Phallus in Turkish Cinema

   In this post I am sharing my first paper from my film course. The course was focusing on male subjectivity in the context of Turkish cinema. I enjoyed a lot and having this course changed my perspective to films. Now I think I was a simple audience and I was not aware of  the things I can see now. Perhaps there is a lot to learn about film analysis. Hopefully I will learn much more about films.

Phallus in Turkish Movie Context

         Phallus is an erected penis if we check the dictionary meaning of it but it has also some other connotations rather than this simple denotation. Phallus is associated with masculine dominance, fertility, power and potency of male. Sometimes we see in the movies its symbolic usage directly, I mean as a first meaning of the word, as an erected version of penis but sometimes directors, writers or any art makers use its connotative meaning. In movies, especially in Turkish movies male dominance and power are like basic subjects and other things are constructed upon it. It is accepted as quite normal even people are not aware of it because they use to see it, read it or somehow live within it. If this situation, this habit reverts that would be surprising for people. This perception comes out in phallic stage where boys understand their sexual difference. By difference I do not mean superiority but the thing is that due to its shape and its form, penis is like an excess when we compare it with girl’s bodies. It is an extended member of male body so it seems a lack for females while it seems an advantage for males. This is the root of all perceptions about male dominance, patriarchy or power and so on. If you have it you are the lucky one but if you do not, sorry nothing valuable in your body.

          Baby has first separation with his/her mother in birth physically and it causes a deprivation in terms of losing wholeness so later that is why children have desires about their parents. It is because girl does not have a penis but has attraction to his father which we call Electra Complex, boy has a penis and attraction to his mother named Oedipus Complex. In this state fathers law comes to stage that you should not have such feelings for your parents so after that boy looks for new other to fulfil his lack to feel whole again. In Oedipal phase children think his mother as his phallus and want to see her as his object but because of father’s law it is impossible. Phallus is what male subject assigned in the social domain. In this paper I will debate about how phallus portrayed in 2 Turkish movies named 40 Quadratmeter Deutschland and Walking After Midnight ( Düş Gezginleri).

          In 40 Quadratmeter Deutschland our protagonist Dursun lives in Germany and gets marry with Turna, a girl from his homeland. Turna comes to Germany with great expectations, others girls admire her because she gets chance to go out of the country etc. In fact it does not happen as she dreams because her husband locks her, actually imprisons her in their 40 Quadra meter flat. Dursun sees Turna as his object and does not want her to communicate with anyone else. She only sees his face and only talks with him. Whenever Dursun wants to have an intercourse with his wife, Turna behaves like a submissive of him because Dursun is phallus here. Even though Turna does not show any significance of feeling sexual desires. In fact she is kind of disgusting of this act and she has blank eyes during the intercourse but all in all she has to obey because Dursun is the representation of dominance and power. He is like her master and Turna is his slave, submissive. Their relation goes on like this during the movie. At the end Dursun gets some kind of seizure and dies. The important point here is he dies while he is nude and in this scene he has a small penis. His dead body lies in front of the exit door so while he was alive he never let Turna out now his is like an obstacle for her again. Finally Turna pulls his dead body away from the door and goes out for the first time. She reaches her freedom so showing this small penis signifies that phallus’ reign is over and woman gets her freedom. In the other movie named Walking After Midnight we have a reversal situation because in this movie two main characters are female Havva and Nilgun. They have a lesbian relationship. Through the film we observe changing of Nilgun’s attitude toward Havva. Firstly they have no problem but later Havva becomes in a position of female figure while Nilgun gets the male figure. For instance Havva cooks and knits at home and puts everywhere her laceworks like a classical Turkish woman. Nilgun begins to envy her from their female neighbour but at the same time she betrays her with her ex-lover. She gets angry to her, humiliates her and looks down upon her. Her behaviours are much like man’s attitude toward woman. As I said above girls feel lack of penis but as this movie show us when they get chance of not having a penis but pretend to be phallus they do it. It shows us woman’s desire to be phallus too.

          To sum up, phallus is the representation of male dominance and power within society and family. Being phallus is expected for male characters but if female gets a chance to be like a phallus she never misses it. Being phallus associated with being powerful and becoming authority in a particular society or in core of the society namely in family.

