Elham Mohammadi Achachelooei | University of Malaya, Malaysia (original) (raw)

Papers by Elham Mohammadi Achachelooei

Research paper thumbnail of The Red-Haired Woman: An Ecofeminist Analysis

Journal of Applied Linguistics and Applied Literature: Dynamics and Advances, 2024

This article analyzes Orhan Pamuk's The Red-Haired Woman (2017) (hereafter RHW) from Alicia Helda... more This article analyzes Orhan Pamuk's The Red-Haired Woman (2017) (hereafter RHW) from Alicia Helda Puleo's ecofeminist perspective. It discusses Gülcihan's character in RHW as a cultural figure who, standing beyond the essentialist division of culture / nature, develops a constructive interaction with the masculine world of the novel, prefiguring the reestablishment of life. The novel reviews the process of modernization in Türkiye through detailing the confrontation of the old and new via references to the mythological stories of Oedipus Rex, and Rostam and Sohrab. The references highlight the notions of patricide and filicide, pointing to rising tension between Eastern and Western aspects of Turkish cultural identity. This investigation challenges the dominant reviews of the references as pessimistic illustrations of the disappearance of historical Türkiye along with her environment and argues that RHW offers an alternative vision of modernization via Gülcihan's narration as an optimistic stand toward industrial formation through enhancing self-awareness and intercultural understanding.

Research paper thumbnail of Black as A Redeeming Hero in My Name is Red Research Article pp. 7-26

Research paper thumbnail of Writing process conceptions: A comparative study on disciplinary-socialized and disciplinary-naïve graduate students in two academic disciplines

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2023

Research paper thumbnail of The Falling of the Racial, Economic, Sexist-Gendered Segregating Wall in Octavia Butler’s Parables

SARJANA, Dec 31, 2020

In this article I will apply Daphne Hampson's Post-Biblical Perspective to investigate th... more In this article I will apply Daphne Hampson's Post-Biblical Perspective to investigate the metaphor of wall as the reflection of a humanist perspective in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower (2007a) and Parable of the Talents (2007b). This is done through focusing on the struggle of a black female reformer who, by introducing a religion called Earthseed, challenges the humanist understanding in the novels. This humanism is illustrated through focusing on the role of Christianity as a religious discourse that prioritizes certain sociocultural concepts and aspects. Introducing Earthseed, the protagonist develops a posthumanist perspective that is symbolized through the falling of the wall in the novels and offers new understanding of the sociocultural concepts and aspects away from the hierarchical order. Considering the novels as science fictions of neo-slavery, in this paper I discuss slavery as an encompassing concept of humanist understanding which gradual disappearance, along with the falling of the wall, signifies the emergence of posthumanist understanding in the novels. The aim of this paper is to explore Butler's success in illustrating different aspects of this posthumanist understanding.

Research paper thumbnail of Butler's 'Parables': A Posthumanist Call to Address Ecological Irresponsibility

This article explores the relationship between a posthuman representative of humanity and nature ... more This article explores the relationship between a posthuman representative of humanity and nature in Octavia Butler‘s Parable of the Sower (2007) and Parable of the Talents (2007). Using Rosemary Radford Ruether’s feminist Biblical ideas, the article argues that the stories, as samples of science fiction, expose a posthumanist perspective where existence of human kind is defined based on a mutual, nonhierarchical relationship between human beings and nature. This article aims to explore the positive standpoint of science fiction towards the transformation of the human-nature relationship through an unothered perspective and, in this way, illustrate the potential for a more sustainable life on Earth. The relationship is investigated through an unorthodox theological perspective that confronts the institutionalized Christian concept of man as the true representative of God on Earth. In this way, the stories describe a fictional space in which the Christian concept of nature and woman a...

