Transversal Textures

This essay delves into the relationship between legal justice and the lived experience of trauma following sexual violence, using Alice Sebold’s memoir, Lucky, as its central case study. Through a detailed textual analysis of the narrative, this study investigates the efficacy of the judicial system in providing meaningful recourse for rape survivors. It examines the journey of seeking legal justice, from the initial reporting of the crime and the subsequent investigation to the emotionally taxing courtroom trial and the ultimate verdict. The analysis pays close attention to the methods employed by defense attorneys, the pervasive influence of societal rape myths on the jury’s perception, and the ways in which the victim’s identity and experiences are scrutinized and often delegitimized within the legal framework (drawing on insights from scholars like Jordan and Rich). Furthermore, the essay extends its scope beyond the courtroom to explore the long-term psychological and emotional af...

In recent years, scholarly discourse has extensively examined retranslations, yet non-retranslations have received insufficient attention. The term non-retranslations refers to works in translation that persist in a literary system without undergoing retranslation. This study examines a concise bibliography of non-retranslations to gain a better understaning of the idea and its dynamics within the Turkish literary system. The bibliography of nineteen works by five Nobel laureates examines instances of non-retranslation through Antoine Berman’s notion of “great” translators. Another key notion used in this study is that of non-translation, which is also explored in the works of six modernist authors. Debates on the lack of (re)translation are compared to the significant increase in retranslations during the 2000s. This study’s findings reflect a tendendy that within the translated literary system Türkiye, non-translations and non-retranslations coexist alongside retranslations.Keywords:...

In this essay, I examine two premiere national military museums, Vienna Heeresgeschichtliches Museum and Istanbul’s Harbiye Askerî Müzesi, with attention to how each museum renders the legacies of interimperial warfare. In particular, I interrogate the curatorial display of spoils of war and the representation of collective subjects in each museum to argue that they harness and relativize imperial-era violence for the ends of the contemporary nation-state. In the context of the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, I focus on the presentation of the Ottomans as definitive enemies of the Habsburgs on the basis of exhibits depicting interimperial battles, especially the 1683 Siege of Vienna. Secondly, I interpret the uncanny relationship between the Habsburg Empire and the Austrian nation-state through the display dedicated to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. With regard to the Harbiye Museum, I focus on the ideological ethnonationalism that saturates the exhibits and t...

Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” explores the complexities of boundaries, both physical and metaphorical, through the annual ritual of two neighbors who meet and mend a stone wall. Drawing on Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s geophilosophical concepts, this “architextural” essay analyzes the poem as a dynamic interplay between the war machine –represented by the questioning narrator – and the State apparatus, embodied by the tradition-bound neighbor. The wall serves as a One-Two structure, simultaneously a limes and a limen, by reflecting the tension between striating and smoothing forces. While the neighbor upholds the stratified order with the maxim “Good fences make good neighbors,” the narrator challenges this equilibrium through a willingness to transgress and a pursuit of deterritorializing freedom. With this perspective, the poem offers a profound reflection on the paradox of boundaries, which are both divisive and unifying forces. “Mending Wall” also offers unique geophilosophic...

This paper examines the absurdist trope in chase cartoons, focusing on Tom and Jerry and its parallels to the chase sequences in silent films. Absurdism, often defined by the breakdown of logic and the embrace of the irrational, is a key element in both media, shaping their comedic appeal. By analyzing the episodes of Tom and Jerry alongside iconic silent films, this research explores how physical comedy and surreal exaggeration are used to evoke laughter. The study draws on absurdist theory to argue that Tom and Jerry amplifies the absurdist tradition established in silent films, using the limitless possibilities of animation to exaggerate violence, physicality, and illogical outcomes far beyond the constraints of live-action cinema. The paper also highlights how both forms of visual media use repetitive cycles of pursuit and escape to create a sense of futility, reinforcing the absurdity of their scenarios. A deductive, comparative, analytical, and objective method has been used in t...

This paper brings the analysis of the controversial parts of A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term by Bronislaw Malinowski and Black Notebooks by Martin Heidegger. Although the Polish-British anthropologist and the German philosopher did not influence each other during their lifetimes, they share many characteristics as authors who introduced paradigmatic changes in the field of twentieth-century human sciences. These include spatial displacement woven into their thoughts and theories, an inclination toward family life alongside engagement in polyamory, and posthumously published diaries and personal notes. The latter makes a problematic spot in human sciences as they reveal the racist and even misogynous side of Malinowski and the antisemitic sentiments of Heidegger.Keywords: Malinowski, Heidegger, Black Notebooks, diary, Hutt, Tent“Exterminate all the brutes” is probably one of the most infamous phrases from the novel Heart of Darkness (1899), written by Polish author Józef Teodor ...