................. 88 3.3.3 Alienation from the (m) other, So-called Mastery over Language (Other) ........................................................................................................... 94 3.3.4 From Words Back to Imagos: Backward Journey to the Imaginary .. 100 3.3.5 Desire for the (m)other: Object of Desire(s) ........................................... 104 3.3.6 The East as Nonlinear (Motherly Dark) and The West as Linear (Fatherly Light) ........................................................................................... 112 3.4 Sir Perceval’s Journey towards the Other in Sir Perceval of Galles ............ 131 3.4.1 From Woods to the Court, from Acheflour to Arthur, From Maidenland to Holyland in Perceval’s Quest for Identity ................ 133 3.5 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 147 4. FROM LACANIAN ‘OTHER’ TO SAIDIAN ‘OTHER’ ................................. 152 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................