Research paper thumbnail of The Past and ‘Discontinuity in Religion’ in Octavia Butler’s Parables: A Feminist Theological Perspective

Journal of Language, Literature and Culture, 2021

ABSTRACT This article employs feminist theologian Daphne Hampson’s notion of ‘discontinuity in re... more ABSTRACT This article employs feminist theologian Daphne Hampson’s notion of ‘discontinuity in religion’ to explore the concept of the past in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (2007) and Parable of the Talents (2007). Focusing on the activities of a black heroine who appears as a reformer who revives her dead society, this article argues that the novels reflect a posthuman, post-Biblical aspect of renovation by discarding the past which is envisioned as a paralysing obsession in these texts. The renovation in the novels is done through a kind of discontinuity in particular Christian principles, substituting them with a new doctrine of thought. The introduction of this new belief called Earthseed, confronts those principles that render Christianity a religion with roots in the past, and offers a way of being and thinking which goes against the religious, sexual, racial and classist dimensions of life founded on exclusively Christian doctrine. The aim of this article is to investigate the new social order emerging from this alternative system of belief. This is important because it brings to the fore a constructive and liberating concept of change which, challenging Butler’s negative view, reveals the capacity of the new system to create a utopian world.

Research paper thumbnail of The God-Human Relationship in Octavia Butler’s “The Book of Martha”

GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Posthumanism in "Amnesty" by Octavia Butler: A Feminist Theological Analysis

This article explores the tension between the humanistic, eugenic concept of identity and that of... more This article explores the tension between the humanistic, eugenic concept of identity and that of posthumanism in Octavia Butler's "Amnesty" (2005). Using Daphne Hampson's feminist post-Biblical perspective, the article argues that the story exposes a posthumanist perspective where the existence and subjectivity of human kind is defined based on a mutual, non-hierarchical relation between the human and nonhuman worlds. This article suggests that "Amnesty," reflecting an unothered perspective of life through an unorthodox theological perspective, illustrates the potential for a more humanitarian life on Earth.

Research paper thumbnail of The Past and ‘Discontinuity in Religion’ in Octavia Butler’s Parables: A Feminist Theological Perspective

Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Volume 68, 2021 - Issue 2, 2021

This article employs feminist theologian Daphne Hampson’s notion of ‘discontinuity in religion’ t... more This article employs feminist theologian Daphne Hampson’s notion of ‘discontinuity in religion’ to explore the concept of the past in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (2007) and Parable of the Talents (2007). Focusing on the activities of a black heroine who appears as a reformer who revives her dead society, this article argues that the novels reflect a posthuman, post-Biblical aspect of renovation by discarding the past which is envisioned as a paralysing obsession in these texts. The renovation in the novels is done through a kind of discontinuity in particular Christian principles, substituting them with a new doctrine of thought. The introduction of this new belief called Earthseed, confronts those principles that render Christianity a religion with roots in the past, and offers a way of being and thinking which goes against the religious, sexual, racial and classist dimensions of life founded on exclusively Christian doctrine. The aim of this article is to investigate the new social order emerging from this alternative system of belief. This is important because it brings to the fore a constructive and liberating concept of change which, challenging Butler’s negative view, reveals the capacity of the new system to create a utopian world.

Research paper thumbnail of THE FALLING OF THE RACIAL, ECONOMIC, SEXIST- GENDERED SEGREGATING WALL IN OCTAVIA BUTLER'S PARABLES

In this article I will apply Daphne Hampson's Post-Biblical Perspective to investigate the metaph... more In this article I will apply Daphne Hampson's Post-Biblical Perspective to investigate the metaphor of wall as the reflection of a humanist perspective in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower (2007a) and Parable of the Talents (2007b). This is done through focusing on the struggle of a black female reformer who, by introducing a religion called Earthseed, challenges the humanist understanding in the novels. This humanism is illustrated through focusing on the role of Christianity as a religious discourse that prioritizes certain sociocultural concepts and aspects. Introducing Earthseed, the protagonist develops a posthumanist perspective that is symbolized through the falling of the wall in the novels and offers new understanding of the sociocultural concepts and aspects away from the hierarchical order. Considering the novels as science fictions of neo-slavery, in this paper I discuss slavery as an encompassing concept of humanist understanding which gradual disappearance, along with the falling of the wall, signifies the emergence of posthumanist understanding in the novels. The aim of this paper is to explore Butler's success in illustrating different aspects of this posthumanist understanding.

