Personal and Cultural Identity in Modern Poetry

Mahmut Deniz

25th May, 2009

Personal and Cultural Identity in Modern Poetry

Throughout the history, many writers wrote many works which were meant to protect and preserve their own culture and identity and at the same time, show the process of changing in self-identity. With their works, they tried to give the process of identity fragmentation to show how one’s country, language and thus identity are transformed or assimilated by others’. Poets such as; Tom Leonard, Tony Harrison and Seamus Heaney in their works, respectively, Unrelated Incidents, Them & [uz] and Digging give us an important picture of cultural and personal identity and their change. These poets: Leonard from Scotland, Harrison from Leeds (Northern England) and Heaney from Ireland, wrote their poems reflecting their own identity and culture on their works, so their being from different region from England or its accent have a great influence on what they wrote and what their intention was in writing their poems. Heaney’s poem, focusing on his family and homeland, gives us a fragmented culture and thus fragmented identity of Heaney, Leonard, by writing his poem in “Glaswegian” accent, which is considered to be not valid by standard English, exhibits the cultural discrimination by English and, similarly, Harrison’ use of his accent in his poem bringing him into an inferior or lower class position   thus, of course an uncertainty of self identity in a high class society. In my essay, I will focus on the cultural and personal identities and their reflection on the poems, Digging, Unrelated Incidents and Them & [uz].

Concerning the language and its accent, Unrelated Incidents and Them & [uz], reflect the poets’ personal and cultural identity through use of their own accents. The poems are written in a different accent from British accent, and show the reaction of British society towards the way they speak. The words used in the poem are mostly colloquial and slang as it is a daily speech language, the words such as: “wia, wahnt, wanne, trooth” respectively, “with a, want, one of and truth” are the words used in Glaswegian accent. In Unrelated Incidents, the poem is given as reported speech by a “Glaswegian” speaker who has been listening to the news and tells his interpretation of what it says to him. There is a special term mentioned in the poem as BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) which broadcasting the news in Glaswegian accent.

In Unrelated Incidents, the use of BBC is intentional, as BBC, which uses so called official correct version of English, tries to insult the accent spoken by Scotts, because their accent is not understandable, proper and acceptable, thus, they should “belt up” or speak proper English, “

“…this
            is ma trooth
            yooz doant no
            thi trooth
            yirsellz cawz
            yi canny talk
            right. this is
            the six a clock
            nyooz. belt up”

Scottish culture which also changes their accent is somewhat not accepted by British. Leonard himself is from Glasgow and the accent he uses here is part of his identity. The way he speaks cannot be questioned, because it is not the matter of true version or wrong version of language, it is a matter of personal and cultural approach to the language. Accepting other culture’s values just because it is proper or accepted, or simply, to let you feel in a better position or live in a better position is not the correct way of approaching to the matter, as what matters is that human is human, and accent does not determine the quality or value of a person.

Just like in Unrelated Incidents, the poem Them and [uz] exhibits the prejudice of British society. His language is again Scottish accent, and he angrily criticizes the British society. In the first part of the poem, at university Harrison is insulted by his history tutor due to his bad pronunciation of Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale”. He starts to pronounce but as soon as he starts to pronounce only “4 words”, his accent is mocked as barbaric, and they want him to pronounce it properly which should be in the same way as RP (Received Pronunciation). The society wants him to pronounce the poem in proper way, because only then he can be accepted as a part of British society and high culture, which actually requires him to reject his own culture, working class background and identity and transform into one of them. To support his being mocked because of his background and identity, he gives the example of the role given to him in university: “I played the Drunken Porter in Macbeth” he acts in a minor and comic scene in a role of “Drunken Porter” which is seen suitable for his background as a lower class character. However, he furiously says: “All poetry (even Cockney Keats?) you see / ‘s been dubbed by [As] into RP” that’s to say; all poetry, even Keats who is from lower class have RP, but normally they would not have been RP speakers, and this shows us an obvious discrimination between British and Scottish people. His line: “your speech is in the hands of receivers.” Which means you are under the control of high class listeners, thus their judgment of a low class person would be negative. However, he finally accepts as his speech is like a trap for him because his speech puts him into a situation where he cannot escape, then submits the authority of higher class by respecting their values as he says: “I doffed my flat” and “…spit out…E-nun-ci-ate!”

