Research Article
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AVIAN SYMBOLISM AND CULTURAL MEMORY: EXPLORING BIODIVERSITY AND URBANIZATION IN TURKISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE

Year 2023, Issue: 11, 106 - 128, 29.06.2023
https://doi.org/10.48131/jscs.1278464

Abstract

This article aims to examine one of the key principles of environmental philosophy, the direct relationship between cultural memory and biodiversity, in the context of three literary works selected from Turkish and American literature. These works trace a process of change in cultural texture due to rapid urbanization and population growth, as well as social transformations experienced just before and after rapid industrialization periods. Another common point is that all three of them deal with different aspects of bird hunting. Bird symbolism has been used effectively to highlight the contrast between rural and urban cultures. In addition to these symbolic relationships based on the natural characteristics of the birds, these texts use different aspects of avian life to interpret multiple layers of meaning, enriched by intercultural and intracultural references provided by history and tradition. It should be underlined that these fictional narratives, which sometimes use the natural environment for allegorical purposes, do not have didactic qualities. These ecocentric texts use birds not only in their traditional symbolic meaning, but also, either as a character or a theme, as real beings. By establishing a direct relationship between urbanization and reduction of biodiversity, inseparable role of birds in the cycles of nature, of which human beings are also a part, is emphasized. Finally, in this study, besides their cultural and historical importance, contribution of birds to the sustainability of biodiversity is discussed through the following literary works: Two of them, 'The Last Birds' and The Birds Have Also Gone, compare the value judgments and lifestyles of Istanbul’s pre-industrial urban era with the post-industrial situation. The last one, ‘A White Heron’, focuses on the relationship between rural life experiences and environmental awareness. This comparison leads to the conclusion that industrial urban life poses a significant obstacle to appreciating the intrinsic value of nature.

References

  • Abasıyanık, S. F. (1983). A Dot on the Map: Selected Stories and Poems. Halman, T. S. & Warner, J. L. (eds.), Indiana University Turkish Studies.
  • Akyol, Ö. (2018). A Deep Ecological Reading of Yaşar Kemal's The Birds Have Also Gone. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi (32), 237-242.
  • Avcı, S. (2005). Two Papers About Urbanization in Turkey: Cities and Urban Population & Faults, Earthquakes and Cities. İstanbul: Çantay
  • Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2017, December 4). Sylviidae. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/animal/Sylviidae
  • Carson, R. (2002). The Silent Spring. New York: Mariner Books
  • Donovan, J. (1991). Silence or Capitulation: Prepatriarchal ‘Mother’s Gardens’ in Jewett and Freeman. In S. Marchalonis (ed.), Critical Essays on Mary Wilkins Freeman. (pp. 151–156). Boston: Hall.
  • Egan, M. (2007). Barry Commoner and the Science of Survival the Remaking of American Environmentalism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
  • Egwumah, F.A., Egwumah, P.O., Edet, D.I. (2017). Paramount roles of wild birds as bioindicators of contamination. International Journal of Avian & Wildlife Biology 2(1). 194-200. DOI: 10.15406/ijawb.2017.02.00041
  • Emerson, R.W. (1950). The Complete Essays and Other Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. New York: The Modern Library.
  • Estok, S. C. (2005). Shakespeare and Ecocriticism: An Analysis of ‘Home’ and ‘Power’ in King Lear. AUMLA 103 (May 2005), 15-41.
  • Fortuny, K. (2019). Animals and the Environment in Turkish Culture: Ecocriticism and Transnational Literature. London: I.B. Tauris
  • Gibson, G. (2005). The Bedside Book of Birds: An Avian Miscellany. Toronto: Doubleday.
  • Glotfelty, C. (1996). Introduction: Literary Studies in an Age of Environmental Crisis. In Glotfelty, C & Fromm, H (eds.), The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. (pp. xv–xxxvii). Athens: University of Georgia Press.
  • Gore, A. (1994). Preface. In Carson, R. The Silent Spring. New York: Mariner Books
  • Gray, R. (2012). A History of American Literature. West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell Holmer, P.L. (1976). C. S. Lewis: The Shape of His Faith and Thought. New York: Harper & Row
  • Jamil, S. S. (2017). Country and City in Sarah Orne Jewett's A White Heron, The Explicator (75:2), 67-72. DOI: 10.1080/00144940.2017.1312246
  • Jewett, S.O. (2001). A White Heron and Other Stories. Blackmask Online <http://www.blackmask.com>
  • Kemal, Y. (1987). The Birds Have Also Gone. Kemal T. (trans.) London: Collins Harvilll
  • Kuzmiak, D.T. (1991). The American Environmental Movement. The Geographical Journal, 157(3) (Nov. 1991), 265-278.
  • Marshall Plan (1948). The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Washington D.C. <https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/marshall-plan#:~:text=On%20April%203%2C%201948%2C%20President,economic%20infrastructure%20of%20postwar%20Europe>
  • Mason T.V. (2009). Toward an (Avian) Aesthetic of (Avian) Absence. Alternation 16(2), 152-79.
  • Name of the Week: Sylvia, Sylvie. (2018, March 2). Name of the Week: Sylvia, Sylvie - British Baby Names. https://www.britishbabynames.com/blog/2018/02/name-of-the-week-sylvia-sylvie.html
  • Souza-Alonso, P., Saiz, G., García, R. A., Pauchard, A., Ferreira, A., Merino, A. (2022). Post-fire ecological restoration in Latin American forest ecosystems: insights and lessons from the last two decades. Forest Ecology and management (509). DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120083
  • Suzuki, D. T. & McConnell, A. (2007). The sacred balance: rediscovering our place in nature. St Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin
  • Tabur, M. A., & Ayvaz, Y. (2010). Ecological importance of birds. In Second International Symposium on Sustainable Development Conference. June 2010. pp. 560-565.
  • Thoreau, H. D. (1992). Walden or, Life in the Woods. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
  • Tyson, L. (2006). Critical Theory Today. New York: Routledge
  • Yıldırım, R. S. (2021). Sait Faik Abasıyanık’ın Hikâyelerinin Çevreci Eleştiri Işığında İncelenmesi. (unpublished master's thesis). Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Ankara.