Ceramic Art in Japan

     In this post I am sharing my short paper about ceramic art in Japan. It seems so irrelevant in the concept of my other posts. It is because I had to take one course from history department and the only course which fits to my schedule was Japanese history. In the beginning of the semester I was so scared because I knew nothing except samurai and sailor moon. The course went well and I got full grade beside gaining many things about Japanese history. This essay was my final essay and we were free to choose any subject. I am interested in ceramic and I have been doing ceramic and sculpture at school for a year. So I thought that would be fun and it was so. Hopefully one day I can get a chance to throw clay with one of the Japanese ceramic masters. Here it is...

Ceramic Art in Japan

    Ceramic is one of the oldest art form of Japan that dates back to Neolithic period. As the earliest period in Japan we have studied Jōmon Period in which first potteries were made. As records say the oldest found pottery dates back to Jōmon period. The early Jōmon Period pottery is very ornamented. It is like a jar form which has some kind of decoration on it. In fact it is known as a rope pattern technique today. It is also known cord-marking technique which gives name to the period.  It is interesting because the time that I am talking about is 14,500 BC-300BC and in this time people knew art. They knew how to shape, how to create art. On the other hand we know that Jōmon people were hunter-gatherer and the way they made pottery was not probably for storing food or so, but it seems like their art forms were for some kind of ritual if you will. Besides that they also made little vessels perhaps for boiling something as such. When we come to the later period, namely Yayoi Period pottery shapes turn into simpler forms, simple patterns or no pattern if you compare with the early period. The thing that changed is of course the style of the people, now they are agriculture society and they gather rice which says they have a settled life. It must reflect their pottery shapes, which we saw in class, they have smoother and more practical potteries for daily life use. Ceramic continues to be produced as an art and also for daily use in every period of Japan and it is still popular all over the world. As a ceramic student I love Japan ceramic masters’ techniques. They have very unique styles, figures and patterns. In this essay I will talk about ceramic art in Japan in light of three different articles by Irina S. ZhushchIkhovskaIa, George Benton Wilson and Richard Pearson.

   To begin with, in the article of Richard Pearson, he talks about an exhibition where many Japanese ceramic artefacts are presented. What he says is, ceramic treasure of Japan gives a chance to understand evolution of Japan history through looking their ceramics. It is because the way they create these pots, ceramics, potteries etc. in fact represents clues about their lifestyle as Pearson says; The exhibition traces the social life, customs and technological evolution of ancient Japan, which has the longest known ceramic tradition in the world, spanning more than 12,000 year .¹ Later he talks about how their lifestyles have effect upon their arts. As I have mentioned earlier, in Jōmon Period, people created pots, vessels and some ornamented things which Pearson believes they were using for some kind of healing ritual.² Some later Jōmon vessels were coated with lacquer, which made them waterproof, durable, and attractive. While larger vessels were used for cooking and storage, small pouring vessels appear to have had a ceremonial function.³ Some pieces that are believed were used for healing rituals found broken in Northern Japan which may suggest that their healing power was temporary. Jōmon people were great artist because in excavations archaeologists found a rare ceramic mask which is in the detailed form of human face. In the later period, namely Yayoi, ceramics reflect close cultural ties with Korea where ceramics of similar clay mixture and shapes have been found. Fine ceramic culture of Yayoi period continues to Kofun period. Japanese society underwent further changes in the Kofun period (ca. a.d. 300-700). By the fifth century a centralized government had developed that could control the flow of re- sources from outlying regions to its center near Nara on the island of Honshu. The Yayoi ceramic tradition continued well into the Kofun period, with the production of a soft reddish utilitarian ceramic known as haji that was made using a coil-and-slab technique.⁴ This special

type of technique was an influence from Korea. These ceramics were used during the ceremonies in honour of the Sun Goddesses Amaterasu Omikami. He also talks about special made figures in Kofun period to put kofuns with the dead bodies. He mentions about haniwas and in the horse shape of haniwas. People created them because as some historians believed that Japan invaded by horse riding people from Korea. Later Japanese learned from China how to glaze their ceramics in Asuka period and art developed in that way. Well Richard Pearson evaluates Japanese ceramic art in the light exhibition which was held in IBM Gallery in New York.

   In the essay of Irina S. ZhushchIkhovskaIa she talks about ancient ceramics all over the world. As other historians she defences that the most ancient ceramics belong to the East Asia and apart from Japan, she also stresses the importance ceramic treasures of China and Korea. She generally talks about how people were able to make ceramics even to find proper clays for doing so. She talks about advantageous of being an island and probable climate situations etc. The climatic-environmental situation during the time when ceramics were beginning to be made in the Japanese islands was extremely unstable, as seen in the following. The first phase of ceramic development dates between about 16,750 and 14,350 cal. BP, at the end of the late Pleistocene cold period. ⁵ She has similar opinions on ceramics dates and types with Richard Pearson just like him she begins with Jōmon period and continues. She talks about raw materials of clays which contains natural mixture of sandy particles, but it is difficult to determine whether it is human modification or a modification by chance. She is generally interested in scientific sides of the ceramic art. Like Pearson she talks about style, patterns some methods etc.