Making him to succumb the authority and change his speech means making him reject his own accent, that’s to say, identity, which is the only way for Harrison to have access into a higher class society and be one of them. The second part of the poem contrast with the first part, which may be interpreted also as the change of Harrison in an elite and educated society into someone else. As we see in the second part of the poem, he uses “RIP” (Rest in Peace) for himself which stems from the British society and its influential power on person’s identity and culture by force. He uses the word “RIP” because his identity or his own accent is part of his life and losing these values means death for him. However, the use of “I am Tony Harrison no longer you!” after all those happened, may be interpreted as he is no longer any of those elite and educated society or he is actually no longer himself because of the same society. Former interpenetration would conflict with his idea as the second part is the part where Harrison is death, so is his personal identity. Thus, the interpretation can be the latter as he is actually one of them but no longer the real Harrison, as the “RIP” actually goes for “T.W” the name he was called, but not to Tony Harrison. Thus the name Tony Harrison can be said his name after his defeat by the British society. Besides, his mentioning about “The Times” is that he claims that his name is changed according to RP and British culture and values as he is called as Anthony in a polite way, but not Tony. As a result, throughout the poem, we witness Harrison fight for his identity but no matter how much he wants to break away and fight for his value, he cannot do it, as either he may live as the old uneducated Harrison or live as the one educated but rejected his identity to have the access into this society and develop.       

The poem Digging by Heaney, is written in a standard English, but the poem has many terms that is peculiar to Irish peasants, thus his own identity. In poem, “potatoes” and “peat”, for instance, are traditional mainstays of Irish peasants’ cultural and rural agrarian lifestyle. Heaney thinks of Irish identity as he digs for his cultural, historical root, because his poem is about his past, that’s to say, his ancestors’ time “My father, digging. I look down”. He is actually digging in his poem into his personal history but also rational, cultural history, as he compares his “pen” to “spade”. As the poem progress, we witness that the poem moves from Heaney’s past to the present day, to his position. His ancestors were digging with “spade”, but he will dig with his “pen”.  

Heaney’s father and grandfather are representatives of a traditional Irish culture and lifestyle. Contraction in the poem, as it returns to the present day of educated poet, suggests that there has been a decline from past culture to present day. As the time passes, the old method of making money through physical labor is replaced by modern methods, that’s, “spade” is replaced by “pen”.  However, he still dreams about the times that his grandfather lived as Irish which can be interpreted he thinks of his own past as an Irish, however, he realizes that he cannot do what his ancestors did with spade, but he suggests doing it with his pen as he says: “I will dig with it.” And by using the word “gun” in the first line, he defends his traditional Irish identity. There is a fragmentation and uncertainty, because the poem does not remain in the past but moves to his current position. He protects and defends his identity with his “gun”, but at the same time, he knows that he is not the one to use the “spade”.

In conclusion, the poems Unrelated Incidents and Them & [uz] with their accents and Digging with its metaphorical meaning and poetic style, reveal poets’ desire to defend and live their real identity. Heaney, Leonard and Harrison are the poets whose identity is fragmented, however, their effort to protect and write about their root actually stems from their being educated as poets, and they use their pen to defend their identity, in brief, as Heaney says “Between my finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests; as snug as a gun.”   

Importance of Language and Style in Romantic Poetry

Mahmut Deniz

25th May, 2009

Importance of Language and Style in Romantic Poetry

Throughout the history of literature, all movements appeared as reaction to one another, and one of them is Romantic Movement which appears in the second half of the eighteenth century and flourished in the first half of the nineteenth century as a reaction to the Enlightenment Period. Romantic Movement and its authors take folk tales and poetries and nature as their important source. Since we know that folk poetry was created by ordinary people, such as, uneducated people living in a rural life, we can also say that Romantics are in favor of these ordinary people, rather than educated and elite part of the society. Being their important source, nature, for them, exists before society, culture, traditions, and emotions and so on. These important events naturally influenced Romantic authors’ language and style which are used in their works. As we know that a poem is different from a prose due to its language, form and style used by poets, it is fair enough to say that Romantic poets did their best to show this difference with their powerful abilities along with using a simple language. By using metaphors, imagery, symbols and vocabulary within a figurative language in their works, Romantic authors such as, William Blake and Percy Bysshe Shelley contributed greatly to Literature. In my essay I am going to analyze the significance of the language and style used in the poems The Tyger by William Blake and To a Skylark by Percy B. Shelley. 

