Patriarchal Domination on Nature and Women: An Ecofeminist Analysis of Alice Walker’s Poems

Year 2021, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 139 - 152, 30.12.2021

Mesut Kuleli

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the book titled “Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful” written by Alice Walker in 1985 from an ecofeminist point of view. The book is composed of 41 poems and two epigraphs. The analysis of the poems shows that the author overtly criticizes the colonizing powers who exploited the nature beyond its limits, taking the livelihood sources and resources of the native populations in the American continent. Moreover, the male domination over women is also criticized in the poems, with the woman reduced to the function of house chores and granted the role of obedience to the man. This analysis yields the result that the exploitation and oppression of nature is comparable to the exploitation and oppression of the woman, which is the basic premise of ecofeminism. Nature and woman are regarded as the “other” in their relation to man, as a result of which man considers them as the objects he is “naturally” entitled to benefit from dominate. This confirms Mies and Shiva’s (1993) dichotomies of “man” vs. nature and man vs. woman, in which the former element tends to be acknowledged as the “natural” one and the latter is regarded as the one that is valued or devalued in its relation to the “natural” former one. All this points to the efforts the patriarchal system makes to sustain its existence and power.

Keywords

Ecofeminism, nature, women, patriarchal system, domination

Doğa ve Kadın Üzerindeki Ataerkil Tahakküm: Alice Walker'ın Şiirlerinin Ekofeminist Çözümlemesi

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı Alice Walker tarafından 1985 yılında yazılan “Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful” [Atlar Manzarayı Daha Güzel Gösterir] başlıklı eseri ekofeminist bir bakış açısıyla çözümlemektir. Eser, 41 şiir ve iki epigrafik alıntıdan oluşmaktadır. Eserde yer alan şiirlerin çözümlenmesiyle sömürgeci güçler tarafından Amerika kıtasındaki yerli halkların geçim kaynaklarının ellerinden alınmasının ve doğanın sınırlarının ötesinde sömürülmesinin yazar tarafından açıkça eleştirdiğini görülmektedir. Ayrıca kadının ev işleri işlevine indirgenmesi ve erkeğe itaat etmesinin beklenmesiyle erkeğin kadın üzerindeki egemenliği de çözümlenen şiirlerde eleştirilen diğer bir durumdur. Bu çözümlemede, ekofeminizmin temel önermesi olduğu üzere doğanın ve kadının sömürülmesinin ilişkili olduğu sonucuna varılmıştır. Doğa ve kadın, erkeklere göre konumlarında “öteki” olarak görülmektedir ve bunun sonucu olarak erkekler, doğayı ve kadını üzerinde “doğal” bir tahakküm sahibi olunacak ve onlardan faydalanılabilecek nesneler olarak görürler. Bu bulgular, Mies ve Shiva’nın (1993) insan-doğa ve erkek-kadın dikotomilerini doğrulamaktadır. Bu dikotomilerde, birinci unsur “doğal olan” olarak görülmekteyken ikinci unsur, birinci unsur ile ilişkisine göre değer gören veya görmeyen unsur olarak kabul edilir. Tüm bu bulgular, ataerkil düzenin varlığını ve gücünü sürdürebilmek için ortaya koyduğu çabaları göz önüne sermektedir.

Keywords

Ekofeminizm, doğa, kadın, ataerkil sistem, tahakküm

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