Research paper thumbnail of book review.pdf

Research paper thumbnail of Posthumanism in " Amnesty " by Octavia Butler: A Feminist Theological Analysis

This article explores the tension between the humanistic, eugenic concept of identity and that of... more This article explores the tension between the humanistic, eugenic concept of identity and that of posthumanism in Octavia Butler's " Amnesty " (2005). Using Daphne Hampson's feminist post-Biblical perspective, the article argues that the story exposes a posthumanist perspective where the existence and subjectivity of human kind is defined based on a mutual, non-hierarchical relation between the human and nonhuman worlds. This article suggests that " Amnesty, " reflecting an unothered perspective of life through an unorthodox theological perspective, illustrates the potential for a more humanitarian life on Earth.

Research paper thumbnail of BUTLER'S PARABLES: A POSTHUMANIST CALL TO ADDRESS ECOLOGICAL IRRESPONSIBILITY

This article explores the relationship between a posthuman representative of humanity and nature ... more This article explores the relationship between a posthuman representative of humanity and nature in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower (2007) and Parable of the Talents (2007). Using Rosemary Radford Ruether's feminist Biblical ideas, the article argues that the stories, as samples of science fiction, expose a posthumanist perspective where existence of human kind is defined based on a mutual, non-hierarchical relationship between human beings and nature. This article aims to explore the positive standpoint of science fiction towards the transformation of the human-nature relationship through an unothered perspective and, in this way, illustrate the potential for a more sustainable life on Earth. The relationship is investigated through an unorthodox theological perspective that confronts the institutionalized Christian concept of man as the true representative of God on Earth. In this way, the stories describe a fictional space in which the Christian concept of nature and woman as surrendered before male human kind as God's exclusive representative is substituted with an unorthodox theological perspective. This theological view is based on the recognition of a correlation between human and nature free from surrender. This article explores the entity of this correlation.

Research paper thumbnail of The God-Human Relationship in Octavia Butler's " The Book of Martha "

This article explores the relationship between God and a posthuman representative of humanity in ... more This article explores the relationship between God and a posthuman representative of humanity in Octavia Butler's " The Book of Martha " (2005). Using Daphne Hampson's feminist post-Biblical ideas, the article argues that the story, as a sample of science fiction, exposes a posthumanist perspective where existence and subjectivity of human kind is defined based on a mutual, non-hierarchical relationship between human being and God. The article aims to explore the capacity of the story to embody a positive standpoint of science fiction towards the transformation of the human. This article suggests that " The Book of Martha, " reflecting this transformation together with an unothered perspective of the God-human relationship, illustrates the potential for a more humanitarian life on Earth. The relationship is investigated through an unorthodox theological perspective that confronts Christian norms, particularly the norms dealing with what is considered as true femininity. In this way, the story describes a fictional space in which the Christian concept of human as a fallen, condemned, and passive object before a ubiquitous Almighty is substituted with a non-Christian active concept of the human entity. This active representation is based on the recognition of a posthuman agency which is free from surrender to divine power. " The Book of Martha " is about the gradual awakening of a black woman who, in interaction with God as the source of goodness, becomes aware for the need to redefine an authentic sense of self beyond that of an obedient servant before a masculinized God. This article explores this awakening.

Conference Presentations by Elham Mohammadi Achachelooei

Research paper thumbnail of Snow: Mythological Interaction and Turkish Cultural Identity

This article analyses the representation of cultural conflict in Orhan Pamuk's Snow (2004). This ... more This article analyses the representation of cultural conflict in Orhan Pamuk's Snow (2004). This is done through reviewing mythological interactions in the novel. For this, the researcher focuses on the characterization of the protagonist of the novel as the symbolic depiction of modern, Turkish cultural sense of identity. In this consideration, Joseph Campbell's discussion of the role of hero as someone who responds to a call for fulfilling a mission is regarded. The mission in the novel is symbolically illustrated as travelling back to homeland where the writer brings the Eastern and Western roots of Turkish cultural identity into dialogue, surfacing the conflict rising from giving priority to each of them. The Eastern and Western aspects are bolded through referring to Eastern archetypal pattern of dominant father-figure and Western individualistic sense of self. These two are wrapped in a political-aesthetic frame of narration where the writer, developing a metafictional space of narration within narration through focusing on the political performances of a state-supported theatre group, brings to the fore the religiouscultural conflicts rising from dictating apparently Western modern values of life, disregarding deep-led historical Eastern traditions, along with stubborn commitment to some Eastern beliefs resistive before any innovation or different perspective. This investigation focuses on the protagonist's interaction with these two inclinations to see whether he can be considered as the reflection of what many critiques term as Pamuk's commitment to represent the multicultural Turkish sense of identity or not. The conclusion is that in himself the protagonist characterizes failure.