KUŞ SEMBOLİZMİ VE KÜLTÜREL HAFIZA: TÜRK VE AMERİKAN EDEBİYATINDA BİYOÇEŞİTLİLİK VE KENTLEŞMENİN İNCELENMESİ

Year 2023, Issue: 11, 106 - 128, 29.06.2023
https://doi.org/10.48131/jscs.1278464

Abstract

Bu makale kültürel hafıza ile biyoçeşitlilik arasında doğrudan bir ilişki olduğu yönündeki çevreci ilkenin, Türk ve Amerikan edebiyatından seçme üç edebi eserin bağlamında incelenmesini amaçlamaktadır. Bu eserlerde hızlı sanayileşme süreçlerinin hemen öncesi ve sonrasında yaşanan toplumsal dönüşümlerin yanında kentleşme ve hızlı nüfus artışı ile değişen kültürel dokunun izleri takip edilebilir. Bu eserler arasındaki bir diğer ortak nokta ise her üçünün de farklı yönleriyle kuş avcılığını konu etmeleridir. Kuş sembolizmi kırsal ile kent kültürü arasındaki karşıtlığı vurgulamak için etkili bir şekilde kullanılmıştır. Kuşların doğal özelliklerine dayanan bu sembolik ilişkilere ek olarak, bu metinler, tarihin ve geleneklerin sağladığı kültürlerarası referanslarla zenginleştirilmiş çok sayıda anlam katmanını yorumlamak için kuş yaşamının farklı yönlerini kullanır. Doğal çevreyi zaman zaman alegorik amaçlarla kullanan bu kurmaca anlatıların didaktik bir nitelik taşımadıklarının altı çizilmelidir. Bu ekomerkezci metinler, kuşları yalnızca geleneksel simgesel anlamlarıyla değil, aynı zamanda bir karakter ya da tema olarak, gerçek varlıklar olarak da kullanırlar. Kentleşme ile biyolojik çeşitliliğin azalması arasında doğrudan bir ilişki kurarak, insanın da bir parçası olduğu doğal döngüde kuşların ayrılmaz rolü vurgulanmaktadır. Son olarak bu çalışmada, kültürel ve tarihsel önemlerinin yanında, ekosistemin çok önemli bir parçası olan kuşların hayranlık uyandıran ve koruma altında olması gereken sanat eserleri olarak görülebilmelerinin biyoçeşitliliğin sürdürülebilirliğine katkısı yine söz konusu şu eserler üzerinden tartışılmaktadır: Bunlardan ikisi, ‘Son Kuşlar’ ve Kuşlar da Gitti, birlikte ele alınarak, İstanbul'un sanayileşme öncesi kent yaşamının değer yargıları ve yaşam biçimleri ile hızlı kentleşme sonrası durumu karşılaştırıyor. Sonuncusu olan 'Beyaz Balıkçıl' ise kırsal yaşam deneyimi ile çevre bilinci arasındaki ilişki üzerinde durmaktadır. Bu kıyaslama sonucunda endüstriyel kent yaşamının, doğanın içsel değerinin bilinebilmesi önünde önemli ölçüde engel oluşturduğuna ulaşılır.

