Suha Zaimoglu | Istanbul University (original) (raw)

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Papers by Suha Zaimoglu

The clockwork of a being’s behavioral system is geared with particular habits, in order to functi... more The clockwork of a being’s behavioral system is geared with particular habits, in order to function efficiently in its environment. In one theory, the ultimate focus of the animate being, both physically and psychologically, is simply built upon a complex ‘stimulus and response’ scheme which has developed throughout innumerable years in evolution.
In order to respond correctly, the being has to detect each particular source of stimuli, and construct a memory —made out of these source’s images— to preserve a consistent behavioral pattern. With the ability to differentiate ‘others’ from its own self, the being invents a virtual memory of its own; a self-image to maintain its vitality.
On the other hand, some psychologists such as Carl Gustav Jung suggests that one must have a different approach about the authentic human psyche towards the stimulus-response idea. In fact, Jung is against to the theory:
“The disastrous idea that everything comes to the human psyche from outside and that it is born a tabula rasa is responsible for the erroneous belief that under normal circumstances the individual is in perfect order...” — Jung (Norton, 1976)

In the course of few decades, U.S. Latino filmmakers have moved from the niche of overlooked arti... more In the course of few decades, U.S. Latino filmmakers have moved from the niche of overlooked artists into the mainstream media via Hollywood motion pictures, TV series, and commercial works with the assertive productivity of its frontiers beginning from El Teatro Campesino. According to some scholars, such as Charles Ramirez Berg, Latino Movie can be evaluated in three waves: The first wave is from the 60s and 70s, closely associated with Chicano movement and exemplified by Yo Soy Joaquin (1969); the second wave is from the late 70s and early 80s, adopting a rebellious agenda including Chicana artists; and the third wave is from since the late 80s, which has "political content embedded within the deeper structure of the genre, formulas the filmmakers employ rather than

Suggesting art as an Ideological State Apparatus in his essay, Althusser questions later on wheth... more Suggesting art as an Ideological State Apparatus in his essay, Althusser questions later on whether Art and Ideology are "one and the same thing". In his letter, Althusser confesses that the essay doesn't go into details, it only gives a "...broad sense of Ideology". And this is where the root of this "contradiction" lies. I do not personally see a sharp contradiction in his suggestion of the art as an apparatus versus revealing Ideology itself. What I claim is that the dichotomy is rooted in the misinterpretation or insistence of Marxist dialectic indicating "Ideology" as being one and the same with its "physicality" which almost always refers to its organic quantities. In "The Ideology of Modernism", Lukacs' persistence in rejection of seeing form as a structural device is caused by his strong opposition of Structuralism in all sorts. For Althusser, preconceived conditions within the society are intrinsic to the structure of the unconscious, and by being so, it doesn't exclude Structuralist approach from Naturalist perception while keeping loyal to Marxist thought. It is also valid, for the spesific existence of "true art" is expressed in details-i.e. genre, style, form, etc.-within its structure. The underlying factor here is that any work of art is created within some predetermined rules of its form. Remember when Umberto Eco suggested that "Every writer actually wants to be Homer", indicating that writers follow the continuum of Homer's tradition and form, tied to the historical background; its physical existence has an a priori condition to its production. Here it should be referred that for Althusser, Ideology concludes itself in the structure by interpellation of its subjects. Such as the person being born in a family within a society has their name already given, one can also suggest that the art in the literary form is also emergent as a phenomenon with š'appelle, representing an existing ideology. Here as a form of "representation", the literature with its physical existence is forced onto an organic physicality by which we take its psychological or virtual reflection for granted. Yet, this is again confirmed by the still vague nature of "unconscious" for human apprehension, i.e.

Book Reviews by Suha Zaimoglu

Beginning from Greek and Roman traditions— jokes functioned as benign acts to display socio-polit... more Beginning from Greek and Roman traditions— jokes functioned as benign acts to display socio-political conjunctures by (de)constructing ongoing reality —in other words, History. From the plays and comedies, artistic humor evolved in a satirical direction with the popularization of political cartoons in Renaissance (see Commedia dell’Arte) and turned into the caricaturization of themes, found its way through new mediums of Modern times.
The abundance of such media is “exhausted” in the process, claims the Postmodernist author Barth, and the so-called “intermedia (or) mixed-media” has emerged against the aesthetic traditions of high-modernism (Exhaustion, 73). Consequently in the Postmodern novel, History is given with its meta-textual reading and its representation via some mixed techniques of satire and is also correlated with the mocking of conventional ways of perception (as well as humor) that has reflected itself into literature. For example, as a response to the traumatizing effects of political unconscious in modern times (i.e. world-wars and socio-economical depressions), PMist “dark humor” functioned as a coping mechanism, a uniting element for the collective psychology. Therefore with its “quicker” tones and the rejecting/questioning approach, Postmodern art stated a format change in the way things are depicted, often revealing the absurdity intrinsic to the consumerist, modernist lifestyle. Thus the role of the medium with the use of techniques of parody and pastiche functioned as a vital

Disconnected from his past and therefore his future, Tayo was floating in mid-air. Struggling beh... more Disconnected from his past and therefore his future, Tayo was floating in mid-air. Struggling behind the flow of violent feelings and images like the sea of voices, Japanese soldiers and jungle storm, he had lost connection with his mythology. As a half white and half native American, he was already living at the borders of his own culture at Laguna-meaning pool, pond, the name of the lake-until it grew into an abyss. But now life has brought him to where he had no other way but to complete the healing ceremony so that he could progress the myth to be freed from the spell of the "witchery" and to learn how to peacefully swim in the "sea of emotions". According to Allan Chavkin, the essence of the recovering of Tayo, Silko's portrayal of masculinity of the "white man" should be examined in contrast to Native American approach : In Pueblo cosmology, everything in the universe (animate or inanimate) is 1 significant. As a symbol of animated, alive beings, animal spirit has an important spot in Native American culture. For Tayo's uncle Josiah, "cattle are like any living thing. If you separate them from the land for too long, ... they lose something". But white men raise animals that are not adapted to desert land, then enclose them in a way they can not run freely. This also represents Tayo himself, how he was separated from his land and lost something in the white man's WWII. White "men" also make huge wars, treat humans as they treat inanimate beings and kill them just like objects. It is the horrid face of the misunderstood masculinity that made Tayo feel deep guilt over many things like his uncle's and Rocky's deaths and even the "drought" in Laguna. He couldn't consciously figure this out for a period of time, but the source of his guilt was that he has lost perspective on the importance of life, the touch of intuition and senses, which synchronically affects the land itself. Land is merely a collective spirit manifest and the ill-fate represented itself in Tayo at such things, as "war fatigue" and the search of the "lost" animal. Losing his reverence for animal life, he also lost his self respect and viewed himself as "useless and inanimate" says Joseph L. Coulombe. Being 2 ! Chavkin, Allan, Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony: A Casebook (Casebooks in Criticism),

An unconventional formalistic style hits the reader in Hemingway's In Our Time. Rather than being... more An unconventional formalistic style hits the reader in Hemingway's In Our Time. Rather than being a collection of stories, the work is composed by stories bound together with vignettes... The "thematization of silence" represents the meta-narrative of the work, since "What the work cannot say is important... (It) reveals ... silence." (Macherey, 86)