  In his article George Benton Wilson, expresses the more artificial sides of the ceramic art. He defences that ceramic art is as important as the world history because it is the first art form. He says it begins in the East Asia and Western people learn from them, but they never be able to reach their level. He divides Japanese ceramic art in three classes: It will assist the novice considerably if he bears in mind that the Japanese kilns produce three distinct classes of wares, viz., porcelain, faience, and pottery. The first is translucent because the "paste" or "biscuit"-which is the body of the ware underneath the glaze---is vitrified, owing to the fusion of the clay and feldspar elements. The faience is opaque, the paste being strong but not vitrified. The pottery is the ordinary glazed or unglazed earthenware, the biscuit of which may or may not be white. ⁶ What he says is pottery was original Japanese ware. He also talks about how ceramic factories have developed in Japan etc. According to his article ceramic culture in Japan is learned by going back and forth to China and Korea. They have effect on each other and they showed that in their works.

    All in all, as a ceramic student I found these articles very informative. They all talk about ceramic art in Japan but every one of them deals with it from a different perspective which is very helpful in order to understand the subject as a whole.  Japan history is a great source for ceramic history and it shows us how people change their art according to their life styles, their conditions. It reveals a universal idea I guess, because no matter in which area you live in, whenever you produce something, you create something it has social effect on it. It is inevitable for an artist to deny social structure and conditions.

  

[1]

BBBIBLIOGRAPHY

Pearson, Richard, “Ceramic Treasures of Japan”, Archaeology (November/December 1990): pp. 62-65.

Wilson, George Benton, “The Ceramic Art of Japan”, Brush and Pencil (1905): pp. 141-144, 147-148.

ZhushchIkhovskaIa, Irina S., “The Most Ancient Ceramics”, Anthropology & Archeology of Eurasia (Summer 2012): pp. 62-78. 

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[1]  Richard Pearson, “ Ceramic Treasures of Japan”, November/December 1990: 63

^2,3Richard Pearson, “ Ceramic Treasures of Japan”, November/December 1990: 64

⁴ Richard Pearson, “ Ceramic Treasures of Japan”, November/December 1990: 65

⁵ Irina S. ZhushchIkhovskaIa, “The Most Ancient Ceramics”, 2012: 65

⁶ George Benton Wilson, “The Ceramic Art of Japan”, 1905: 142

The Time Regulation Institute

 
    This long paper that I have written for my World Lit. course where we discovered literature of different countries mostly the colonized parts of the world but we had Turkish writers also and discussed the issue of modernity, modernism etc. I have chosen Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar as my paper and oral presentation assignment. I thought it would be easy because it was written in my mother language but it was more difficult to write about than english ones. I had to use secondary sources at least 5 and all of them were Turkish so I had to translate every one of them unfortunately. Anyway it was the longest assignment I wrote till the end of this semester. Hope it helps someone.

                                            The Time Regulation Institute

      Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar is known one of the most important modern novelists and poets of Turkish literature. In fact he wanted to be known with his poems but his novels are more popular than his poems. He lived in the time of transition period of Turkey, so in his novels we see influence of this period a lot. Actually, he criticizes this period and the people who lived at the time, in terms of changing everything, accepting anything as the right one for the sake of being modern which is came from West, although he was not against to Modernization. By virtue of his criticism of this time most of people especially who was known as intellectual did not like him much, in fact Tanpınar was isolated by these intellectuals and they presented him like retrograde person because of his ideas. Of course it was a misunderstanding of Tanpınar’s idea, he was not against to Modernization but he defended not to lose of all Ottoman and Islamic heritage. He was right in his defence because most of people of that time thought that modernization means throw out past and all heritage than to take everything from West instead of them which most probably ends with identity problem. When we look at the history of world we can easily see many examples of physical colonialism, in all of them the superior side which means colonizer wants to make colonized people forget of their past finally their identity in order to divide and rule them easily. Turkey has never been colonized physically but, with the  begining of modernization process Turkey and citizens of this country start to lose something, something belongs past and identity even today it goes like this. In this point, Tanpınar criticizes Turkish society, not for only The Time Regulation Institute in another his novels are also based on same point. In The Time Regulation Institute which is the base of this paper Tanpınar specifically shows us that every change does not mean an improvement. Rest of the paper will prove this thesis with the help of primary and secondary sources.

