Harold Pinter’in "Gitgel Dolap" Eserine Yapısalcı Bir Yaklaşım

Halit Alkan

doi:10.21550/sosbilder.1034570

Abstract

Structuralism is an approach that seeks to decode the encoded whole consisting of a system to explore a textual work’s deep structure from the surface structure. This study analyses Harold Pinter’s “The Dumb Waiter” (1960) according to the structuralist approach. The harmony of the play’s deep structure performs on binary opposition between Ben and Gus who repeat mechanical behaviours and conversations since they are imprisoned for a while in a narrow space. Concrete mechanical elements such as the lavatory and the dumb waiter also repeat the same activities. Although the play is over, the melody continues since Ben and Gus are given no role other than being hitmen and victims. As for the deep meaning, individuals who appear as a functional part of the mechanism show the possibility that the oppressive mechanism may become inoperable as a result of questioning the mechanism.

Highlights

Structuralism1 is an approach that seeks to decode the encoded whole consisting of a system to explore a textual work’s deep structure from the surface structure (Lane, 1970: 14-15)
Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi Uludağ University Faculty of Arts and Sciences Journal of Social Sciences other words, it focuses only on the text, namely the play, disregarding the writer’s biography and the period in which it was written. It deals with the relationships among the elements in the text’s structure which looking at it as a closed system, and identifies closed signs’ paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations relying upon binary oppositions in the text’s surface structure
When Gus goes to drink water by leaving the door on the left one last time, Ben is informed through the tube of the dumb waiter that the victim will soon enter through the door on the right that opens to outer space

Summary

A Structuralist Approach to Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter

Oyun bitmesine rağmen oyunun ezgisi devam eder çünkü Ben ve Gus’a tetikçi ve kurban olmaktan başka bir rol verilmez. Mekanizmanın işlevsel bir parçası olarak görünen bireyler mekanizmayı sorgulamaları sonucunda baskıcı mekanizmanın işleyemez duruma gelebileceğini gösterir

Introduction

A Structuralist Analysis of The Dumb Waiter

Conclusion