In the poem The Tyger by William Blake, he uses symbolism to give a deep meaning to his poem. Since the poem is from Blake’s “The Songs of Experience” it includes terrible feelings that can be understood from the language and its use as well.  Our main character “tyger” in the poem is a symbol of power of God’s creation. Another symbol is “spears” which we see in this line “When the stars threw down their spears”. The “spears” are simple weapons used in battles and thus the word “spears” are used as symbol of fighting, and by throwing their spears we understand that fighting is over. Here, we see how Blake uses metaphors to convey the meaning in a way to make us sense the harshness of language together with its beautiful usage.

 Also, William Blake gives awful feelings and creates frightening atmosphere with the use of vocabulary in his poem. For example, in these lines ‘Tyger! Tyger! burning bright / In the forests of the night”. Fire is used metaphorically here. “burning” connotes the reader the fire of the Hell. Surely the imagination of this fire is not something dim but “bright”. By bringing these two words the poet creates a frightening and powerful image at the first line of the poem. The word “night” can directly be interpreted as evil, as the dark is a big obstacle for the eyes to see. Without seeing one might even be suspect for the good, because in the dark nothing is certain and clear.  Apart from these words, there are many other words which represent the evil and thus, terrifies the reader, such as; “fearful”, “fire”, “dread hand”, “dread feet”, “terror”, “spears”, etc. all these words contain negative meanings and they were used to create a horrific atmosphere throughout the poem. So, we can see how Blake plays with the words and, as a result, how the vocabulary of the poem can change the poem and its meaning.

            Personification is another poetic element which William Blake uses to contribute the language. Personification is giving qualities of a person to inanimate objects or animals. By these lines he makes stars actions as human beings. In the poem, firstly, “Tyger” itself is the most important example of personification which the poet deals with by asking some questions. Furthermore, “When the stars threw down their spears, and watered heaven with their tears.”  As we know the words “threw” and “tears” are the features of humans. Because stars neither could throw their spears nor did they shed tears. However, the importance of this is that due to the figurative language, the poem conveys more meanings and feelings to the readers.

As we see William Blake uses symbolism, personification, nature to give a more meaning and feelings to his poem. He uses simple language and common words which can be understood by anybody and infer the meaning of the poem easily. Of course, the simplicity of the language does not make the poem itself simple, but the most important aspect of its being simple is that it address to everybody, regardless of how educated one is.

Form is very important for a poem because it determines the way how the idea and the content are introduced to the reader. In “The Tyger” William Blake uses a regular form and meter. The poem consists of six quatrains and the stanzas rhyming aabb .That means each stanza have two rhyming couplets. Rhyming couplets are very helpful in terms of reserving the words in reader’s mind. The lines are written in trochaic tetrameter in other words a stressed syllable is followed by an unstressed one. Most of lines are written like this. However, in the first line of the poem, Blake starts with the line using spondee which consists of two stressed syllables. ‘Tyger, tyger’ is the example of spondee. The reader can understand that spondee is used purposefully. By starting with stressed syllables not only takes attention of the reader but also emphasizing the word ‘tyger’ which the central theme is built on it. Also by using alliteration, Blake makes the poem very remarkable. He uses alliteration in every stanza such as ‘burning bright’, ‘distant deeps’, ‘what wings’, ‘frame fearful’, ‘dare deadly’. Also he uses alliteration in order to emphasize key words which strengthen the central idea of the poem.

The second poem I am going to analyze is To a Skylark by Percy B. Shelley. With its harmony which is provided by its form and content, the poem is an important example in Romantic literature. The poem begins by claiming that the bird is not a simple bird, but it is a spirit: “Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! Bird thou never wert”. As the poet tries to give a metaphorical meaning to the bird, this statement is a significant point in the poem to let us understand metaphorical meaning of the bird, because, the bird’s physical nature is not important, but, what is important is metaphysical and the spiritual nature of the bird. Another verse, “Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun” proves the bird’s not just being a simple bird but it symbolizes the bird as a spiritual reality and the poet also shows us that the spiritual reality of the bird as deeper than nature itself. Besides, the bird in literature symbolizes the poetry and the poem gives a parallel between Shelley and the bird. “Higher still and higher, from the earth thou springest”. In these verse Shelley sees the bird again as a spirit, as a metaphysical meaning, as the bird rises from the earth to the heavens, actually, it symbolizes rising from material realm to the ethereal realm. Throughout the poem we see the natural images of the sky and light which give us heavenly connections of spiritual happiness. “In the golden lightning, Of the sunken sun, O’er which clouds are bright’ning” Apart from these lines, in the rest of the poem we see more natural images such as fire, star, Venus, moon, waves, mountain and etc...