References

  • Abasıyanık, S. F. (1983). A Dot on the Map: Selected Stories and Poems. Halman, T. S. & Warner, J. L. (eds.), Indiana University Turkish Studies.
  • Akyol, Ö. (2018). A Deep Ecological Reading of Yaşar Kemal's The Birds Have Also Gone. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi (32), 237-242.
  • Avcı, S. (2005). Two Papers About Urbanization in Turkey: Cities and Urban Population & Faults, Earthquakes and Cities. İstanbul: Çantay
  • Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2017, December 4). Sylviidae. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/animal/Sylviidae
  • Carson, R. (2002). The Silent Spring. New York: Mariner Books
  • Donovan, J. (1991). Silence or Capitulation: Prepatriarchal ‘Mother’s Gardens’ in Jewett and Freeman. In S. Marchalonis (ed.), Critical Essays on Mary Wilkins Freeman. (pp. 151–156). Boston: Hall.
  • Egan, M. (2007). Barry Commoner and the Science of Survival the Remaking of American Environmentalism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
  • Egwumah, F.A., Egwumah, P.O., Edet, D.I. (2017). Paramount roles of wild birds as bioindicators of contamination. International Journal of Avian & Wildlife Biology 2(1). 194-200. DOI: 10.15406/ijawb.2017.02.00041
  • Emerson, R.W. (1950). The Complete Essays and Other Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. New York: The Modern Library.
  • Estok, S. C. (2005). Shakespeare and Ecocriticism: An Analysis of ‘Home’ and ‘Power’ in King Lear. AUMLA 103 (May 2005), 15-41.
  • Fortuny, K. (2019). Animals and the Environment in Turkish Culture: Ecocriticism and Transnational Literature. London: I.B. Tauris
  • Gibson, G. (2005). The Bedside Book of Birds: An Avian Miscellany. Toronto: Doubleday.
  • Glotfelty, C. (1996). Introduction: Literary Studies in an Age of Environmental Crisis. In Glotfelty, C & Fromm, H (eds.), The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. (pp. xv–xxxvii). Athens: University of Georgia Press.
  • Gore, A. (1994). Preface. In Carson, R. The Silent Spring. New York: Mariner Books
  • Gray, R. (2012). A History of American Literature. West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell Holmer, P.L. (1976). C. S. Lewis: The Shape of His Faith and Thought. New York: Harper & Row
  • Jamil, S. S. (2017). Country and City in Sarah Orne Jewett's A White Heron, The Explicator (75:2), 67-72. DOI: 10.1080/00144940.2017.1312246
  • Jewett, S.O. (2001). A White Heron and Other Stories. Blackmask Online <http://www.blackmask.com>
  • Kemal, Y. (1987). The Birds Have Also Gone. Kemal T. (trans.) London: Collins Harvilll
  • Kuzmiak, D.T. (1991). The American Environmental Movement. The Geographical Journal, 157(3) (Nov. 1991), 265-278.
  • Marshall Plan (1948). The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Washington D.C. <https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/marshall-plan#:~:text=On%20April%203%2C%201948%2C%20President,economic%20infrastructure%20of%20postwar%20Europe>
  • Mason T.V. (2009). Toward an (Avian) Aesthetic of (Avian) Absence. Alternation 16(2), 152-79.
  • Name of the Week: Sylvia, Sylvie. (2018, March 2). Name of the Week: Sylvia, Sylvie - British Baby Names. https://www.britishbabynames.com/blog/2018/02/name-of-the-week-sylvia-sylvie.html
  • Souza-Alonso, P., Saiz, G., García, R. A., Pauchard, A., Ferreira, A., Merino, A. (2022). Post-fire ecological restoration in Latin American forest ecosystems: insights and lessons from the last two decades. Forest Ecology and management (509). DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120083
  • Suzuki, D. T. & McConnell, A. (2007). The sacred balance: rediscovering our place in nature. St Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin
  • Tabur, M. A., & Ayvaz, Y. (2010). Ecological importance of birds. In Second International Symposium on Sustainable Development Conference. June 2010. pp. 560-565.
  • Thoreau, H. D. (1992). Walden or, Life in the Woods. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
  • Tyson, L. (2006). Critical Theory Today. New York: Routledge
  • Yıldırım, R. S. (2021). Sait Faik Abasıyanık’ın Hikâyelerinin Çevreci Eleştiri Işığında İncelenmesi. (unpublished master's thesis). Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Ankara.
There are 28 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects North American Language, Literature and Culture, Literary Studies, Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

İbrahim Koç 0000-0001-9510-3376

Publication Date June 29, 2023
Submission Date April 6, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Issue: 11

Cite

APA Koç, İ. (2023). AVIAN SYMBOLISM AND CULTURAL MEMORY: EXPLORING BIODIVERSITY AND URBANIZATION IN TURKISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE. Toplum Ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi(11), 106-128. https://doi.org/10.48131/jscs.1278464

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