Research paper thumbnail of AMNESIA: IDENTITY CONFLICT IN ELIF SHAFAK'S THREE DAUGHTERS OF EVE

1st international conference on English language studies, ICELS 2019, 2019

This article employs Ibtissam Bouachrine's feminist perspective to explore Elif Shafak's stand on... more This article employs Ibtissam Bouachrine's feminist perspective to explore Elif Shafak's stand on the notion of amnesia and identity in Three Daughters of Eve (2016). It focuses on Shafak's sensitivity toward the concept of multiculturalism and using it as an "Ottoman Utopian" concept to tackle the modernization with its nationalist sensitivities that, she believes, is drying multidimensional notion of identity in Turkish cultural context. Based on this focus, this article argues that Shafak's literary creation, though not immune to the Orientalism refuted by Bouachrine as androcentric, provides a practical frame or model for addressing sociocultural conflicts in Turkish society as a Muslim one. It claims that, despite her Western secular stand, Shafak is aware of the importance and advocates the preservation of traditional, Eastern, spiritual heritage for social growth in Turkish context, and her TDE beautifully depicts this. She achieves this through employing tolerant Ottoman multiculturalism and Islamic Sufi tradition inherent in Turkish history. This article investigates the success of this employment in challenging identity crisis in the novel from feminist view point. Doing so, the article focuses on time and geographical shifts between present and past and Oxford and Istanbul in TDE and explains how Shafak struggles to represent a constructive overlapping of past and present and the West and the East in offering a unified concept of identity in Turkish context. Comparing Bouachrin'e feminist approach with that of Shafak, this article concludes that opposed to Bouachrine, Elif Shafak does not give priority to Western tradition before Islamic one.

Research paper thumbnail of SAVIOURASA_UNITINGVOICEOf_SELFANDTHE_OTHER_OCTAVIA_BUTLER’S_PARABLEOFTHE_SOWER.pdf

Research paper thumbnail of The Red-Haired Woman: An Ecofeminist Analysis

Journal of Applied Linguistics and Applied Literature: Dynamics and Advances, 2024

This article analyzes Orhan Pamuk's The Red-Haired Woman (2017) (hereafter RHW) from Alicia Helda... more This article analyzes Orhan Pamuk's The Red-Haired Woman (2017) (hereafter RHW) from Alicia Helda Puleo's ecofeminist perspective. It discusses Gülcihan's character in RHW as a cultural figure who, standing beyond the essentialist division of culture / nature, develops a constructive interaction with the masculine world of the novel, prefiguring the reestablishment of life. The novel reviews the process of modernization in Türkiye through detailing the confrontation of the old and new via references to the mythological stories of Oedipus Rex, and Rostam and Sohrab. The references highlight the notions of patricide and filicide, pointing to rising tension between Eastern and Western aspects of Turkish cultural identity. This investigation challenges the dominant reviews of the references as pessimistic illustrations of the disappearance of historical Türkiye along with her environment and argues that RHW offers an alternative vision of modernization via Gülcihan's narration as an optimistic stand toward industrial formation through enhancing self-awareness and intercultural understanding.

Research paper thumbnail of Black as A Redeeming Hero in My Name is Red Research Article pp. 7-26

Research paper thumbnail of Writing process conceptions: A comparative study on disciplinary-socialized and disciplinary-naïve graduate students in two academic disciplines

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2023

Research paper thumbnail of The Falling of the Racial, Economic, Sexist-Gendered Segregating Wall in Octavia Butler’s Parables

