Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Akdeniz Kadın Çalışmaları ve Toplumsal Cinsiyet Dergisi , cilt.4, sa.1, ss.1-14, 2021 (Hakemli Dergi)
Social changes take place when a culture is confronted with the influence of another culture which is more dominant or ‘higher’ with predetermined sets of values. In Kate Chopin’s work, The Awakening, the Creole culture is changing due to the influence of the North (of America) and similarly in Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil’s novel, Aşk-ı Memnu, Turkish culture is affected by the West (Europe). The results of these influences are observed best through women characters and conceptions about womanhood because in the 19th century women started contributing more and more to the socio-economic lives in their societies both in America and the Ottoman Empire. Two heroines of these novels, Edna and Bihter, do not conform to the norms of their society, they disobey the rules that have been arranged for them and eventually give up on their own lives. Both heroines represent the new type of woman or the ‘New Woman’, who seeks to set the rules of her own life and enjoys the same social freedom as men do. However, these women cannot manage the overwhelming social changes and eventually falter. The representations of the “New Woman” in both novels show that women who have sought their independence cannot go beyond the limitations set for them by society and they fail in asserting their individuality because of that very reason. The American and Ottoman societies in the 19th century are not ready yet and these women cannot go outside the norms. These novels of the same period with two very different settings put forward the same dilemma about the “New Woman'' and how she tried but failed in the face of the conflicts arising from her choices. The aim of this article is to analyse how social, economic and political changes affect the conceptions about women and femininity, and how women characters struggle against the challenges they confront in contending for their freedom as the liberated “New Woman''.