Abstract
Amerikan rüyası özellikle modern Amerikan edebiyatında en çok çalışılmış konulardan biridir. Özellikle modern Amerikan edebiyatı söz konusu olduğunda, F. Scott Fitzgerald ve Muhteşem Gatsby bu çalışmaların dışında tutulamaz. Elbette Muhteşem Gatsby üzerine pek çok makale ve tartışmalar mevcuttur ve daha fazlalısı da olacaktır. Fakat, bu çalışmayı diğerlerinden farklı kılan şey, Gatsby’nin Amerikan rüyasının, antik Yunan kahramanlarından ilham alınan bir meta-meme olarak, post-postmodernist açıdan ele alınmasıdır. Bu makale, özellikle Gatsby’nin, bir ayağı geçmişte diğer ayağı gelecekte olan, zamanlar ötesi bir kahraman oluşunu göstermeye çalışacaktır. Kimisi Herakles adıyla, kimisi Odisseus adıyla, kimileri de Bruce Wayne adıyla Gatsby’yi keşfedecektir. Gatsby’nin varlığının temsil ettiği anlam herhangi bir toplum üzerinde sonsuz bir etki yarattığı için, Gatsby belirli bir zamanla sınırlandırılamaz. Bir başka deyişle, Gatsby’nin ‘yaydığı’ veya yansıttığı meta-meme, insanın varoluşundan beri arzuladığı şeydir: Güç. Kimisi bunu bir Amerikan rüyası veya multimilyonerin rüyası olarak adlandırabilir; kimisi de bir solipsistin rüyası olarak görebilir. Fakat bu, bir şekilde Rüya Tanrısı Morpheus’un bize ulaştırmayı sürdüreceği bir rüyadır. Bazen bir kâbus olabilmesine rağmen, rüya imgesi her zaman aynı kalacaktır. Bu nedenle bu çalışma, Amerikan rüyasının, 21. yüzyılın şafağında meta-memeler ile varlığını daha da güçlü sürdürmekte olduğunu, karşılaştırmalı tarih, edebi teori, mitoloji ve edebiyat aracılığı ile ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır.
References
- Beuka, R. (2011). American icon: Fitzgeralds “The great Gatsby” in critical and cultural context. Rochester, NY: Camden House.
- Bloom, H. (2006). F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The great Gatsby. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers.
- Campbell, J. (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- Campbell, J. (1990). The Hero's Joumey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. Ed. Phil Cousineau &Stuart Brown. San Francisco: Harper.
- Cantor, Paul A. (2019). The Macbeth of Meth: Breaking Bad and the Tragedy of Walterwhite. In Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream Con Men, Gangsters,
- Drug Lords, and Zombies. The USA: University Press of Kentucky.
- Cullen, J. (2003). The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Curnutt, K. (2009). All That Jazz: Defining Modernity and Milieu in The Great Gatsby. Edited by Jackson R. Bryer and Nancy P. Van Arsdale. In Approaches to Teaching
- Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” New York: MLA Press.
- Daier I. A. S., Ibrahim, A. M. I. (2017). The American Dream Corruption in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research. 5(4), 344–348.
- Dubey, M. (2011). Post-Postmodern Realism?. Twentieth Century Literature, Postmodernism, Then. Vol. 57, No. 3/4, 364-371, (Duke University Press, Fall/Winter, 2011).
- Fitzgerald, F. Scott. (1993). The Great Gatsby. Wordsworth Classics.
- Frye, N. (1925). The Double Vision. E-text: http://northropfrye-thedoublevision.blogspot.com.tr/
- Grice, Keiron Le. (2016). Archetypal Reflections Insights and Ideas from Jungian Psychology. London: Muswell Hill Press.
- Jillson, C. (2016). The Ambiguity of the Dream in American History. In The American Dream Chapter In History, Politics, and Fiction. University Press of Kansas.
- Jung, C. G. (1975). The Collected Works of C. G. Jung: Structure and dynamics of the psyche. Princeton Univesity Press.
- McLaughlin, R. L. (2004). Post-Postmodern Discontent: Contemporary Fiction and the Social World. Symplokē. Vol. 12, No. 1/2, Fiction's Present, pp. 53-68. (University of Nebraska Press).
- Nealon, J, (2012). Post-postmodernism: or, the Cultural Logic of just-in-time Capitalism. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
- Robinson, M. A. (2018). Thirst For The American Dream: The Lost City Of Flint,” Michigan Sociological Review. Vol. 32 (Fall 2018): 170-186. (Published by: Michigan Sociological Association)
- Rowe, Joyce A. (1988). Equivocal Endings in Classic American Novels. Cambridge University Press.
- Salma, V. K. (Fall 2009). Understanding Post-Postmodernism. Muğla Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi (İLKE), no 23.
- Samuel, Lawrence R. (2012). The Epic of America. In The American Dream, A Cultural History. Syracuse University Press.
- Sirak, G. (2017). The American Dream, Revisited: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Results. New York Melbourne:Nashville Publishing.
- Skandalis, A, John Byrom, Emma Banister. (2014). Paradox, Tribalism, and the Transitional Consumption Experience In Light of Post-postmodernism. European Journal of
- Marketing. Vol. 50 No. 7/8, 2016: 1308-1325. (Emerald Group Publishing Limited). DOI 10.1108/EJM-12-2014-0775.