SARJANA, Dec 31, 2020

In this article I will apply Daphne Hampson's Post-Biblical Perspective to investigate th... more In this article I will apply Daphne Hampson's Post-Biblical Perspective to investigate the metaphor of wall as the reflection of a humanist perspective in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower (2007a) and Parable of the Talents (2007b). This is done through focusing on the struggle of a black female reformer who, by introducing a religion called Earthseed, challenges the humanist understanding in the novels. This humanism is illustrated through focusing on the role of Christianity as a religious discourse that prioritizes certain sociocultural concepts and aspects. Introducing Earthseed, the protagonist develops a posthumanist perspective that is symbolized through the falling of the wall in the novels and offers new understanding of the sociocultural concepts and aspects away from the hierarchical order. Considering the novels as science fictions of neo-slavery, in this paper I discuss slavery as an encompassing concept of humanist understanding which gradual disappearance, along with the falling of the wall, signifies the emergence of posthumanist understanding in the novels. The aim of this paper is to explore Butler's success in illustrating different aspects of this posthumanist understanding.

Research paper thumbnail of Butler's 'Parables': A Posthumanist Call to Address Ecological Irresponsibility

This article explores the relationship between a posthuman representative of humanity and nature ... more This article explores the relationship between a posthuman representative of humanity and nature in Octavia Butler‘s Parable of the Sower (2007) and Parable of the Talents (2007). Using Rosemary Radford Ruether’s feminist Biblical ideas, the article argues that the stories, as samples of science fiction, expose a posthumanist perspective where existence of human kind is defined based on a mutual, nonhierarchical relationship between human beings and nature. This article aims to explore the positive standpoint of science fiction towards the transformation of the human-nature relationship through an unothered perspective and, in this way, illustrate the potential for a more sustainable life on Earth. The relationship is investigated through an unorthodox theological perspective that confronts the institutionalized Christian concept of man as the true representative of God on Earth. In this way, the stories describe a fictional space in which the Christian concept of nature and woman a...

Research paper thumbnail of The Past and ‘Discontinuity in Religion’ in Octavia Butler’s Parables: A Feminist Theological Perspective

Journal of Language, Literature and Culture, 2021

ABSTRACT This article employs feminist theologian Daphne Hampson’s notion of ‘discontinuity in re... more ABSTRACT This article employs feminist theologian Daphne Hampson’s notion of ‘discontinuity in religion’ to explore the concept of the past in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (2007) and Parable of the Talents (2007). Focusing on the activities of a black heroine who appears as a reformer who revives her dead society, this article argues that the novels reflect a posthuman, post-Biblical aspect of renovation by discarding the past which is envisioned as a paralysing obsession in these texts. The renovation in the novels is done through a kind of discontinuity in particular Christian principles, substituting them with a new doctrine of thought. The introduction of this new belief called Earthseed, confronts those principles that render Christianity a religion with roots in the past, and offers a way of being and thinking which goes against the religious, sexual, racial and classist dimensions of life founded on exclusively Christian doctrine. The aim of this article is to investigate the new social order emerging from this alternative system of belief. This is important because it brings to the fore a constructive and liberating concept of change which, challenging Butler’s negative view, reveals the capacity of the new system to create a utopian world.

Research paper thumbnail of The God-Human Relationship in Octavia Butler’s “The Book of Martha”

GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Posthumanism in "Amnesty" by Octavia Butler: A Feminist Theological Analysis

This article explores the tension between the humanistic, eugenic concept of identity and that of... more This article explores the tension between the humanistic, eugenic concept of identity and that of posthumanism in Octavia Butler's "Amnesty" (2005). Using Daphne Hampson's feminist post-Biblical perspective, the article argues that the story exposes a posthumanist perspective where the existence and subjectivity of human kind is defined based on a mutual, non-hierarchical relation between the human and nonhuman worlds. This article suggests that "Amnesty," reflecting an unothered perspective of life through an unorthodox theological perspective, illustrates the potential for a more humanitarian life on Earth.

Research paper thumbnail of The Past and ‘Discontinuity in Religion’ in Octavia Butler’s Parables: A Feminist Theological Perspective

Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Volume 68, 2021 - Issue 2, 2021

This article employs feminist theologian Daphne Hampson’s notion of ‘discontinuity in religion’ t... more This article employs feminist theologian Daphne Hampson’s notion of ‘discontinuity in religion’ to explore the concept of the past in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (2007) and Parable of the Talents (2007). Focusing on the activities of a black heroine who appears as a reformer who revives her dead society, this article argues that the novels reflect a posthuman, post-Biblical aspect of renovation by discarding the past which is envisioned as a paralysing obsession in these texts. The renovation in the novels is done through a kind of discontinuity in particular Christian principles, substituting them with a new doctrine of thought. The introduction of this new belief called Earthseed, confronts those principles that render Christianity a religion with roots in the past, and offers a way of being and thinking which goes against the religious, sexual, racial and classist dimensions of life founded on exclusively Christian doctrine. The aim of this article is to investigate the new social order emerging from this alternative system of belief. This is important because it brings to the fore a constructive and liberating concept of change which, challenging Butler’s negative view, reveals the capacity of the new system to create a utopian world.

