ANTEBELLUM AMERICAN IDEALISMS AND THEIR DISCONTENTS: MAD SCIENTISTS AND CHANGING MASCULINITIES IN RAPPACCINI'S DAUGHTER AND THE BELL-TOWER

Batıkan Demirtaş; Esra Coker Korpez

Article Details

ANTEBELLUM AMERICAN IDEALISMS AND THEIR DISCONTENTS: MAD SCIENTISTS AND CHANGING MASCULINITIES IN RAPPACCINI'S DAUGHTER AND THE BELL-TOWER

Authors:

Batıkan Demirtaş | Esra Coker Korpez

Publisher:

Dokuz Eylul University

Journal:

Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.10 Issue 1, pp.132-149

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

4/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001288674

pISSN:

2147-4958

Keywords:

Abstract:

 As America swiftly transformed from being a virgin land of untouched wilderness to an infernal of industrialism, the definition of manhood also rapidly changed. Unlike its artisan or aristocratic ancestors, the newly emerged capitalist man in the antebellum period, or in Michael Kimmels words the Marketplace Man derived his masculine authority from his ability to acquire, accumulate and consume. This newly emerged manhood of antebellum America utilized and disregarded the old conventional ways of being; like a chameleon, it quickly blended into the competitive and mercantile fabric of the Marketplace. Respectively, this article by analyzing two short stories written in the antebellum period, Nathaniel Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter 1844 and Herman Melvilles The Bell-Tower 1856, argues that the mad scientist figures in antebellum American literature are not only stereotypes but also masculine sexual personas through which the Marketplace Manhood is allegorized and criticized. In Rappaccinis Daughter, the newly emerged masculine sexual persona of industrialized America is allegorized through two competitive marketplace mad scientists fervently seeking intelligence and progress. The competitive relationship between these two mad scientists, Rappaccini and Baglioni, deepens as their ravenous desire to eliminate each other becomes a signifier of ultimate manhood. This competitive relationship also demonstrates an emerging paradigm shift in the context of cultural discourses and changing masculinities, underlining the fact that acquisitive individualism became a vital sign of capitalist marketplace masculinity. Herman Melvilles short story The Bell-Tower, on the other hand, delves into the hierarchical relation between the Marketplace Man and the artisan group and also unfolds the technologizing of American society. The phallic tower that the protagonist Bannadonna builds exposes his desire to re-establish his masculine authority while the process of building the bell tower becomes the mechanism through which the capitalist man proletarianizes the artisan group. In short, by using Michael Kimmels triadic conceptualization of American Manhood, this article seeks to analyze Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter and Melvilles The Bell-Tower in order to demonstrate how mad scientist narratives have enabled writers of the Antebellum era to allegorically respond and then expose the emerging masculinities of their period.

 As America swiftly transformed from being a virgin land of untouched wilderness to an infernal of industrialism, the definition of manhood also rapidly changed. Unlike its artisan or aristocratic ancestors, the newly emerged capitalist man in the antebellum period, or in Michael Kimmels words the Marketplace Man derived his masculine authority from his ability to acquire, accumulate and consume. This newly emerged manhood of antebellum America utilized and disregarded the old conventional ways of being; like a chameleon, it quickly blended into the competitive and mercantile fabric of the Marketplace. Respectively, this article by analyzing two short stories written in the antebellum period, Nathaniel Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter 1844 and Herman Melvilles The Bell-Tower 1856, argues that the mad scientist figures in antebellum American literature are not only stereotypes but also masculine sexual personas through which the Marketplace Manhood is allegorized and criticized. In Rappaccinis Daughter, the newly emerged masculine sexual persona of industrialized America is allegorized through two competitive marketplace mad scientists fervently seeking intelligence and progress. The competitive relationship between these two mad scientists, Rappaccini and Baglioni, deepens as their ravenous desire to eliminate each other becomes a signifier of ultimate manhood. This competitive relationship also demonstrates an emerging paradigm shift in the context of cultural discourses and changing masculinities, underlining the fact that acquisitive individualism became a vital sign of capitalist marketplace masculinity. Herman Melvilles short story The Bell-Tower, on the other hand, delves into the hierarchical relation between the Marketplace Man and the artisan group and also unfolds the technologizing of American society. The phallic tower that the protagonist Bannadonna builds exposes his desire to re-establish his masculine authority while the process of building the bell tower becomes the mechanism through which the capitalist man proletarianizes the artisan group. In short, by using Michael Kimmels triadic conceptualization of American Manhood, this article seeks to analyze Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter and Melvilles The Bell-Tower in order to demonstrate how mad scientist narratives have enabled writers of the Antebellum era to allegorically respond and then expose the emerging masculinities of their period.

