The Left Hand of Darkness as an Allegory of Ethnography / Bir Etnografi Alegorisi Olarak Karanlığın Sol Eli Romanı
This paper aimed to discuss ethnography as a text within the context of a literary narrative and interpreted a science fiction novel, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin, with a focus on the textual strategies of ethnography. Based on the argument that the ethnographic text is a narrative...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cyprus International University
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Folklor/Edebiyat |
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| Online Access: | https://www.folkloredebiyat.org/Makaleler/394860349_10%20karanl%c4%b1%c4%9f%c4%b1n%20.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797989216998653952 |
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| author | Meriç Kükrer |
| author_facet | Meriç Kükrer |
| author_sort | Meriç Kükrer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper aimed to discuss ethnography as a text within the context of a literary
narrative and interpreted a science fiction novel, The Left Hand of Darkness by
Ursula Le Guin, with a focus on the textual strategies of ethnography. Based on
the argument that the ethnographic text is a narrative that includes the experience
of encountering the researcher with the researched in the field, the experience of
a “male” messenger traveling interplanetary throughout the novel was interpreted
in the context of ethnographic textualization. I focused on the similar structural
arrangements of ethnographic and literary textualization, moving from the
argument of “the death of the author” of structuralism, and reread The Left Hand
of Darkness as an allegory based on the textualization strategies of ethnography.
Ethnographic textualization strategies such as capturing the ethos, describing
everyday life, thick depiction, and storytelling of ethnographic experience were
also included in the novel. Within this context, the study proceeded through the
following discussions. At the beginning of the novel, the protagonist questions
whose story he is going to talk about. I interpreted this rhetoric as a projection
of a dialogical ethnographic textualization. Second, he painted a sharp picture of
the living world of the Gethen people, intensely depicting their daily lives and
rituals, and pursuing their ethos like an ethnographer. The last topic emphasized
was Genly Ai’s field experiences within the context of the feeling of loneliness and
the transformations in the subject-object relationship. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T08:15:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1aeac2edf1d54b8dadb88572f98243d0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1300-7491 1300-7491 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T08:15:38Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | Cyprus International University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Folklor/Edebiyat |
| spelling | doaj.art-1aeac2edf1d54b8dadb88572f98243d02022-12-22T04:35:09ZengCyprus International UniversityFolklor/Edebiyat1300-74911300-74912021-05-012710651753510.22559/folklor.1401The Left Hand of Darkness as an Allegory of Ethnography / Bir Etnografi Alegorisi Olarak Karanlığın Sol Eli RomanıMeriç Kükrer0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8069-4564Dr.This paper aimed to discuss ethnography as a text within the context of a literary narrative and interpreted a science fiction novel, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin, with a focus on the textual strategies of ethnography. Based on the argument that the ethnographic text is a narrative that includes the experience of encountering the researcher with the researched in the field, the experience of a “male” messenger traveling interplanetary throughout the novel was interpreted in the context of ethnographic textualization. I focused on the similar structural arrangements of ethnographic and literary textualization, moving from the argument of “the death of the author” of structuralism, and reread The Left Hand of Darkness as an allegory based on the textualization strategies of ethnography. Ethnographic textualization strategies such as capturing the ethos, describing everyday life, thick depiction, and storytelling of ethnographic experience were also included in the novel. Within this context, the study proceeded through the following discussions. At the beginning of the novel, the protagonist questions whose story he is going to talk about. I interpreted this rhetoric as a projection of a dialogical ethnographic textualization. Second, he painted a sharp picture of the living world of the Gethen people, intensely depicting their daily lives and rituals, and pursuing their ethos like an ethnographer. The last topic emphasized was Genly Ai’s field experiences within the context of the feeling of loneliness and the transformations in the subject-object relationship.https://www.folkloredebiyat.org/Makaleler/394860349_10%20karanl%c4%b1%c4%9f%c4%b1n%20.pdfallegoryethnographic textualizationetnographyfield experienceintertextualitytextualization strategies |
| spellingShingle | Meriç Kükrer The Left Hand of Darkness as an Allegory of Ethnography / Bir Etnografi Alegorisi Olarak Karanlığın Sol Eli Romanı Folklor/Edebiyat allegory ethnographic textualization etnography field experience intertextuality textualization strategies |
| title | The Left Hand of Darkness as an Allegory of Ethnography / Bir Etnografi Alegorisi Olarak Karanlığın Sol Eli Romanı |
| title_full | The Left Hand of Darkness as an Allegory of Ethnography / Bir Etnografi Alegorisi Olarak Karanlığın Sol Eli Romanı |
| title_fullStr | The Left Hand of Darkness as an Allegory of Ethnography / Bir Etnografi Alegorisi Olarak Karanlığın Sol Eli Romanı |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Left Hand of Darkness as an Allegory of Ethnography / Bir Etnografi Alegorisi Olarak Karanlığın Sol Eli Romanı |
| title_short | The Left Hand of Darkness as an Allegory of Ethnography / Bir Etnografi Alegorisi Olarak Karanlığın Sol Eli Romanı |
| title_sort | left hand of darkness as an allegory of ethnography bir etnografi alegorisi olarak karanligin sol eli romani |
| topic | allegory ethnographic textualization etnography field experience intertextuality textualization strategies |
| url | https://www.folkloredebiyat.org/Makaleler/394860349_10%20karanl%c4%b1%c4%9f%c4%b1n%20.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT merickukrer thelefthandofdarknessasanallegoryofethnographybiretnografialegorisiolarakkaranlıgınsoleliromanı AT merickukrer lefthandofdarknessasanallegoryofethnographybiretnografialegorisiolarakkaranlıgınsoleliromanı |