            Comparison used in the poem is another important element of Romantic poetry. As description of the bird’s spiritual nature cannot be in a direct way, the poet uses comparison in his poem. To convey the meaning of the poem to a spiritual art, poet uses many similes such as; bird is “like a poet”.  He instinctively and naturally makes people want to change their lives and the world. Bird is like a noble girl in love, cheering herself with music. Bird is like a glow-worm producing unseen light. Bird is like a rose making the bees faint with its sweet scent. Thus, we understand that Shelley’s similes are not enough to exactly describe the bird’s spiritual nature, which means Shelley himself cannot find a true image to describe the bird. As comparison is always imperfect, Shelley is not able to make it clear what exactly “Skylark” represent in the poem. So, it is inferable that the spiritual happiness of “Skylark” is not surely known, yet the meaning and the message that To a Skylark conveys is that it is rising from material ideal to the spiritual ideal through the use of metaphors and similes. Thus, again, the poetic language of To a Skylark creates a spiritual nature in the poem. 

To conclude, the poems The Tyger by William Blake and To a Skylark by Percy B. Shelley are important examples of Romantic period, because of their language and poetic techniques that contributed to literature. The poems’ language is the most important element of them, because without a figurative language, there would not be any difference between a prose and poet. Thus, these poems, by presenting the language in a figurative way, give many pages of prose in just several lines with a deeper, condensed meaning and emotions to the reader.  

"Digging" by Seamus Heaney

Mahmut Deniz

4th May, 2009

Digging by Seamus Heaney

Most of the poets’ poems have been focused on the reflection of their own life. The remembrance of his mother land and his ancestors, who worked hard to make a living, must have been very important for Seamus Heaney that he wrote his poem “Digging” about it. Born and lived in a family farm, Irish poet Seamus Heaney, in his poem “Digging” gives a very good understanding of hard labour of his ancestors in the past with juxtaposing his career as a writer. The poem is about the recollection of Heaney’s youth as a boy watching his father and grandfather working on the field. By using some repetitions, onomatopoeia, alliteration and simile, Heaney lets reader feel the moment vividly and with a deep sense.     

            First of all, “digging” is a masculine work which needs physical power to be done. While we read the poem, we can see the use of “digging” many times. As it is repeated, it makes its meaning stronger, so that the reader can realize how hard Heaney’s ancestor worked to make a living. The event takes place indoor:

“Under my window a clean rasping sound

When the sinks into gravelly ground:

My father, digging. I look down”

Narrator is watching his father indoor as he states in the second stanza’s first line: “Under my window”, while his father is digging. Poem goes on with his father’s hard work as Heaney describes the situation “till his straining rump among the flowerbeds / Bends low, comes up twenty years away”. The father’s hard work is stressed with “straining rump” and with the “comes up twenty years away” so, we understand his father’s twenty years of hard work.

“Between my finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests; snug as a gun” Obviously, it is speaker himself who is writing the poem as he says “Between my finger and my thumb” while watching outside. He uses a simile in the second line of first stanza: “snug as a gun”. He may have used the word in a negative or positive meaning. It is an important line, because the simile resembles the “pen” to “a gun”. Guns were used mainly in negative way in the past and the present, but should we think it as the way it is or think throughout the poem and guess what he tries to say? Of course, when we look through poem as a whole, we understand Heaney’s intention in using this simile. Heaney’s use of simile can be deduced from the whole poem, as powerful as gun, as he tries to prove the power of his “pen” which is referred to education. He uses his pen as powerful as a gun, which makes also his thoughts and ideas powerful, as well. Furthermore, the gun is pointed down “squat” like a “spade”, so even in reality, when the gun is pointed down, it means it will not harm anyone, but it will also not lose its power, as it is still ready to fire, and the “gun” was used like a “spade” which is also pointed down while digging, so the poet, also, implies the juxtaposition of his ancestor’s work with his own life.

Another harmonic approach to the poem comes from his use of onomatopoeia. The reflection of sounds that the tools make is very effective to make readers feel it deeply and vividly. For example, “… a clean rasping sound / When the spade sinks into gravelly ground” make us feel like we are in the place of poet himself and listening to the sound, or “squelch and slap” the moment when the spade hits the soft ground. Another example of onomatopoeia which comes at the same time with alliteration and which is stressed to show how professional his grandfather is: “curt cuts”. These words imply that his grandfather does not do his job amateurishly but in an aesthetic way, that is to say, not clumsily or strongly, but in a smooth and accurate way. Furthermore, “curt cuts” is a good example of alliteration along with onomatopoeia, as both of the words begins with the same letters. So the professional use of both techniques at the same time can also be resembled to his grandfather’s professional work. These aspects of poems also show us how effective they are in giving the feelings deeply in a short verse, because, for instance, prose would approach the subject mostly in a straight way to makes us only know, but not feel.