 As America swiftly transformed from being a virgin land of untouched wilderness to an infernal of industrialism, the definition of manhood also rapidly changed. Unlike its artisan or aristocratic ancestors, the newly emerged capitalist man in the antebellum period, or in Michael Kimmels words the Marketplace Man derived his masculine authority from his ability to acquire, accumulate and consume. This newly emerged manhood of antebellum America utilized and disregarded the old conventional ways of being; like a chameleon, it quickly blended into the competitive and mercantile fabric of the Marketplace. Respectively, this article by analyzing two short stories written in the antebellum period, Nathaniel Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter 1844 and Herman Melvilles The Bell-Tower 1856, argues that the mad scientist figures in antebellum American literature are not only stereotypes but also masculine sexual personas through which the Marketplace Manhood is allegorized and criticized. In Rappaccinis Daughter, the newly emerged masculine sexual persona of industrialized America is allegorized through two competitive marketplace mad scientists fervently seeking intelligence and progress. The competitive relationship between these two mad scientists, Rappaccini and Baglioni, deepens as their ravenous desire to eliminate each other becomes a signifier of ultimate manhood. This competitive relationship also demonstrates an emerging paradigm shift in the context of cultural discourses and changing masculinities, underlining the fact that acquisitive individualism became a vital sign of capitalist marketplace masculinity. Herman Melvilles short story The Bell-Tower, on the other hand, delves into the hierarchical relation between the Marketplace Man and the artisan group and also unfolds the technologizing of American society. The phallic tower that the protagonist Bannadonna builds exposes his desire to re-establish his masculine authority while the process of building the bell tower becomes the mechanism through which the capitalist man proletarianizes the artisan group. In short, by using Michael Kimmels triadic conceptualization of American Manhood, this article seeks to analyze Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter and Melvilles The Bell-Tower in order to demonstrate how mad scientist narratives have enabled writers of the Antebellum era to allegorically respond and then expose the emerging masculinities of their period.

 Amerika el değmemiş bakir bir vahşi doğadan hızlıca endüstriyalizmin cehennemine dönüşürken, Amerikan erkeğinin tanımı da hızla değişti. Zanaatkâr ve aristokrat atalarından farklı olarak, iç savaş öncesi Amerikasında ortaya çıkmaya başlayan kapitalist erkek, ya da Micheal Kimmelın deyimiyle Piyasa Erkeği, eril otoritesini edinme, biriktirme ve tüketme yeteneğinden türetir. İç savaş öncesi Amerikasının ortaya çıkardığı bu erkeklik eski yaşam biçimlerinden istifade etmiş ve yok saymıştır: tıpkı bir bukalemun gibi, Pazaryerinin rekabetçi ve ticari dokusuna hızla karışmıştır. Bu bağlamda, bu makalenin amacı, iç savaş öncesinde yazılmış olan Nathaniel Hawthronenun Rappaccinis Daughter 1844 ve Herman Melvillein The Bell- Tower 1856 adlı öykülerini analiz ederek, iç savaş öncesi Amerikan edebiyatındaki çılgın bilim adamı figürlerinin yalnızca bir motif değil, aynı zamanda o dönemde ortaya çıkmakta olan Piyasa Erkekliğin alegorize edildiği ve eleştirildiği eril bir cinsel kişilik olduğu argümanını ortaya atmaktır. Rappaccinis Daughter adlı öyküde sanayileşmiş Amerikanın yeni ortaya çıkan eril cinsel kişiliği, akıl ve ilerleme peşinde koşan iki rekabetçi kapitalist bilim adamı üzerinden alegorize edilir. Bu iki bilim adamı Baglioni ve Rappaccini arasındaki rekabet, birbirlerini ortadan kaldırmaya yönelik açgözlü arzuları nihai erkekliğin bir göstergesi haline geldikçe derinleşir. İki bilim adamı arasındaki bu rekabetçi ilişki, kültür söylemleri ve değişen erkeklikler bağlamında bir paradigma değişimine işaret ederken edinimci bireyciliğin de hegemonik bir söylem olmaya başladığının altını çizer. Melvillein The Bell-Tower adlı öyküsü ise, kapitalist adam ile zanaatkâr grubu arasındaki hiyerarşik ilişkiyi irdeler ve Amerikan toplumunun teknolojikleşmesini de gözler önüne serer. Başkahraman Bannadonnanın inşa ettiği fallik kule onun eril otoritesini yeniden tesis etme arzusunu açığa çıkarırken, çan kulesinin inşa süreci kapitalist erkeğin zanaatkâr grubunu proleterleştirdiği bir mekanizma haline gelir. Kısaca, bu makale, Michael Kimmelın Amerikan Erkekliği üçlü modelini kullanarak, Hawthorneun Rappaccinis Daughter ve Melvillein The Bell-Tower adlı öyküsünü analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır, böylece çılgın bilim adamı anlatılarının iç savaş öncesi Amerikalı yazarların dönemin ortaya çıkmakta olan eril kimliklerine alegorik bir şekilde yanıt vermelerini ve daha sonra bunları açığa çıkarmalarını nasıl sağladığını göstermeyi amaçlamaktadır.

Article Details

ANTEBELLUM AMERICAN IDEALISMS AND THEIR DISCONTENTS: MAD SCIENTISTS AND CHANGING MASCULINITIES IN RAPPACCINI'S DAUGHTER AND THE BELL-TOWER

Authors:

Batıkan Demirtaş | Esra Coker Korpez

Publisher:

Dokuz Eylul University

Journal:

Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.10 Issue 1, pp.132-149

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

4/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001288674

pISSN:

2147-4958

Mad Scientist

Antebellum America

Marketplace Manhood

Acquisitive Individualism

Rappaccini’s Daughter

The Bell-TowerÇılgın Bilimadamı

İç Savaş Öncesi Amerika

Piyasa Erkekliği

Edinimci Bireycilik

Rappaccini’s Daughter

The Bell-Tower

Issues

Article Details

Authors: Batıkan Demirtaş | Esra Coker Korpez

Publisher: Dokuz Eylul University

Journal: Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.10 Issue 1, pp.132-149

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 4/2023

Document Language: English

Document ID (Org No.): 2001288674

pISSN: 2147-4958

Issues

Authors:

Batıkan Demirtaş | Esra Coker Korpez

Publisher:

Dokuz Eylul University

Journal:

Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.10 Issue 1, pp.132-149

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

4/2023

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001288674

pISSN:

2147-4958