     Before going through the novel with examples we need to understand that what modernization means.

There is an essential difference between the two of the words, modernity and modernisation, which has been intended by Habermas. This difference identifies historical evolution, not only the western societies  but also non-western ones. We can say shortly, modernity marks a Project or reflection, but the modernisation marks   instituonal and structural evolution which can be facilitated by modernity. .Another subjectional judgement In this context, non-western societies are able to modernize but not to be modernWesternizing  includes the colonizational and capitulational relations and beside of this capitalist market growth. Because of this point, westernizing also includes and cause the unequal historic evolutional improvements.“Modern” pratics, which has been executed on the non-western countries,  have never any humanistic virtues and benevolent characteristics.Westernizing has contructed itself as an compensational  idelogy and remover of the historical belatedness as a negotiator.

With the Angle of the political wiew, modernity and modernisation explains the evolution of normative and instituonal seperations.Modernity can be defined as a process like an individual discipliner and educater. But modernisation establishes the infrastructural basement of this kind of education. In other words, modernisation identifies the conceptual and political framework. Modernity in the meaning of “To westernize” or we can rather to call “make someone westernize” couldn’t have surpassed the resistance. But it caused many important irreversible changes in the way of modernisation for many societies in the world. (Çiğdem 68)

   In the novel Tanpınar chose the characters on purposely to show circumstances of that time with an ironic and satiric way. This transition period and its dilemma is the base of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar. Most of his writings we see the same point.

Tanpınar’s writings vocalise a criticism of such a combination of nationalism and cultural conservatism… Indeed, the major crux of Tanpınar’s vision is this: how to reconcile the European ideals with a restored cultural tradition and historical continuity. True, in some crucial respects, Tanpınar explicity criticises the positivistic and atomistic moral and political outlook of some of the boosters of modernity. This strain in Tanpınar’s thought comes out very clearly when he expresses the existential  significiance of some of his crucial terms such as “continuity” and “tradition”. But in some other important respects, Tanpınarcontinues with the political legacy of European modernity. This manifestly distinguishes Tanpınar’s thought from Safa’s cultural conservatism, a perspective replete with cultural essentialism and romantic deceit. In no account Tanpınar’s view of cultural tradition can be construed as to refer either to some sort of an aggressive political nationalism that can be used as an instrument of social and political mobilisation or an epistemological essentialism concerning the Notion of culture and tradition. Nonetheless, some of Tanpınar’s important concepts and writings have invited, with some justification, the interpretation that Tanpınar’s work expresses yet another romanticisied version of conservatism or traditionalism. Many commentators, bothhis proponents and opponents, have stressed this ambivalence in Tanpınar’s writing. (Sezer 428)

 

 For Tanpınar himself his expression is that;

When the idea of society is introduced, the tragedy of fate diminishes, because unlike fort he individual, there is no death for society. Cotinuity exists there. The chain continues for all eternity.. History, art, Works, traditions – all of these are society’s consciousness of contiunity.. As individuals – that is, as people diverge from the cosnciousness of society – they are nothing but an aggregate of weaknesses. As they enter into and adopt the life of society, they overcome these weaknesses.. What is going to liv efor all eternity is netiher the individual nor even generations, but rather society. Only society, and its historical manifestion, the nation, can withstand fate and time. Only the oak tree that has put pout its roots into the depths of the earth, not the individual leaf, can endure the storm. ( 22-23)

   In the novel Tanpınar uses an irony and shows us oddness of the people at that time with the little details through the characters of the novel. For instance in the home of father of Hayri İrdal is the protagonist of the novel they a Wall clock named as Mübarek and fort hat clock İrdal describes it as a human being also everyone who lives in that home is so respectful fort he clock, Mübarek. Being respectful for an old clock represents dependence of past which in spite of teh modernization process still they are bound their past, their heritage. Another example is wives of Hayri İrdal, first one Emine is a faitful, a good house wife who represents house wives in old time, in Ottoman time but, when we come to Pakize the second wife of İrdal, he meets with her after meeting with Halit Ayarcı who changes his life a lot. For Pakize, she is not a faitful woman, she is not like Emine at all. She cheats Hayri with Halit Ayarcı also they have a child but she does not regret at all. She is a kind of light woman like she likes parties, drinking etc. In terms of this representation I can easily say that Pakize signifies to the Western women. Of course I do not humiliate or blame western women but this example shows us that modernization is understood wrong. There is a misunderstanding at that time because for people who live the time was thinking that who behaves like the women in the movies or like the women in the West makes them modern. This is the wrong perception of modernization in our country. To support the thesis, I can say that two have new habit like Pakize, it is a changes but it is not an improvement at all.

