The Portrayal of Female Characters in Two Fictional Texts Written in Greek and Published in Istanbul in the 19th Century
Aslı ÇeteThe reflections of the sexist discourse that arose in Europe throughout the 19th century are also observed in works published in Greek in the same period. The core of this discourse is the view that women are weak by nature and that men are strong as long as they are financially sound. In this sense, the demonic woman is positioned directly opposite the angelic woman. This woman is tasked with highlighting the components of identity of the ideal woman that are considered to be good by the dominant ideology and to make them look more polished. This study investigates the portrayal of female characters in two examples of prose that were both published in Istanbul and aims to determine the extent to which the male-dominated discourse and feminist critiques of the period are reflected in the two texts published a year apart by two Greek authors living in Istanbul, one a woman and the other a man. In the stories by the female author examined in the study, one frequently encounters inessential women created by the dominant discourse. On the other hand, the text also includes traces of the cultural feminist tradition of the period. Meanwhile, the novel by the male author examined in this study deviates from other literary texts of the period in that a woman who is endowed with positive traits is selected as the lead character, reversing the image of the weak woman.
19. Yüzyılda İstanbul’da Yayımlanan İki Yunanca Kurmaca Metinde Kadın Karakterlerin Sunumu
Aslı ÇeteAvrupa’da 19. yüzyıl boyunca yükselen cinsiyetçi söylemin yansımaları aynı dönem yayımlanan Yunanca eserlerde de gözlemlenir. Kadının, ‘doğası gereği zayıf’, erkeğinse ekonomik bakımdan yeterli olması koşuluyla ‘güçlü’ olduğu inancı bu söylemin ana çekirdeğini oluşturur. Bu doğrultuda, ‘melek’ olarak tasavvur edilen ideal kadının karşısına ‘şeytani’ olan çıkarılarak ilkinin sahip olduğuna inanılan özelliklerin altı çizilir. Bu çalışmada her ikisi de İstanbul’da yayımlanan iki düzyazı örneğinin, kadın karakterlere yaklaşımı incelenmiştir. Aynı dönemde İstanbul’da yaşamış, biri erkek biri kadın iki Rum yazarın, bir yıl ara ile basılmış iki metninde eril egemen söylem ile dönemin feminist eleştirilerinin ne derece yansıtıldığı araştırılmıştır. Bu kapsamda incelenen metinlerin genelinde, dönemin cinsiyetçi ideolojisinin hâkim olduğu; bununla birlikte bu metinlerin yazıldıkları dönem ve coğrafya göz önüne alındığında, egemen ideolojinin bir parça dışında kaldıkları gözlemlenmiştir. Çalışmanın kadın yazarı D. Thoma’nın hikâyelerinde egemen söylemin ürettiği “benliksiz” kadınlara çokça rastlanır. Öte yandan, dönemin kültürel feminist geleneğinin izleri de metinde gözlemlenir. Çalışmanın erkek yazarı F. I. Lufakis’in romanında ise başkahraman olarak bir kadının seçilmesi, bu kadına olumlu özellikler yüklenmesi ve ‘zayıf’ kadın imajının tersine çevrilmesi onu dönemin diğer edebi metinlerinden önemli ölçüde ayırır.
The reflections of the sexist discourse that arose in Europe throughout the 19th century are also observed in works published in Greek in the same period. The core of this discourse is the view that women are weak by their nature and that men are strong as long as they are financially sound. Through the images that were separately established for the two genders, men are empowered while women are expected to show a barely visible presence in the home environment. This study investigates the portrayal of female characters in two examples of prose, both published in Istanbul, and aims to determine the extent to which male-dominated discourse and the feminist critiques of the period are reflected in the two texts, which were published a year apart by two Greek authors living in Istanbul, one a woman (Domna Thoma, Time for Entertainment: Three Select Original Stories, 1896) and the other a man (Fotios I. Lufakis, Rejected Child: Original Novel, 1897). The study aims to answer the following research questions: 1) Do the texts include a male-dominated discourse and critical feminist approach independent of the genders of the authors? 2) Are a male-dominated discourse and critical feminist approach observed in the texts of both authors? 3) Are the female characters in the texts of the two authors who lived in Istanbul during the same period portrayed in a positive or negative manner? 4) Which of the female characters are active, and which are passive? If any of the prose involve active women, when do they become active? Accordingly, the sexist ideology of the period is seen to be dominant in general in the examined texts, whereas considering the period in which they are written and the geography in question, these texts are somewhat outside the dominant ideology.
Whether a male-dominated discourse is used in the texts is not related to the gender of the author but rather a consequence of a choice the author either knowingly or unknowingly made. The work of D. Thoma, the female author examined in the study, includes three short stories, and as a result of this unconscious choice, inessential women as created by the dominant discourse are frequently encountered. In this context, the female character, as well as the female author at the same time, starts to subconsciously view herself through the eyes of others based on the angelic and devilish images they’ve created for her. Other frequently encountered situations involve such things as the image of men as the protector of the family, the struggle of widowed women, the usage of angel and demon stereotypes, and the redeeming role of marriage for women. On the other hand, the text also includes traces of the cultural feminist tradition of the period. Based upon the concepts of matriarchy and the divinity of motherhood among the most prominent characteristics of the cultural feminist approach, the work emphasizes female intuition. Accordingly, the female character possesses an intuitive perception that is not seen in men, provided that she is pure and humble. With this skill, she can easily feel the invisible links that connect events, people, and various life forms to one another. When considering all these details, Thoma as an educated woman is understood to have been aware of at least part of the feminist discourses of the period.
The novel by Lufakis, the male author examined in this study, deviates from other literary texts of the period in that he selected a woman as the lead character and endowed her with positive traits, thus reversing the image of the weak woman. Nevertheless, the negative stereotypes of the female gender scattered throughout the text suggest that Ariadni Laru, the lead character of the novel, is an exception and has a different position than other women. However lively, active, and involved in the public sphere Ariadni may be, she does not pose a prototype for the ideal woman. Above all, the public sphere in which Ariadni is active is not a context of employment but one of crime, where she has to struggle using illegal means for her son Theodoros’ father to recognize his paternal obligations. This is the issue the novel brings to the attention of the reader as being important for Ariadni. Fedon is the son of a wealthy family and is the one who has forced her to act like this; he has not acknowledged his obligations as her son’s father and did not marry her despite having previously promised to do so.