The final line is very important as it is the point where writer compares himself to his grandfather and father, not by their hard work with the “spade”, but with his pen as he says “I’ll dig with it”. With the last line, reader can get also possible important messages that poet meant to give. Firstly, we know that in his last line, poet implies that he will help them, because he will do what his father and grandfather did in another method. They did it with their spades but Heaney will do it with his pen. The poem starts with a typical rural life of an Irish family, and ends with the writer’s current position, that’s, the poem ends the same way it begins with one more line: “I’ll dig with it”. So we also witness the change from rural culture to modern one. Heaney appreciates what his ancestor did, but he knows that he cannot do what they did and he chooses to do it in another way, with a pen, that’s education. By paralleling his life with his father and grandfather’s one, Heaney shows the respect to his heritage and inspiration that he got from them. As a poet his position is high enough in modern society, but he sees himself like his father and grandfather who worked in the field with their spades. His ancestors used the spade to plant vegetables and he will use his pen to plant words to reap his poems.

To conclude, I can say that Heaney’s professional reflection of past period to our time is very effective in a way to let us think that one should consider his/her ancestors’ hard work as important as the way we use in the present, that’s, using our pen as their “spade”. Furthermore, Heaney’s use of onomatopoeia, repetition, simile and alliteration gives the poem the most important functions that separate it from a simple prose and gives us the feelings as close as it can be. The message of the poem in my opinion is that as the time passes and changes, the spade turns into pen and does the same job what spade did. His ancestors worked hard to make a living; it is now time for the new generation to use their pens as effective as their ancestors used their spades. 

A Vindication of the Rights of Women vs. India Woman’s Death Song

Mahmut Deniz

3rd June 2008

Nature is a perfect model for the writers of Romantic Era. According to their philosophy, nature is described as representing the best and properly ordered aspect of things. Also, nature is the representation of sincerity, equality and perfection. It is good to Romantic writers because they try to be emotional in their works and they express their feelings sincerely. They believe that the core of human nature is his emotions. Therefore the emotions should include the sympathy and empathy towards people. By putting these ideas into practice they can create an equal society for humankind. In the nature, every living being has its own opportunity and place. However nature is distinct from social existence. Society can distort natural feelings and destroy the perfect order of nature. As parallel to this, writers believe that every individual should have equal rights and have place in the society. For instance, two women Romantic writers Mary Wollstonecraft and Felecia Dorothea Hemans take the Romantic idea of equality as basis for their writings. In her A Vindication of the Rights of Women Mary Wollstonecraft argues about the roles which are loaded to women’s shoulders by the society and she implicitly demands for equality. On the other hand, in India Woman’s Death Song Felecia Dorothea Hemans introduces an Indian woman with a baby who is at the edge of death. By showing the pitiful situation of the Indian woman, she implies how society can be influential on a woman’s life in a negative way. That is why, the two writers respond to the social restrictions placed on women’s lives by traditional gender expectations clearly but differently.

                                                                                                                               Çelik 2

In Indian Woman’s Death Song, Hemans expresses the social restrictions from an Indian woman’s point of view. In the poem, she sings a mournful death song. The poem can be divided into two parts. The first part consists of one paragraph and one stanza which includes fifteen lines. The first part serves as background information for the reader. In the paragraph, Hemans introduces the situation of that pitiful woman because she is deserted by her husband and she is with her children in a canoe which goes to the edge of the cataract. Also the Indian woman and mournful death song are important clues for understanding the social pressure that she exposed to. In the poem it is expressed “Her voice was heard from the shore singing a mournful death-song, until overpowered by the sound of the waters in which she perished” (1)As we can understand from the quotation, while the sound of death song represents the pitiful Indian woman, the sound of water represents  nature that she wishes to live. At the end of sentence we see that she is overpowered by the waters in other words she is taken control by the nature.