Research paper thumbnail of THE FALLING OF THE RACIAL, ECONOMIC, SEXIST- GENDERED SEGREGATING WALL IN OCTAVIA BUTLER'S PARABLES

In this article I will apply Daphne Hampson's Post-Biblical Perspective to investigate the metaph... more In this article I will apply Daphne Hampson's Post-Biblical Perspective to investigate the metaphor of wall as the reflection of a humanist perspective in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower (2007a) and Parable of the Talents (2007b). This is done through focusing on the struggle of a black female reformer who, by introducing a religion called Earthseed, challenges the humanist understanding in the novels. This humanism is illustrated through focusing on the role of Christianity as a religious discourse that prioritizes certain sociocultural concepts and aspects. Introducing Earthseed, the protagonist develops a posthumanist perspective that is symbolized through the falling of the wall in the novels and offers new understanding of the sociocultural concepts and aspects away from the hierarchical order. Considering the novels as science fictions of neo-slavery, in this paper I discuss slavery as an encompassing concept of humanist understanding which gradual disappearance, along with the falling of the wall, signifies the emergence of posthumanist understanding in the novels. The aim of this paper is to explore Butler's success in illustrating different aspects of this posthumanist understanding.

Research paper thumbnail of book review.pdf

Research paper thumbnail of Posthumanism in " Amnesty " by Octavia Butler: A Feminist Theological Analysis

This article explores the tension between the humanistic, eugenic concept of identity and that of... more This article explores the tension between the humanistic, eugenic concept of identity and that of posthumanism in Octavia Butler's " Amnesty " (2005). Using Daphne Hampson's feminist post-Biblical perspective, the article argues that the story exposes a posthumanist perspective where the existence and subjectivity of human kind is defined based on a mutual, non-hierarchical relation between the human and nonhuman worlds. This article suggests that " Amnesty, " reflecting an unothered perspective of life through an unorthodox theological perspective, illustrates the potential for a more humanitarian life on Earth.

Research paper thumbnail of BUTLER'S PARABLES: A POSTHUMANIST CALL TO ADDRESS ECOLOGICAL IRRESPONSIBILITY

This article explores the relationship between a posthuman representative of humanity and nature ... more This article explores the relationship between a posthuman representative of humanity and nature in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower (2007) and Parable of the Talents (2007). Using Rosemary Radford Ruether's feminist Biblical ideas, the article argues that the stories, as samples of science fiction, expose a posthumanist perspective where existence of human kind is defined based on a mutual, non-hierarchical relationship between human beings and nature. This article aims to explore the positive standpoint of science fiction towards the transformation of the human-nature relationship through an unothered perspective and, in this way, illustrate the potential for a more sustainable life on Earth. The relationship is investigated through an unorthodox theological perspective that confronts the institutionalized Christian concept of man as the true representative of God on Earth. In this way, the stories describe a fictional space in which the Christian concept of nature and woman as surrendered before male human kind as God's exclusive representative is substituted with an unorthodox theological perspective. This theological view is based on the recognition of a correlation between human and nature free from surrender. This article explores the entity of this correlation.