   One of another important points in the text is the corruption of government and foundations. In the novel Hayri and Halit Ayarcı set the Time Regulation Institute and they get employees fort he institute. The funny and ironic point is that they choose employees from their relatives and suggestions of their friends. They do not think about anything the education or qualification of them. The significant thing is for them to be relative or friend. This circumstance criticizes of foundations and their working system in Turkey. Eventhough absurdity of existence of the institute, governer visits the institute and congrulates them to do such works. This is another ironic point in the novel.

Prominent Tanzimat novelists such as Ahmet Mithat Efendi and Namık Kemal welcomed Western technology while preserving theestablished cultural texture in their novels. The republican novel, on theother hand, seems to serve the purpose of building a nation–state. AhmetHamdi Tanpınar is one of the outstanding novelists of this epoch. A careful analysis of his novels, which problematize the major social and cultural transformations from Tanzimat to Republic, may serve to understand beter the Westernitation process in Turkey. Modernisation achievements which has been made Ottoman era, imitates western but the main goal of these activities is keep the empire permanent. But republic changes the ideas. Now and then, the main purpose is,”improvement for social order” In this era, we saw radically hiatus from traditions and policies. Revolutions punctuate the speech with cheers and make the end forever. (Gündüz 14)

   Halit Ayarcı seems to the antagonist of the novel because whenever he wants something İrdal does it without questioning. Of course Ayarcı influences İrdal’s life in a bad way. After meeting with Ayarcı, İrdal’s life changes a lot in a bad way. He behaves like so called modern people. He cehats his wife also and somehow he know the relationship between his wife and Halit Ayarcı but he does not do anything even does not say any word. Maybe it can be criticism of the proceeds of being modern in a bad way.

İrdal performed all the things that has been told by Ayarcı without questioning. But the author criticize the obedience and acceptions without any investigation. On the other hand, useless activities that made by Ayarcı who says “beliefs are necessary for success” has been criticize also. All of two behaviours are nonsense fort the author. Imperious manner of Ayarcı and thoughts about  modernisation symbolizes western life style. İrdal symbolizes the last term of the poor Ottoman Empire and the conservative policy. (Günday 84)

  To sum up, in this novel Tanpınar shows the situation of the people at the transition time. Misunderstanding of Modernization, identity crisis and corruption of belief somehow traditions which means, with the begining of Tanzimat a Modernization process stars and it still cotinues, this process has taken something from our lives because it does not fit on us. In terms of this perspective, Tanpınar defends that, we should protect our İslamic and Ottoman heritage, we should not take everything from West. Of course it does not mean that Tanpınar does not like West but he just wanted to make us protect our past if we do not then it turns identity crisis, nothing at all.

Works Cited

    Çiğdem, Ahmet. "Batılılaşma Modernite ve Modernizasyon." Modern Türkiye'de siyasî düşünce. 1. baskı. ed. Cağaloğlu, İstanbul: İletişim, 20012009. . Print. 

    Gündüz, Olgun. "Türkiyede Batılılaşma Serüveninde Özgün Bir Portre: Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar." U.Ü. Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 1 Jan. 2002: 14. Web. .

   Günday, Rıfat . "Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü'nde Toplumsal- Eleştiri ve İroni." İlmi Araştırmalar 1 Jan. 2007: 79-102. Print

     Sezer, Devrim . The anxiety of cultural authenticity in Turkish communitarian thought: Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar and Peyami Safa on Europe and modernity, History of European Ideas. :  2012. Print.

   Tanpınar, Ahmet Hamdi, and Maureen Freely. The Time Regulation Institute. New York: Penguin Classics, 2013. Print.

Trouble of Men

     I have made this analysis for my humanities course. I have compared characters of two different texts. 4th day story of Decameron and one of the stories of 1001 nights by Scheherazade. Trouble of man. Lets see what is it?