Also the first stanza is a kind of narrative because it has no fixed rhythm and no rhyme. The speaker is the third person in other words it is the poet. Like in the paragraph she continues to give background information for the reader and it tells about Indian woman’s suffering. In order to focus on the Indian woman’s situation, she makes a connection between nature and her. In other words the thunder of the cataract shows the nature’s power. In the first lines the words such as “forest glooms”, “tempest’s wing”, “cataract’s thunder” show that the place which refers to nature and its superiority. Also the words such as “proudly”, “dauntlessly”, and the sentence “A woman stood. Upon her Indian brow sat a strange gladness and her dark hair wav’d as if triumphantly” (1) shows that Indian woman sees nature as a protection for her and her children from the social pressure. That is why by using these words she characterizes a proud and strong woman but glad one for going to death in the face of

                                                                                                                                           Çelik 3

social pressure. Also, her high and clear song is the symbol of voicing out her existence to the society.

The second part of the poem consists of seven quatrains of two rhyming couplets. We see that in comparison to the first part, there is strict pattern and regularity which emphasizes the Indian woman’s certainty against the social pressure. In first quatrain, she talks about her suffering and miserable condition after her husband’s desertion. In two lines she wants nature to take them to heaven by using the word “Spirit’s land”. Also she refers to the nature’s supremacy by using the words “Father of ancient waters”. In last lines she describes herself like tired bird and wounded deer who wants to go to a place so that no one would interfere with her.

In the second and third quatrains, the Indian woman starts to talk about her husband’s betrayal and her feeling about him. For instance, she describes her husband as a warrior and she says “Roll on!-my warrior’s eye hath look’d upon another’s face”. Here we see that her husband betrays her with another face referring to another woman. She loses her importance in the eyes of her husband that is why she is disappointed. Also in the third quatrain, she goes on the same theme. She expresses that her husband forgets her easily but she does not. That is why she says “but mine its lonely music haunts, and will not let me rest” she does not stop thinking about him. She describes him as a light which she cannot live without it.

In the fourth and fifth quatrains, she remembers her domestic life with him. Also, she implies that she have done enough to make him happy. However, he chooses another woman, he will not be happy with another woman. That is why in the fifth quatrain, she decides to forget him and starts to imagine after life. She says that after life takes away her “the burden of the heavy day” and “the sadness of the day”. In other words, after life will help her to eradicate her mournful memories.

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In the sixth and seventh quatrains, we see that she gives up her husband and gets rid of from the social pressure. For instance, in the sixth quatrain, she is talking to her daughter. By doing, this she universalizes her experience as women’s experience. She tells her that she will not experience the same miserable life that her mother has. She promises not to leave her. In order to escape from the social restrictions, she takes the baby with her. In the seventh and the last quatrain, Indian woman wants to go to Heaven in order to be beyond social bonds because throughout her life, she lived for her husband. Now she breaks the bonds of patriarchal society completely. Also she makes a room or “kingdom” for her and her children. As the line states that she will find her youth there. That is why at the end of the poem Indian woman has gained enough confidence and endurance to live with her children in the Heaven.

In A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft defines and makes a criticism about women position in society in order to respond to social restrictions. Although she accepts gender differences as natural, she rejects the social indoctrination that women are inferior to man. Furthermore, she thinks that women are made deliberately by society as inferior people. In the first paragraph, she tries to explain how and why society sees woman as inferior to men. For instance, she asserts that women “have acquired all the follies and vice of civilization.” This means they are not inborn foolish or have not bad morality but they get it afterwards. Also in the first paragraph it is very clear that she argues about excessive sensibility for women. She asserts that due to women’s inflamed senses and neglected understanding, they become “the prey of their senses”. In other words their judgment is not formed by the society. They have no good to themselves and to others. That is why she rejects the society’s perception of “a mixture of madness and folly”. By stating these reasons she tries to show women’s position in the society.

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In the second and the third paragraph, in order to respond the social restrictions, she focuses on the stereotypes of woman which is imposed by the society. According to her, society makes woman to learn about novel, music, poetry and gallantry in order to develop their sensational parts. She thinks that these are acquired skills. So that patriarchal society will have ultimate control on women. By having overworked sensibility, they are not capable of thinking rationally. Also in the third paragraph; she continues to emphasize the stereotypes. She says that women are seen as “abortive eagerness” and “defiled body”. They have no joy without their sensibility. And she expresses that due to these stereotypes “women are made slaves to their senses”

In the fourth and fifth paragraph, she starts to tell the other dimension of the woman issue. She implicitly accuses society for making women as listlessly inactive and stupidly submissive towards them. She constructs her argument saying that if they are not made stupid and foolish, they could have ability to make distinction between good ad evil and to think rationally. She thinks that this perception of society prevents woman to rise in the society. Also in the fifth paragraph, instead of telling women’s cares and sorrows, she continues accusing society’s perception about woman. According to patriarchal society women are “fine by defect, and amiably weak”. Due to their ultimate dependence, woman can not change their position in the eyes of patriarchal society. Society sees them morally bad because of their tendency on emotions.

