Abstract
Her ne kadar doğaüstü unsurlarıyla ön plana çıksa da fantastik roman doğaya da bazen gözden kaçan büyük bir önem atfeder ve bu yönüyle ekoeleştirel yaklaşımlara açık bir türdür. Fantastik romanın tür olarak gelişimi hem realist roman hem de Aydınlanma düşüncesiyle diyalektik karşıtlık üzerinden olmuştur. Akıl/doğaüstü ve realizm/doğaüstü olarak tanımlanabilecek bu ikili karşıtlıklarda aslında doğaüstünün yanına, denklemin aynı tarafına doğayı da eklemek mümkündür, çünkü Batı düşüncesinde akıl/doğa veya kültür/doğa ikili karşıtlığı da önemli bir yere sahiptir. Realist roman ise merkezine sosyal çevreyi almış, doğayı arka plana atmıştır. Bu ikili karşıtlıkta realist roman ana akım bir edebiyat türü olarak kabul görürken fantastik roman popüler edebiyat kategorisinde algılana gelmiştir. Her ne kadar yirminci yüzyılın ortalarından itibaren değişmeye başlamış olsa da Fredric Jameson gibi çağdaş bir eleştirmen dahi bir yandan bilimkurgu ve ütopya türlerinin insanlığa geç kapitalizmin her alanı saran gerçekliğinin dışında farklı politik alternatifler hayal edebilme alanı sunduğunu savunurken, fantastik romanı regresif olarak nitelendirip bir kenara itmiştir. Bu makale fantastik romanın bir yandan gerçekliği ve onun kaçınılmaz olduğu varsayımını yıkıp kışkırtıcı hayallerin önünü açarken, bir yandan da insani olmayanın asli olabildiği dünyalar sunduğunu öne sürmektedir. Dolayısıyla fantastik romanın alternatif, daha çevreci yaşam şekilleri yaratma ve esinlendirme konusunda eşsiz bir potansiyeli vardır. Bu potansiyeli gören Tolkien ve Le Guin, bunu hem teorik yazılarında tartışmış hem de fantastik romanlarında uygulamışlardır. Bu makale her iki yazarın teorik argümanlarını ve Tolkien’ın Yüzüklerin Efendisi serisindeki ekoeleştirel yaklaşımları ortaya koyarak ve bunu Jameson’ın ütopya ile ilgili teorileri ışığında yorumlayarak fantastik romanın ekoeleştirel potansiyelini öne sürüyor.
References
- Blake, W. (2008). The complete poetry and prose of William Blake. Berkeley: University of California Press. (Original work published 1790)
- Brawley, C. (2014) Nature and the numinous in mythopoeic fantasy literature. North Carolina: McFarland.
- Clark, T. (2011). The Cambridge introduction to literature and the environment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Coleridge, S. T. (2018). Biographia literaria. Loschberg: Jazzybee Verlag. (Original work published 1817)
- Curry, Patrick. (2004). Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien, myth and modernity. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- Dickerson, M. T. and Evans, J. (2006). Ents, elves, and Eriador: The environmental vision of J.R.R. Tolkien. Kentucky: Kentucky University Press.
- Garrard, G. (2004). Ecocriticism: The new critical idiom. Oxfordshire: Routledge.
- Glotfelty, C. (1996). Literary studies in an age of environmental crisis. C. Glotfelty & H. Fromm (Eds.), The ecocriticism reader: Landmarks in literary ecology. Athens & London: University of Georgia Press.
- Jameson, F. (2005). Archeologies of the future: the desire called utopia and other science fictions. London and New York: Verso.
- Jameson, F. (2010). Utopia as method, or the uses of the future. M. Gordin, H. Tilley, & G. Prakash (Eds.), Utopia/Dystopia: conditions of historical possibility. (pp. 21-44). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Le Guin, U. (2007). The critics, the monsters, and the fantasists. The Wordsworth Circle, 38 (1-2), 83-87. doi: 10.1086/twc24043962
- Lioi, A. (2016). Nerd ecology: Defending the world with unpopular culture. London: Bloomsbury.
- Manes, C. (1996). Nature and silence. C. Glotfelty & H. Fromm (Eds.), The ecocriticism reader: landmarks in literary ecology. Athens & London: University of Georgia Press.
- Moylan, T. (1986). Demand the impossible: Science fiction and the utopian imagination. New York: Methuen.
- Niiler, L. (1999). Green reading: Tolkien, Leopold and the land ethic. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 10 (3), 276-285. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43308393
- Sanders, S. R. (1996). Speaking a word for nature. C. Glotfelty & H. Fromm (Eds.), The ecocriticism reader: Landmarks in literary ecology. Athens & London: University of Georgia Press.
- Shelley, P. B. (2017). A defense of poetry. Boston: Ginn & Company. (Original work published 1840)
- Stableford, B. (2009). The A to Z of fantasy literature. Lanham: Scarecrow.