     In both of the stories men suffer from their sexual desires. They are like captived by their sensual intentions so they do not hesitate to use their position I mean their authority in order to reach what they want, but, most significant characters in these stories are the Kadi and the Friar of course because they are the suymbols of the religious authority in the stories on the other hand we have the Governer, the Vizier, the King etc. people from different social and economic classes. I do not mean their intention is better than the Friar or the Kadi or more acceptable but my point is having such an intention of religious authority, which people turn to so called for the fulfillment of souls, sounds worse than others. To begin with such a long introduction and little adding of my perspective to the characters, their main similarities are, having a remarkable and almost respectable position in the society and upon the society, and also taking this as an advantage to have woman. For instance, in the 1001 nights story the Governer, Vizier and the King also the Kadi promise to release of her real lover in return of having her body and her beauty while the Friar Alberto tells to Madonna Lisetta that her beauty is above all the worldly beauties that Angel Gabriel falls in love with her. He flatters of Madonna Lisetta to have her because he know that is her weak point just like Vizier and others in the 1001 nights use weak point of the young woman which is very pragmatic behaivor.

   This is a mutual agreement among them. Every side wants to take his own advantage included women. The young woman wants to rescue her lover and Madonna Lisetta satisfies herself with the approval of her beauty by Angel Gabriel by having sex together. Oh I am more beautiful than hauries in paradise. In terms of discrepancy of their punishments well, the second one I mesn punishment of the Friar is more insulting than others because in the other story they are locked in the cupboard and at least they have something to wear but the Friar gets naked and covered with honey which makes him very disturbed later. I mean if he wants to save his body he will be naked which would be very scornful situation for him but, on the other hand the Friar emerges in the piazza with a chain on him where everybody sees his mask falls which is very allegorical. Falling of the mask of the Friar. In the 1001 nights they pee each other’s head which means people from different classes deal with a common sin. They are all in the same mess. Then they are released witg the help of the Kadi, holyness of him, power of religion which the Kadi came the position with. At the end they do not get real punishment but the Friar gets. The church authority locks him in order to protect honour of themselves.

Pardoner's Tale

    Again from my Medieval Lit. course. We have studied The Canterbury Tales by Goeffrey Chaucer and our assignment was to write a tale like his tales by using one of his characters. We could not change features of the characters but we were free to change time and setting. I love Pardoner's Tale even I recited his prologue from the original text which sounds like German more than English. I really like my tale, its setting, details, other characters etc. Hope you like it too. Have fun.

Pardoner’s Tale

    I am the most famous pardoner in Bibury with my great knowledge and licence from Rome. I saw many others like me but we have a difference. I am more celever than all because they are ignorant pardoners even some bishops. They do not aware of the tricks that I have. I am not sure maybe there are others like me. While I am living an admirable life they live like beggars. Oh God how stupid they are. They preach only for the sake of God and to have his love. Why do I do such foolish things rather than having an enjoyable life. Thanks to God I am smart. Well let me tell more about me. If you are a pardoner people tend to believe what you told so I use this chance but sometimes it is very hard to do because I need to collect some bones than I have to clean them carefully in order to get rid of its smell that calls flies on it or sometimes dogs run after me if they see the bones on me. Then I let people to touch them behalf of Saints bones. Of course I get money for it. Often I go to voyage to other villages and cities to make more money. If I go to a poor village  I can even find something to take rather than money. I eat free or have sleep with a nice girl. If I want to sleep with girls you know sometimes you want more than normal then I tell them sleeping with me is blessing and makes maidens lucky to have a rich husband. To make it more believable I give them some examples from other women from cities who are married with rich men now. Of course I tell it only girls not men. As you understand I am a smart guy but sometimes I can fall mistakes as every person does. One of them let me tell you is about my home. Oh my sweet home. A few years ago I wanted to build a great home for myself but I had no money to do. Actullay I was earning money just like I am doing today but I was spending all of it in drinking or gaming. Then an idea came my mind I began to ask money for the church that I was living. I told everybody, our church, home of God need to be restored otherwise it can collapse with a strong rain and wind. Then everyone gave money for the church even some of them had no money but they sold something than gave it to me for their holy house. Whoever  came the church to make me pardon for them I took their money also. Then I found a man that was told the most talented man to build  home. I described him what I want basically a home but like a palace with a little luxury which I deserve because I work a lot. It should be in the highest point of the village due to I am a pardoner I need to be closer to God and there should be no one between us. It would be good for me because people from village could not reach there easily. The builder began to build it but I could not go there to check it often. A few months later the guy came to me and said it is done then we go there together. When I saw the home it was fascinated. It was compeletely white and sides of the windows were gold and its roof also had golden pieces on it. My home was charming. Then I thanked to the builder and gave his money. He said I did your home as the way you do to people’s souls. Your home is shining like a sun and very peaceful place and when you pardon for someone just for the sake of God then his soul shines and find peace. Just I smiled to him and said well that is my duty for this world I pardon to have a place in the garden of God and to have his love. The guy went and I entered the home,  its inside was also charming full of luxury furniture and others. I began to live there thank to God no one could see me due to its distance to the village. When I needed money I was going to the village and taking food and something I need. One day the weather was very dark it was like breaths of an angry bull was full of fog. Then it started raining which was not a normal rain. It was pourning with strong wind it turned something like a tempest. Everybody was wondering about their holy house but I told them not to be worry because it is house of God he will protect his own home. Everyone was escaping from this horrible situation then I runned away too from this chaos and went to my home to find some peace  there but when I arrived there what I saw was shocking. My little palace collapsed with beautiuful golden windows and luxury furniture. But how, how it is possible. It was very beautiful and well builded also the builder of it was the most known for this job. I paid a lot of money for it. Why, why me? Why my house collapsed? I thought God punished me for what I done to people. Then the rain ceased and I went down to the village I was so upset. Every villager asked what happened to me. Then I wondered the guy and asked about him to someone in the village. I did not want to believe their answers because they said the builder was known as a tricker. He deceives all people to build or restore their homes then gets their money and makes his job just for the sake of appereance and cheatig people. That is my story and I praye God to save us from all trickers and punish them.

