ETD Collection

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/104


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Author: search.filters.author.Petersen, Kendall

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    Cultural constructions of Turkish-German masculinities in contemporary literature and film
    (2012-09-04) Petersen, Kendall
    This research sets out to examine the representation of the construction of Turkish-German masculinities and masculine identities, as revealed in the literary and cinematic works of Turkish and Turkish-born writers and filmmakers respectively. To this aim the research will attempt to establish which factors mediate the construction and perpetuation of this hyphenated construct of masculine identity in its capacity to create an identity which, although dependent on the mediating influences of two opposing national identities, remains itself largely intangible and indefinable. The texts examined are Zafer Şenocak’s Die Prärie (1997), and Snow (2004) by Orhan Pamuk. The films are Lola und Bilidikid (1999) directed by Kutlug Ataman, and Gegen die Wand (2004) directed by Fatih Akin. Through an examination of the central characters in these works, it will be established to what extent they could be said to exist as representations or examples of this hyphenated cultural products. These characters will be examined in light of the theory that gender is a process of doing, and not being. Masculinity then, as a performance of gender will be considered in as far as it addresses the performance of a patricular kind of gender identity, namely that of migrant masculinity, in order to establish if there indeed exists an element of credibility to the hyphenated construct of the Turkish-German man, and by extension, to Turkish-German masculinity, as evidenced by the protagonists in the selected works.
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    Tickling the Ivories: Power, Violence, Sex and Identity in Elfriede Jelinek’s The Piano Teacher.
    (2006-03-22) Petersen, Kendall
    This study examines the role of power and its manifestation in social and inter-personal relationships, violence, sex, and sexual identity – the construction of identity as well as the perception of identity – in Elfriede Jelinek’s novel The Piano Teacher (1988). The location of the study within a contemporary text, is intended to examine the manifestations and implications of power in contemporary society, using the relationships indicated within the text as case studies. The study attempts to indicate that social and inter-personal relationships cannot be divorced from the dynamics of power which demonstrate themselves in acts of physical, psychological and sexual violence. In light of this, the research attempts to examine the relationship between gender and power, and the manner in which it demonstrates itself in relationships. Power is also examined in light of the concept of generational conflict, through an examination of the exchange between the principal character, Erika, and her mother, and the relationship between Erika and her students, specifically a male student by the name of Walter. Furthermore the study attempts to establish the extent to which women are complicit in, and consequently perpetuate their role as victims. The examination of the relationships serves to indicate the consequences of the female adoption and consequent internalisation of traditional male power roles. Although the study is located specifically within an Austrian text, the issues raised within the text and the study are relevant to many contexts.