- Tolkien, J. R. R. (1999a). The fellowship of the ring. London: HarperCollins. (Original work published 1954)
- Tolkien, J. R. R. (1999b). The two towers. London: HarperCollins. (Original work published 1954)
- Tolkien, J. R. R. (2012). The return of the king. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (Original work published 1955)
- Tolkien, J. R. R. (2014). Tolkien on fairy-stories. V. Flieger & D. A. Anderson (Eds.). London: HarperCollins. (Originally delivered as a lecture in 1939).
- Watt, I. (1957). The rise of the novel. Middlesex: Penguin Books.
Abstract
Despite being prominently associated with its supernatural qualities, nature also features prominently in fantasy fiction, an aspect of the genre that is often overlooked. Fantasy fiction developed as a genre in dialectical opposition to the Enlightenment and the realist novel, based on the binary oppositions of reason/supernatural and realism/supernatural. It is possible to add nature next to supernatural on the same side of these oppositions since reason/nature or culture/nature is another binary opposition that is fundamental to Western thought. Moreover, the realist novel dealt primarily with the urban environment relegating nature to the background. In this binary opposition, the realist novel was taken as mainstream, while fantasy fiction was viewed as popular literature. Although this changed after the mid-twentieth century, even a recent critic like Jameson, who argues for the importance of science fiction and utopia in creating a space for humanity to imagine different political alternatives to the all-encompassing late capitalism, dismisses fantasy fiction as regressive. In fact, fantasy fiction offers alternative, non-anthropocentric visions of the world. Not only does it disrupt reality and its assumed inevitability, providing an opportunity for subversive imagining, it portrays a world in which the non-human is essential. Thus, it has a unique potential for creating and inspiring more environmental ways of life. Tolkien and Le Guin both saw this potential and this paper discusses their theoretical arguments as well as Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings in terms of their ecocritical approach, connecting this with Jameson’s ideas on utopian space to put forward the ecocritical potential of fantasy fiction.
References
- Blake, W. (2008). The complete poetry and prose of William Blake. Berkeley: University of California Press. (Original work published 1790)
- Brawley, C. (2014) Nature and the numinous in mythopoeic fantasy literature. North Carolina: McFarland.
- Clark, T. (2011). The Cambridge introduction to literature and the environment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Coleridge, S. T. (2018). Biographia literaria. Loschberg: Jazzybee Verlag. (Original work published 1817)
- Curry, Patrick. (2004). Defending Middle-Earth: Tolkien, myth and modernity. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- Dickerson, M. T. and Evans, J. (2006). Ents, elves, and Eriador: The environmental vision of J.R.R. Tolkien. Kentucky: Kentucky University Press.
- Garrard, G. (2004). Ecocriticism: The new critical idiom. Oxfordshire: Routledge.
- Glotfelty, C. (1996). Literary studies in an age of environmental crisis. C. Glotfelty & H. Fromm (Eds.), The ecocriticism reader: Landmarks in literary ecology. Athens & London: University of Georgia Press.
- Jameson, F. (2005). Archeologies of the future: the desire called utopia and other science fictions. London and New York: Verso.
- Jameson, F. (2010). Utopia as method, or the uses of the future. M. Gordin, H. Tilley, & G. Prakash (Eds.), Utopia/Dystopia: conditions of historical possibility. (pp. 21-44). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Le Guin, U. (2007). The critics, the monsters, and the fantasists. The Wordsworth Circle, 38 (1-2), 83-87. doi: 10.1086/twc24043962
- Lioi, A. (2016). Nerd ecology: Defending the world with unpopular culture. London: Bloomsbury.
- Manes, C. (1996). Nature and silence. C. Glotfelty & H. Fromm (Eds.), The ecocriticism reader: landmarks in literary ecology. Athens & London: University of Georgia Press.
- Moylan, T. (1986). Demand the impossible: Science fiction and the utopian imagination. New York: Methuen.
- Niiler, L. (1999). Green reading: Tolkien, Leopold and the land ethic. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 10 (3), 276-285. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43308393
- Sanders, S. R. (1996). Speaking a word for nature. C. Glotfelty & H. Fromm (Eds.), The ecocriticism reader: Landmarks in literary ecology. Athens & London: University of Georgia Press.
- Shelley, P. B. (2017). A defense of poetry. Boston: Ginn & Company. (Original work published 1840)
- Stableford, B. (2009). The A to Z of fantasy literature. Lanham: Scarecrow.
- Tolkien, J. R. R. (1999a). The fellowship of the ring. London: HarperCollins. (Original work published 1954)
- Tolkien, J. R. R. (1999b). The two towers. London: HarperCollins. (Original work published 1954)
- Tolkien, J. R. R. (2012). The return of the king. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (Original work published 1955)
- Tolkien, J. R. R. (2014). Tolkien on fairy-stories. V. Flieger & D. A. Anderson (Eds.). London: HarperCollins. (Originally delivered as a lecture in 1939).
- Watt, I. (1957). The rise of the novel. Middlesex: Penguin Books.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Creative Arts and Writing |
| Journal Section | English Language and Literature |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | July 29, 2021 |
| Submission Date | December 20, 2020 |
| Acceptance Date | May 26, 2021 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2021 |