‘KENDİNİ TEKRAR EDEN BİR DÜNYA’: WINTERSON’UN TAŞ TANRILAR ADLI ROMANININ NIETZSCHECİ BİR OKUMASI

Abstract

The cyclical nature of the human experience has been widely discussed through the cynical mind-set of the postmodern era. Jeanette Winterson’s 2007 novel, The Stone Gods, stands out as one of the texts that revolve around this pessimistic discussion concerning the cyclical and repetitive nature of the human condition and history. Besides the implication of this never-ending cycle of the human experience as part of the action of the narrative, the repeating appearance of the certain parts of an old book throughout the narrative also resonates the fact that history as a narrative keeps repeating itself. In this respect, the circular or rather spiral nature of historical progress is highlighted through a fictional intertextuality. Winterson’s novel also epitomizes the Deleuzean control society and various forms of violence as the central concept around which the repeating pattern of human behaviour revolves. In this context, the article aims to discuss how control and violence as the central concepts of the novel are represented in a variety of ways, ranging from the anthropocentric violence that is directed towards nature, to systemic violence that the individuals are subjected to by institutional structures in the light of Nietzsche’s argument on the immanent violence of human nature and his concepts of will to power and the overman, which is exceptionally represented as the artificial intelligence.