- Wilson, Greg, R. W. (2017). The Technical Communicator as (Post-Postmodern) Discourse Worker. Journal of Business and Technical Communication. Vol. 31(1), 3-29. DOI: 10.1177/1050651916667531
AN ARCHETYPAL APPROACH TOWARDS THE GREAT GATSBY: THE TRANSFORMATIONAL AMERICAN DREAM THROUGH META-MEME IN THE GREAT GATSBY
Abstract
The American dream is one of the most studied subjects, especially in modern American literature. Remarkably when it comes to modern American literature, F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby cannot be omitted from these studies. It is true that there are many articles and debates on The Great Gatsby, and there will be more. Nevertheless, what makes this study somewhat diverse is that Gatsby’s American dream can be reckoned as a meta-meme inspired by the ancient Greek heroes in a post-postmodernist way. The article will particularly try to show that Gatsby is a timeless hero whose one foot in the past and the other in the future. Some may find Gatsby under the name of Hercules, some under the name Odysseus, and some under the name Bruce Wayne. Gatsby cannot be limited within a limited period since the connotations that his existence stand for create an everlasting effect on any human society. That is to say, the meta-meme, which Gatsby ‘radiates’ or reflects is the thing what humankind have craved for since they existed: Power. Some may call it the American dream or the multimillionaire’s dream; some may call it a solipsist’s dream. This dream, however, one way or another, is a dream that Morpheus, the Dream God, will continue to bring to us. Although it can sometimes be a nightmare, the silhouette of the dream will always remain the same. Therefore, through a comparative study of history, literary theory, mythology and literature, this article intends to show that the American Dream persists even stronger through meta-memes at the dawn of twenty-first century.
References
- Beuka, R. (2011). American icon: Fitzgeralds “The great Gatsby” in critical and cultural context. Rochester, NY: Camden House.
- Bloom, H. (2006). F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The great Gatsby. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers.
- Campbell, J. (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- Campbell, J. (1990). The Hero's Joumey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. Ed. Phil Cousineau &Stuart Brown. San Francisco: Harper.
- Cantor, Paul A. (2019). The Macbeth of Meth: Breaking Bad and the Tragedy of Walterwhite. In Pop Culture and the Dark Side of the American Dream Con Men, Gangsters,
- Drug Lords, and Zombies. The USA: University Press of Kentucky.
- Cullen, J. (2003). The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Curnutt, K. (2009). All That Jazz: Defining Modernity and Milieu in The Great Gatsby. Edited by Jackson R. Bryer and Nancy P. Van Arsdale. In Approaches to Teaching
- Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” New York: MLA Press.
- Daier I. A. S., Ibrahim, A. M. I. (2017). The American Dream Corruption in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research. 5(4), 344–348.
- Dubey, M. (2011). Post-Postmodern Realism?. Twentieth Century Literature, Postmodernism, Then. Vol. 57, No. 3/4, 364-371, (Duke University Press, Fall/Winter, 2011).
- Fitzgerald, F. Scott. (1993). The Great Gatsby. Wordsworth Classics.
- Frye, N. (1925). The Double Vision. E-text: http://northropfrye-thedoublevision.blogspot.com.tr/
- Grice, Keiron Le. (2016). Archetypal Reflections Insights and Ideas from Jungian Psychology. London: Muswell Hill Press.
- Jillson, C. (2016). The Ambiguity of the Dream in American History. In The American Dream Chapter In History, Politics, and Fiction. University Press of Kansas.
- Jung, C. G. (1975). The Collected Works of C. G. Jung: Structure and dynamics of the psyche. Princeton Univesity Press.
- McLaughlin, R. L. (2004). Post-Postmodern Discontent: Contemporary Fiction and the Social World. Symplokē. Vol. 12, No. 1/2, Fiction's Present, pp. 53-68. (University of Nebraska Press).
- Nealon, J, (2012). Post-postmodernism: or, the Cultural Logic of just-in-time Capitalism. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
- Robinson, M. A. (2018). Thirst For The American Dream: The Lost City Of Flint,” Michigan Sociological Review. Vol. 32 (Fall 2018): 170-186. (Published by: Michigan Sociological Association)
- Rowe, Joyce A. (1988). Equivocal Endings in Classic American Novels. Cambridge University Press.
- Salma, V. K. (Fall 2009). Understanding Post-Postmodernism. Muğla Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi (İLKE), no 23.
- Samuel, Lawrence R. (2012). The Epic of America. In The American Dream, A Cultural History. Syracuse University Press.
- Sirak, G. (2017). The American Dream, Revisited: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Results. New York Melbourne:Nashville Publishing.
- Skandalis, A, John Byrom, Emma Banister. (2014). Paradox, Tribalism, and the Transitional Consumption Experience In Light of Post-postmodernism. European Journal of
- Marketing. Vol. 50 No. 7/8, 2016: 1308-1325. (Emerald Group Publishing Limited). DOI 10.1108/EJM-12-2014-0775.
- Wilson, Greg, R. W. (2017). The Technical Communicator as (Post-Postmodern) Discourse Worker. Journal of Business and Technical Communication. Vol. 31(1), 3-29. DOI: 10.1177/1050651916667531
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Creative Arts and Writing |
| Journal Section | Articles |
| Authors | |
| Early Pub Date | May 15, 2022 |
| Publication Date | April 20, 2022 |
| Acceptance Date | January 31, 2022 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2022 Issue: 50 |