Consolation of Dr. War

      This one is a little bit different from my previous assignments. Consists of poetry and prose. In fact I do not like poetry as much as short story or novel as a genre but I had to do. In Medieval Lit. class we have studied Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy and our As. Prof. asked us to write something similar. The most difficult part was deciding to the content but I noticed that by time as I read something collects in my mind and when I try to create something new I call them back and inspired by them. One thing from one novel and another from a movie a song. Of course I have used allegory as coming forward figure of Medieval Literature. Here what I have done.

                  I woke up in unrest of my terrible dreams as every morning,

                 With all those faces never left my mind, and voices in my ears,

                 The little girl with blonde hair and red coat

         Who is trying to escape from all this horror which made by me and other soldiers.

                 The girl falls down and her hair stains with blood.

                 Bullets of my gun shoot her and she looks me while she passes away.

She and many others died with my gun. The guilty felling that I have felt overwhelmed rest of my life. I see same horrible dreams and I wake with guilty feeling. I never throw away these memories from my mind. In this hospital only Dr. War tries to console me. “ Please Dr. War kill me I can not bear these agony anymore. Suffering of all those people that I killed never leave me. All the nights their faces in front of my eyes. I killed! I killed all of them! I am the murderer of all the people! This is the crime against humanity the only thing that deserve is death” I said. He replies me with his calm attitude as always “ I see you more nervous today Septimus. Did you see the little girl with blonde hair and red coat again?” Dr. War I killed the girl. I can not bear this misery any longer.” Then he begins his consolation as every day “ Try to calm down Septimus it was not your fault as I have told you before. It was not your choice to go to the war. You had to. You had no choice. The desicion did not belong you but the government. You were just one of the thousands soldiers and you had to do what commanded you. The soldiers who turn back from the war declare himself as hero because figthing for own country and killing people is known a blessed duty and also if you die there your name will endure as martyr to whom heaven is promised. But you are not one of them you are out of all religious and political norms. You are the one who feel responsible conscientiously that is why the government who considers your situation as insanity sent you to this mental hospital. As all other soldiers in here. Keep in your mind that Septimus you are not responsible and do not blame yourself anymore, the guilty person is who makes you pull the trigger.

    I can not get rid of all the memoirs of the war.

   I killed all of them I killed the little girl.

  The faces always in my mind. I am miserable.

  Wish I could never join the war and never be a soldier.

  I did not decide and I did not choose to fight but I killed them.

 This misery that goes on every day should have an end.

 While I am sitting at the edge of the window at the sixth floor,

 And looking down, these lines come off of my mouth.

