Two Women, Two Cities: Flâneuse In The Artificial Silk Girl And Fosforlu Cevriye
In this study, the novels The Artificial Silk Girl by the German writer Irmgard Keun and Fosforlu Cevriye by the Turkish writer Suat Derviş will be compared in the context of women and urban experience, and within the framework of the flâneuse type. The study will employ a sociological critique method, and the findings will be evaluated according to the Variation Theory, the most current approach in comparative literature. The existence of the flâneuse, its emergence process, and characteristics will be discussed, and the relationship between the prostitute and literature will be presented as an example of the flâneuse type. The type of prostitute, one of the first representatives of visibility in the public sphere, is found in both novels examined in this study, making the relationship between the f lâneuse and the life of a sex worker crucial to the study. Living in Weimar Germany, Keun presents the positive and negative aspects of the era through the eyes of Doris, who uses her sexuality for luxury and material gain. In 1932, when Keun wrote her novel, Derviş was working in newspapers and magazines while also studying in Berlin, and it is likely that she was aware of Keun's work. Although Derviş's work was written later, the fact that it takes place in 1930s Istanbul, its main character is a sex worker, and the significant emphasis on the relationship between women and the city, suggests the possibility of a comparative study between the two authors.
İki Kadın, İki Kent: Das kunstseidene Mädchen ve Fosforlu Cevriye Romanlarında Flanözlük
Bu çalışmada Alman edebiyatından yazar Irmgard Keun’un Das kunstseidene Mädchen ve Türk edebiyatından yazar Suat Derviş’in Fosforlu Cevriye romanları, kadın ve kent deneyimi izleğinde ve flanöz tipi kapsamında karşılaştırılacaktır. Çalışmada sosyolojik eleştiri yöntemi kullanılacak ve karşılaştırmalı edebiyatın en güncel yaklaşımı olan Varyasyon Kuramı uyarınca bulgular değerlendirilecektir. Çalışmada Varyasyon Kuramına genel hatlarıyla değinildikten sonra, flanöz kavramı üzerinde durulacaktır. Flanözün var olup olmadığı, varsa ortaya çıkış süreci ve özellikleri hakkında tartışmalardan bahsedilerek, flanöz tipinin bir temsilcisi olarak sunulan hayat kadını ve edebiyat ilişkisine yer verilecektir. Kadının kamusal alandaki görünürlüğünün ilk temsilcilerinden olan hayat kadını tipi, çalışmada incelenen her iki romanda da görüldüğünden, flanöz – hayat kadını ilişkisi, çalışma açısından önemlidir. Ele alınan her iki eserin de 1930’lu yıllarda geçmesi çalışma açısından belirleyici unsurlardır. Weimar dönemi Almanya’sında yaşayan Keun, eserinde dönemin olumlu ve olumsuz yönlerini lüks ve maddi kazanç için cinselliğini kullanan Doris’in gözünden okurlara sunmaktadır. Suat Derviş ise, Keun’un eserini yazdığı ve romanının çok satanlar listesine girdiği 1932 yılında, Berlin’de öğrenciliğinin yanında gazete ve dergilerde çalışmakta ve muhtemeldir ki Keun’un eserini bilmektedir. Derviş’in eserinin her ne kadar sonraki yıllarda yazılmış olsa da 1930’ların İstanbul’unda geçmesi, ana karakterinin bir hayat kadını olması ve kadın ve kent ilişkisine önemli ölçüde yer vermesi, iki yazar arasında karşılaştırmalı bir çalışma yapılabileceği düşüncesini doğurmuştur. Das kunstseidene Mädchen ve Fosforlu Cevriye romanlarındaki ana karakterler Doris ve Cevriye, flanözlük kapsamında okunarak, sırasıyla Berlin ve İstanbul’a, kalabalıklara, vitrinlere olan ilgileri açısından değerlendirilecektir. Ayrıca flanözün flanörden ne gibi açılardan farklı olduğu da yine kuramsal bilgilerin ışığında ve eserlerden hareketle açıklanmaya çalışılacaktır.
In this study, the novels The Artifical Silk Girl by German author Irmgard Keun and Fosforlu Cevriye by Turkish author Suat Derviş will be analyzed comparatively in terms of the female and urban experience. The relationship between women and the city will be examined through the sociological method and the current approach in comparative literature studies, the Variation theory. The visibility of women in the city and the concept of the flâneuse, which forms the basis of this study, will be explained through the selected works.
The Variation theory, a contemporary approach in comparative literature, argues that differences are just as important as similarities and commonalities in comparative studies. Proposed by the Chinese comparative literature scholar Shunqing Cao, the main goal of the theory is to identify the differences between similar literary motifs or types, as well as the elements that create these differences. In this study, which examines works selected from the literature of two different nations, the assumptions of this theory have been utilized, considering that differences are also important.
The flâneur, a type that emerged with modernity and could not keep pace with its speed, division of labor, and sense of specialization, was introduced into the literary system by Baudelaire and was associated with the male gender. The flâneur is a figure who, despite being in the crowd, does not mingle with it and idles by observing his surroundings. The f lâneur, with the assumption that public space belongs to men, is able to walk unnoticed in the streets and arcades, observing as he goes. His existence serves as a protest against modernity. Walking aimlessly in the streets, which are considered a male-dominated activity, is considered an act impossible for women by many researchers. Baudelaire described arcades as the flâneur's last marketplace. Scholars defending the existence of the flâneuse argue that the flâneur's last marketplace is where the flâneuse emerged. With the visibility of women as objects of consumption in the streets and large stores, many scholars regard flâneuse as beginning. Shopping stores and centers, which emerged after arcades, are considered spaces for aimless walking for women. The flâneuse, as a figure who observes both shop windows and her surroundings, emerged. Especially with the early 20th century, the situation of women entering public space became prominent. Among the women seen in the streets of the city in Baudelaire’s work, the prostitute is emphasized as one of the first representatives of the f lâneuse.
In The Artifical Silk Girl and Fosforlu Cevriye, the main characters survive and sustain their lives by using their sexuality. In the novels set in the streets of Berlin and İstanbul in the 1930s, it is possible to say that the main characters observe the city by blending into the crowds. Both cities, Berlin and İstanbul, where the two characters live, possess unique beauty. With their streets, shopping stores, and malls, the cities offer women both spaces for shopping and observing their surroundings. In this sense, their city observation, attitudes toward the crowds, and their presentation of themselves as prostitutes to the public are common points of the works. Of course, since the processes of experiencing modernity in 1930s Berlin and İstanbul differ, the female character Doris in Keun’s novel has different perspectives and observations from the female character Cevriye in Derviş’s novel.
Suat Derviş was in Berlin in 1932, the year Irmgard Keun’s The Artifical Silk Girl was published and entered the bestseller lists. The fact that Derviş was working alongside a student studying literature and philosophy, while also contributing to magazines and newspapers, strengthens the possibility of a direct interaction between the two works and authors. Despite the differences between the societies, the literary works are significantly separated from each other in many aspects. However, the fact that both works center on a prostitute and deeply explore the urban experiences of the female protagonists supports this claim.
In this study, the debate on whether the flâneuse exists will be explained through the views of scholars, and how the women in the selected literary texts experience the city as flâneuses will be closely examined. Additionally, the sociological issues of the periods depicted in the works will also be examined, based on the observations of the flâneuse characters.