In the sixth paragraph, we see that she not only criticizes the perception of the society about women, but also criticizes woman in order to submit to these kinds treatment. She accuses woman that they cannot live without man’s help. Also she makes an irony about men by writing the word “natural” in italics. In other words she does not agree with the idea that men are the natural protector for women. Also she criticizes women’s demanding help from

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men by seeming pitiful creatures. According to her, these kinds of attitudes are the sign of “imbecility” and acceptance of men’s supremacy.

            In the last paragraph, she emphasizes the important point of women issue. In order to gain position in the society she asserts that woman can not allow man to treat hem as inferior beings. Metaphorically she says that women can not be confined to closed rooms. In other words she advises that they should see themselves as equal to the men. If they are successful seeing in this way, they can be accepted “more respectable members of society”. She continues to advice and she states they should get rid of “the important duties of life by the light of their own reason”. Finally she wants women not “to have power on men but themselves”. Namely she firstly wants women to gain their belated rights from man.

            In conclusion, both Felecia Dorothea Hemans and Mary Wollstonecraft deal with the social restrictions on women’s lives. While Hemans writes about an Indian woman’s voice about the women’s position, Wollstonecraft touches this issue by writing a well-developed essay. Although their ways of dealing the issue is different, their aim is the same which is to break social restrictions on women.

Roland Barthes Mythologies

Mahmut Deniz

16  January 2011

Roland Barthes Mythologies

           Roland Barthes's Mythologies consist of two sections. The first one is about the collection of essays on some modern myths and the second section is about the analysis of the concept of the book Mythologies which is called "Myth Today".  What Barthes means with the term "myth" is actually the way how culture signifies and gives meaning to the world around it, besides it is, as Barthes points out "a type of speech" (Barthes 107) and "a system of communication, that's a message" (Barthes 107). According to Barthes, "everything can be a myth provided it is conveyed by a discourse"(Barthes 107). That is, the myths are not restricted to text for Barthes, so anything visual or musical can be myth as well. Furthermore, "myth is a form of signification, a type of speech in which meaning is communicated."(Kincheloe 108).

            Barthes follows de-Saussure’s discussion regarding the nature of the linguistic sign and he characterizes myth as a second class of signification. For Saussure, "who worked on a particular but methodologically exemplary semiological system - the language or langue - the signified is the concept, the signifier is the acoustic image (which is mental) and the relation between concept and image is the sign (the word, for instance), which is a concrete entity." (Barthes 112). While, Barthes brings another dimension to the language of signs and extends its function to a second level, his method has "a signifier, but this signifier is itself formed by a sum of signs, it is in itself a first semiological system" (Barthes 114) However, his second level of signification, which is conveyed by the "myth", does not simply copies Saussure's method as " The signifier of myth presents itself in an ambiguous way: it is at the same time meaning and form " (Barthes 115) To visualize the phase of signification Barthes gives us a pattern that explains how his myth is formed:

So, actually the first level of signification becomes just another "signifier" which creates the "myth".  "In other words, myth operates by taking previously established sign (which is full of signification) and 'draining' it until it becomes 'empty' signifier." (Hawkes 132)

            Barthes gives an example of a magazine cover which portrays an African black boy in uniform saluting the French flag. Saussure's system of sign which is the "first-order meaning" or first level of signification, interprets the picture as just "the child saluting the flag." as the first thing that comes mind,  while besides thinking that "a child saluting the flag" Barthes thinks it signifies that " that France is a great Empire, that all her sons, without any colour discrimination, faithfully serve under her flag" (Barthes 115). Barthes thinks beyond the first level of signification and interprets the event to the second level of signification which means, actually it is not simply what we see but how we see it.

                       In conclusion, Barthes brings another dimension to the system of signs and builds another layer on the top of Saussure's system of signs. Text or language is not the only system of communication, but a picture itself can have a meaning and be used as means of communication. Everything can be a "myth" because, as he points out: "Every object in the world can pass from a closed, silent existence to an oral state, open to appropriation by society, for there is no law, whether natural or not, which forbids talking about things." (Barthes 107). Furthermore, the "myth" is not what we see and simply what comes to our mind first, which is the first level of signification, but it is mostly about how we see it.

Works Cited

Barthes, Roland. Mythologies. New York: Noonday, 1972. Print.

Hawkes, Terence. Structuralism & Semiotics. Berkeley (Calif.) [etc.: University of California, 1977. Print.