Research paper thumbnail of The God-Human Relationship in Octavia Butler's " The Book of Martha "

This article explores the relationship between God and a posthuman representative of humanity in ... more This article explores the relationship between God and a posthuman representative of humanity in Octavia Butler's " The Book of Martha " (2005). Using Daphne Hampson's feminist post-Biblical ideas, the article argues that the story, as a sample of science fiction, exposes a posthumanist perspective where existence and subjectivity of human kind is defined based on a mutual, non-hierarchical relationship between human being and God. The article aims to explore the capacity of the story to embody a positive standpoint of science fiction towards the transformation of the human. This article suggests that " The Book of Martha, " reflecting this transformation together with an unothered perspective of the God-human relationship, illustrates the potential for a more humanitarian life on Earth. The relationship is investigated through an unorthodox theological perspective that confronts Christian norms, particularly the norms dealing with what is considered as true femininity. In this way, the story describes a fictional space in which the Christian concept of human as a fallen, condemned, and passive object before a ubiquitous Almighty is substituted with a non-Christian active concept of the human entity. This active representation is based on the recognition of a posthuman agency which is free from surrender to divine power. " The Book of Martha " is about the gradual awakening of a black woman who, in interaction with God as the source of goodness, becomes aware for the need to redefine an authentic sense of self beyond that of an obedient servant before a masculinized God. This article explores this awakening.

Research paper thumbnail of Snow: Mythological Interaction and Turkish Cultural Identity

This article analyses the representation of cultural conflict in Orhan Pamuk's Snow (2004). This ... more This article analyses the representation of cultural conflict in Orhan Pamuk's Snow (2004). This is done through reviewing mythological interactions in the novel. For this, the researcher focuses on the characterization of the protagonist of the novel as the symbolic depiction of modern, Turkish cultural sense of identity. In this consideration, Joseph Campbell's discussion of the role of hero as someone who responds to a call for fulfilling a mission is regarded. The mission in the novel is symbolically illustrated as travelling back to homeland where the writer brings the Eastern and Western roots of Turkish cultural identity into dialogue, surfacing the conflict rising from giving priority to each of them. The Eastern and Western aspects are bolded through referring to Eastern archetypal pattern of dominant father-figure and Western individualistic sense of self. These two are wrapped in a political-aesthetic frame of narration where the writer, developing a metafictional space of narration within narration through focusing on the political performances of a state-supported theatre group, brings to the fore the religiouscultural conflicts rising from dictating apparently Western modern values of life, disregarding deep-led historical Eastern traditions, along with stubborn commitment to some Eastern beliefs resistive before any innovation or different perspective. This investigation focuses on the protagonist's interaction with these two inclinations to see whether he can be considered as the reflection of what many critiques term as Pamuk's commitment to represent the multicultural Turkish sense of identity or not. The conclusion is that in himself the protagonist characterizes failure.

Research paper thumbnail of AMNESIA: IDENTITY CONFLICT IN ELIF SHAFAK'S THREE DAUGHTERS OF EVE

1st international conference on English language studies, ICELS 2019, 2019

This article employs Ibtissam Bouachrine's feminist perspective to explore Elif Shafak's stand on... more This article employs Ibtissam Bouachrine's feminist perspective to explore Elif Shafak's stand on the notion of amnesia and identity in Three Daughters of Eve (2016). It focuses on Shafak's sensitivity toward the concept of multiculturalism and using it as an "Ottoman Utopian" concept to tackle the modernization with its nationalist sensitivities that, she believes, is drying multidimensional notion of identity in Turkish cultural context. Based on this focus, this article argues that Shafak's literary creation, though not immune to the Orientalism refuted by Bouachrine as androcentric, provides a practical frame or model for addressing sociocultural conflicts in Turkish society as a Muslim one. It claims that, despite her Western secular stand, Shafak is aware of the importance and advocates the preservation of traditional, Eastern, spiritual heritage for social growth in Turkish context, and her TDE beautifully depicts this. She achieves this through employing tolerant Ottoman multiculturalism and Islamic Sufi tradition inherent in Turkish history. This article investigates the success of this employment in challenging identity crisis in the novel from feminist view point. Doing so, the article focuses on time and geographical shifts between present and past and Oxford and Istanbul in TDE and explains how Shafak struggles to represent a constructive overlapping of past and present and the West and the East in offering a unified concept of identity in Turkish context. Comparing Bouachrin'e feminist approach with that of Shafak, this article concludes that opposed to Bouachrine, Elif Shafak does not give priority to Western tradition before Islamic one.

Research paper thumbnail of SAVIOURASA_UNITINGVOICEOf_SELFANDTHE_OTHER_OCTAVIA_BUTLER’S_PARABLEOFTHE_SOWER.pdf