 Fear no more the heat o' the sun, / Nor the furious winter's rages.*


 * from Shakespeare

A Passage to India

    Hello I am back after a 100 year. I know it has been too long but my university courses were so intensive, I was so busy, final exams, paper etc.etc. This post is from my 2nd year novel course. We covered E.M. Forster's 2 books. A Passage to India and Aspects of the Novel. Aspects of the Novel is a kind of manual for an ideal novel. Forster gives the receipt of the his ideal novel. In the beginning of the semester we started with this one and rest of the semester we analyze all the books from with the light of this book. A Passage to India is a fat one physically which scared us a little bit. But it is interesting and easy to read in terms of language use. Me and my classmates enjoyed with it. I will post my response paper about the book but the thing is when I reread it now I see that my analyze would be better. It is very short and actually it must be more specific but interestingly I had good grade with this useless paper. Anyway enjoy your reading and hope it helps somebody.

A Passage to India

   A Passage to India, is the most famous novel of Edward Morgan Forster. The novel was selected as one of the 100 great works of English literature and he won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. The novel is based on Forster’s experiences in India and also we can say it is an intertextual novel in terms of title because it is barrowed from Walt Whitman’s poem named “Leaves of Grass”. 

  The story is about the trip of two British women Adela Quested and her elderly friend Mrs. Moore, to India. They travel by train from England to Chandrapore which is a fictional British Indian city. Two British women arrive Chandrapore and they are welcomed gladly like a president. Then they start to attend other British’s parties and to have a talk with them, actually they would like to make communication with Indians but other British people avoid them to communicate with the Indians. One night they go to club but it is boring for Mrs. Moore so she goes out to take fresh air then discovers a secret, mystic place, it is a mosque. When Mrs. Moore goes inside of mosque she realizes that she is not alone there. Somebody is there, an Indian, Dr. Aziz. He sees the Engliswoman and reminds her that is a mosque because he is a muslim and he wants her to be respectful for  the place but Mrs. Moore has already taken off her shoes. Then Mr. Turton who governs Chandrapore gives a party and invites both two of Englishwomen and they have a chance to meet others so they meet Cyril Fielding, the principle of the government college in Chandrpore. Fielding is affected by Adela’s open friendliness for Indians, he invites her and Mrs. Moore to tea with him and the Hindu professor Godbole. Fielding invites Dr. Aziz as well as a request of Adela.

   At the tea Fielding and Dr. Aziz become friend immediately and also Adela likes to talk with him after that Ronny comes, he is Adela’s fiance and also Mrs. Moore’s son, interrupts the party rudely. At that night Adela tells Ronny that she decided not to marry with him, then they make a car accident and it changes Adela’s idea. Afterwards, Dr. Aziz organizes an expedition to the Marabar Caves those who attended Fielding’s tea but Fielding and professor Godbole miss the train so Dr. Aziz needs to go on with two Englishwomen. Adela, Mrs. Moore and Dr. Aziz go inside one of the caves but Mrs. Moore disturbes by the enclosed space and echo of the caves.

  Therefore, Adela and Dr. Aziz go on to the higher caves with a guide but Mrs. Moore waits them below. Meanwhile, Adela realizes that she does not love Ronny then she asks Dr. Aziz whether he has more than one wife after that Dr. Aziz goes inside one of the caves then when he returns Adela is gone. Dr. Aziz finds her broken field glasses but can not find Adela then returns down and learns that Adela has taken a car back to Chandrapore. Then Dr. Aziz is arrested unexpectedly. He is charged with attempting to rape Adela while she was in the caves, a charge based on a claim Adela herself has made. By the way Mrs. Moore will return to England as earlier than she planned but she dies on the voyage. In the trial of Dr. Aziz, Adela tells the truth that Dr. Aziz did not do anything to her. Now Dr. Aziz is free but Adela loses something like her fiance because she tells her mistake and gives back Dr. Aziz’s freedom only Fielding appreciates her behaivor who believes innnocence of Dr. Aziz from the begining. Then she returns to England. Then Dr. Aziz gets angry to Fielding because of his friendship with Adela. He becomes the cheif doctor away from Chandrapore. He learns that Fielding gets marry with Adela but he is wrong because Fielding gets marry with Stella, daughter of Mrs. Moore. At the end of the novel Dr. Aziz thinks that is it possible to be friend with a British or not.

  The novel shows us the relationship between two different races, especially among colonizer and  colonized people. When we read the text the main question comes our mind, is it possible actually being friends for those people or not. In fact, in the first part and also trial part of the novel we see bad behaivors of British people, in my opinion they humiliate Indians actually howewer Indians become happy and feel good when they have a chance to attend British parties like Dr. Aziz.