Kincheloe, Joe L. Multiple Intelligences Reconsidered. New York, NY: P. Lang, 2004. Print.

Differences Between Modernist Novel and Realist Novel

Mahmut Deniz

01. June.2007

Differences Between Modernist Novel and Realist Novel

Modernism is a term typically associated with the twentieth-century reaction against realism and romanticism within the arts. More generally, it is often used to refer to a twentieth-century belief in the virtues of science, technology and the planned management of social change. Realism is commonly defined as a concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary. However, the term realism is used, with varying meanings, in several of the liberal arts; particularly painting, literature, and philosophy. It is also used in international relations. In this essay, I will mention about the differences between realist novel and modernist novel in aspect of their structure, language, style and patterns by giving examples of “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen and “A passage to India” by E.M Forster.

While reading the novel “A Passage to India”, we come across some events which we cannot guess what is happening at that moment. The character Aziz, who is a young Muslim Doctor, takes Adela and Mrs. Moore to the Marabar Cave but, after an unknown event, Aziz is unexpectedly arrested. He is charged with attempting to rape Adela Quested. Here we understand that the event is unknown or it is an event that reader should guess, because we do not know what exactly happened in the cave to Adela. So in modernism, such unknown events make the plot unclear and create question marks in readers’ mind, and refuse a final or clear interpretation about the subject. However, in realist novels the plot is clear and understandable, so readers do not have to interpret about it, because realism itself reflects all realities one by one, and everything is clearly explained to the reader.

The language of modernists is impure and difficult to understand. When mentioning about an event, they try to create an aesthetic language, so that the language looks more poetic. In the novel “A Passage to India”, as a modernist novel, there are many examples of these. “Pretty dear, ‘said Mrs. Moore to the wasp. He did not wake, but her voice floated out, to swell the night’s uneasiness.”(pp.31) In the quotation, instead of “her voice floated out”, one can use her voice decreased or some more clear words. But “float out” gives the text an aesthetic and poetic appearance, that’s why modernists use it. And also, there is a personification in the quotation “night’s uneasiness”. The word “uneasiness”, which means tense, is generally used to describe a person’s condition, but in the quotation this term is used for an abstract object. However, in “Pride and Prejudice”, Jane Austen uses language perfectly, but not in flowery or flashy ways. Instead, she wrote her novel with great clarity and the novel itself is the best example for this.

As a modernist, E.M Forster uses the “Stream of Consciousness” writing technique. This technique is like an interior monologue, it gives the opportunity for characters’ own thought to be seen in the text. And this writing style is strongly associated with the modernist movement. As an example in the novel “A passage to India”, “…She found that the tip of the peg was occupied by a small wasp. ‘She had known this wasp or his relatives by day; they were not as English wasps…” Here we see that character includes her own thought in the text. With the help of this technique, reader can easily understand characters’ psychology, but it can make the text difficult to follow. Because, while reading, readers are focused on the original text, and this technique creates confusion in prose.

The “Stream of Consciousness” style of writing is common in modernists, because modernists use a multiple point of view, so that every character can speak or show his or her feelings in the novel. However, when we look at Jane Austen novel, text is structured completely logical. And, as she wrote the novel in third point of view, which means she knows everything, only she can reveal characters’ thoughts and feelings to the readers. Furthermore, as it has a logical order of sentences, there is no confusion as in the modernists’ style. For example, in her novel “Pride and Prejudice”, she shows the world as Elizabeth sees it.

Finally, in modernist novel the order of plot is complex, that’s to say, chapters do not follow an order. While one chapter focuses on a character or a subject, the other chapter suddenly begins mentioning about another character or subject. For example, in “A Passage to India” in chapter IV “Old Mr. Graysford” and “Mr. Sorley” discusses if all living creature go to heaven or not, but then in chapter V the subject suddenly changes. It starts mentioning about the “Bridge Party”, and the chapter is disconnected from the previous one. However, in “Pride and Prejudice” for instance, in chapter 35, the chapter ends with the Darcy’s letter, which he left for Elizabeth, and the chapter 36 goes on as if there was no cut between this chapter and previous chapter, which is about Darcy’s letter.

To conclude, there are many differences between modernist novel and realist novel. And there are many effects of them on novels. With the examples from novels “A Passage to India” as a modernist novel and “Pride and Prejudice” as a realist novel and, which are written in different period and different literary current, we can understand easily how these differences reflect on these two novels and how it affect them seriously in the aspect of their language, structure, style and patterns.