Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets
Yıl: 2020 Cilt: 26 Sayı: 103 Sayfa Aralığı: 621 - 632 Metin Dili: İngilizce DOI: 10.22559/folklor.1184 İndeks Tarihi: 06-09-2022
Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets
Öz: This study aims to examine the role of women’s bodies in two of the contemporary Canadian playwright Judith Thompson’s plays, The Crackwalker (1981) and Lion in the Streets (1992), from the perspective of the radical feminism, in particular, that of Kate Millet and Shulamith Firestone. Radical feminists advocate that the unfair distribution of social roles among men and women stems from biological differences and the oppressive nature of the patriarchal system. It is from this very perspective that Thompson, who has left a lasting impression on Canadian theatre with her influential avant-garde style, explores in both The Crackwalker and the highly successful Lion in the Streets the relationship between women and men within the patriarchal system. In these two-act plays, Thompson also lays bare, with her contemporary style, the manner in which women are positioned in the patriarchal society. In The Crackwalker, the themes of marriage, sexuality, and friendship are interwoven around the main characters, i.e. Theresa, Alan, Sandy, and Joe. Following their marriage, Alan’s wish to have children makes Theresa feel obliged to give birth to his child. Sandy, on the other hand, suffers her husband Joe’s horrific verbal and physical violence. The second of the two plays, Lion in the Streets, opens with the apparition of the ghost of Isobel, a little girl who was abused and then murdered, and proceeds with a chain of outwardly independent events. Thompson, who masterfully knits up the beginning and end of the play, confronts her audience once again with the oppression that women have to endure in patriarchal societies. Throughout the play, women are sexually assaulted and belittled by men motivated solely by the desire to satisfy themselves. In neither play does Thompson make room for a picture-perfect married life. Quite on the contrary, Thompson goes as far as to portray how the institution of marriage in the patriarchal system, to one extent or another, eats away at women’s bodies to the point that they are slowly worn out and destroyed.
Anahtar Kelime: Radikal Feminist İzler: Judith Thompson’ın The Crackwalker ve Lion in the Streets Oyunları
Öz: Bu araştırmanın amacı çağdaş Kanadalı oyun yazarlarından Judith Thompson’nın The Crackwalker (1981) ve Lion in the Streets (1992) isimli oyunlarındaki kadın bedenlerini, başta Kate Millett ve Shulamith Firestone’unki olmak üzere radikal feminist bakış açısıyla incelemektir. Radikal feminizm, toplumsal rollerin kadınlar ve erkekler arasında adaletsizce dağıtılmasının temelinde kadın ve erkeğin biyolojik farklılıkları ile ataerkil sistemin baskısının yattığını ileri sürer. Öncü ve yenilikçi tarzıyla günümüz Kanada tiyatrosuna damgasını vuran Thompson, söz konusu iki oyununda erkek egemen sistem içerisinde kadın ve erkek ilişkilerini işte bu bakış açısıyla ele alır. Thompson, her ikisi de ikişer sahneden oluşan The Crakwalker ile büyük yankı uyandıran Lion in the Streets’de ataerkil sistemin kadını nasıl konumlandırdığını çağdaş üslubu ile ortaya koyar. The Crackwalker, Theresa-Alan ve Sandy-Joe çiftleri üzerinden aşk, evlilik, cinsellik ve arkadaşlık gibi temalara yoğunlaşır. Theresa, kocası Alan çocuk istediği için çocuk doğurmaya mecbur olur. Joe ile evli olan Sandy ise defalarca Joe’nun kaba sözlerine ve korkunç fiziksel şiddetine maruz kalır. Lion in the Streets ise cinsel taciz sonrasında öldürülen Isobel isimli küçük bir kızın hayaletinin belirmesi ile başlar ve ilk bakışta birbirinden bağımsız görünen bir olaylar silsilesi ile devam eder. Oyunun başını ve sonunu ustalıkla birbirine bağlayan Thompson, Lion in the Streets’de seyircisini erkek egemen toplumda yaşayan kadınların katlanmak zorunda kaldıkları baskı ile yüz yüze getirir. Oyun boyunca kadın karakterlerin defalarca cinsel tacize maruz kaldıkları ve erkeklerin kendi bireysel tatminleri için onlara hakaret ettikleri görülür. Her iki oyunda da evlilik bir mutluluk tablosu olarak tasvir edilmez. Aksine, Thompson, ataerkil yapı içerisinde varlık mücadelesi veren kadınların vücutlarının, evlilik kurumu içerisinde nasıl ezildiğini ve yavaş yavaş tükendiğini anlatır.
Anahtar Kelime: Belge Türü: Makale Makale Türü: Araştırma Makalesi Erişim Türü: Erişime Açık
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| APA | Bagirlar B (2020). Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets. , 621 - 632. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| Chicago | Bagirlar Belgin Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets. (2020): 621 - 632. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| MLA | Bagirlar Belgin Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets. , 2020, ss.621 - 632. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| AMA | Bagirlar B Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets. . 2020; 621 - 632. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| Vancouver | Bagirlar B Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets. . 2020; 621 - 632. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| IEEE | Bagirlar B "Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets." , ss.621 - 632, 2020. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| ISNAD | Bagirlar, Belgin. "Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets". (2020), 621-632. https://doi.org/10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| APA | Bagirlar B (2020). Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets. Folklor/Edebiyat, 26(103), 621 - 632. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| Chicago | Bagirlar Belgin Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets. Folklor/Edebiyat 26, no.103 (2020): 621 - 632. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| MLA | Bagirlar Belgin Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets. Folklor/Edebiyat, vol.26, no.103, 2020, ss.621 - 632. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| AMA | Bagirlar B Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets. Folklor/Edebiyat. 2020; 26(103): 621 - 632. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| Vancouver | Bagirlar B Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets. Folklor/Edebiyat. 2020; 26(103): 621 - 632. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| IEEE | Bagirlar B "Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets." Folklor/Edebiyat, 26, ss.621 - 632, 2020. 10.22559/folklor.1184 |
| ISNAD | Bagirlar, Belgin. "Radical Feminist Echoes: Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker and Lion in the Streets". Folklor/Edebiyat 26/103 (2020), 621-632. https://doi.org/10.22559/folklor.1184 |
