From a Spectator's Glance: Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Respectful Prostitute

Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Respectful Prostitute theater production performed at Bilkent’s Theater Salon on 11^th March. The director of the performance is Musa Arslanali and the performance included six talented actors and actresses. Most of the actors and actresses are Bilkent students while a few are professional performers. The actors and actresses included Zeynep Koltuk as Lizzie, Haluk Kaya as Fred, Tansel Aytekin as Senator, Baran Can Eraslan as the Black man, Barbaros Efe Türkay as James and Koray Alper as John. The auditorium was fairly large and consisted many seating arrangements. However, it could not fit all of the attendants and the late comers had to sit on the steps next to the seating arrangements of the auditorium. Therefore, the auditorium was very full and not large enough to arrange seats for all the viewers. The stage design completely connected with the theme of the performance. The viewer could immediately understand the theme of the performance by only observing the stage design because it is only the colors black and white which reflect the theme of racism between the black and white’s. 

            The writer of The Respectful Prostitute Jean-Paul Sartre is a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. His works were influenced by philosophical and sociological aspects and are fluent in his literary writings. Jean-Paul had a very unique and genuine character demonstrated when he declined the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature because he believed that literature should not be institutionalized. He was also a leading figure in 20^th century French philosophy and Marxism and also in the philosophy of existentialism.

            Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Respectful Prostitute is a 1962 play about a prostitute who is involved in the racism events of the racially afflicted tense American history.  The performance takes place in the 1930’s of America when racism is at its peaking point. Its main plot revolves around a rich white main in the higher class who falsely tries to blame a black man for murdering another person. The audience later realizes that the murderer is falsely accused because the murderer is not the black man but actually the white man whom is accusing others. The white man, known as Fred, is conducted by his family to sleep with a prostitute who has also encountered the falsely accused black man in the scene of a crime. However, she believes that the black man is innocent and should not be sent to prison. Fred sleeps with the prostitute and manipulates her to accuse the black man as the conductor of the crime. The prostitute, Lizzie, is reluctant to testify falsely about the innocent black man and refuses to obey Fred’s words. Later on, Fred’s family members come and persuade her to testify against the black man and manipulate her to agree on testifying against the black man. The peak point of excitement is the scene when Fred’s family members persuade her to testify against the black man. That scene is the peak point because the family finally achieves to falsely prove Fred innocent although he is guilty.

            The major themes in the production consisted of various subjects such as racism against blacks, prejudice and social class. The main significantly evident theme is racism against blacks because the plot of the performance is the false understanding of a black man just because his skin color is black. Prejudice is another theme because the society does not observe the evidence and crime scene which could prove that the black man is not guilty for the crime. The reason for prejudice is because the higher white social class is more manipulative and has more consent from the society. Therefore, the higher class in society is more superior and almost always achieves their aims even if it is false truth. The messages consistent in the performance are the contradictions of racism and the upper hand of the white social class controls the lower black class. This message is demonstrated as Fred controlling the court decision of the Black man by persuading Lizzie to testify against the Black man.  The actors acknowledged the presence of the audience in a representational style throughout the performance. This is because the character is not in interaction with the audience and is only reflected on the existence of their characters. The characters do not acknowledge the existence of the audience and act as if they are living in their own world.

            Regarding the performance in my perspective, I thought that the scenery and the decorations were very creative because they closely suited the themes and plot of the performance. The acting was surprisingly well especially because most of the actors were still students. My favorite character is Lizzie because she tried to defend herself against the control of the higher class even though they had significantly more power over her than she had over them. Her actions reflecting opposition against the higher white class surprised me because opposition is usually not recognized in that specific time period and the women were not as reluctant as Lizzie is against the powerful high class. I was not disappointed in any of the scenes regarding the scenery or acting. However, I was disappointed with the main plot regarding the power the higher class has over the lower class.

            To conclude, the setting is very effective throughout the performance because all of aspects of the scenery are connected to the theme of the performance. The colors of the setting are mainly black and white which represents the theme of the contradictions between the white and black people. The mood and the stage do not significantly change at the end of the performance because the colors of the scenery are the same and the mood still revolves around the contradictions between races. 

 Serap Selma Bıyıklı (ELIT II)

Hacettepe University, Centre for British Literary and Cultural Studies Presents The Making of Anglo-Ottoman Diplomacy Through Correspondence

The interaction between diplomacy and literature functions in various ways. Diplomacy does not merely appear in non-fictional and fictional literature as thematic material, but also shapes form, while literature, in search of aesthetic representation, depicts diplomatic activity. This seminar aims to discuss diplomacy as a practice of communication and semiotic exchange and the representation of diplomatic activities in literature in the sixteenth century during Queen Elizabeth’s and Sultan Murad III’s reigns. Gifts and letters exchanged in abundance as part of the diplomacy between the Ottoman Empire and the English sovereignty in the sixteenth century provide an invaluable evaluation of diplomatic poetics in early modern literary studies and in redefining Europe.

SPEAKER: Dr Gül Kurtuluş, Acting Chair

                   Bilkent University, Department of English Language and Literature
DATE: 02 May 2013 Thursday

TIME: 13:30
VENUE: Mehmet Akif Ersoy Hall, Beytepe

A Fantastic Lecture to Inspire Interest in Women Writers in Latin American Literature Assoc. Prof. Dr. RoseAnna Mueller, “Women Narrating Latin American Women’s Lives”

On Wednesday, April 3, the Department of English Language and Literature presented a lecture by Assoc. Prof. Dr. RoseAnna Mueller, a faculty member at the Columbia College Chicago in Humanities and Foreign Languages, Department of Humanities, History and Social Sciences. She worked as the Humanities Coordinator from 1996 to 1999, and is currently the Director of Women’s/Gender Studies Minor.

       Our guest Professor Mueller came a long way from Chicago to introduce “Women Narrating Latin American Women’s Lives” with the goal of inspiring the interest of the Bilkenters in Latin American Literature. Firstly, Mueller talked about the Venezuelan author Teresa de la Parra’s Three Lectures: Women’s Influence in the Formation of the American Soul (1930), which defined women’s active roles in Latin American History.  De la Parra believed that it was her duty to inform her audience about women’s contributions to Latin American History through action in the past and writing in the future. Secondly, Mueller discussed an important literary genre, testimonio which allows women, excluded from the society because of class, race and gender distinctions, to have a voice among public. Mueller delivered an overview of three melodramatic testimonies of Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala), Domitila de Chungarra (Bolivia), and Reyita de los Santos (Cuba). In these testimonies, three upper-middle class women depict the harsh lives of three ordinary women, who faced race, class and gender distinctions as well as financial problems in their patriarchal societies. Finally, Muller talked about the importance of film-making in the depiction of women’s lives. The Argentinian filmmaker María Luisa Bemberg’s movie Yo la peor de todas is about the life of the intellectual colonial Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and the movie Camila  tells us the dramatic story of Camila O’Gorman, who fights against her family and society to be with her Lover.

     At the end of the Seminar, a lively discussion started with the contributions and questions of many interested- participants. The discussion also brought up the significant issues of magical realism, post-modernism and postcolonial literature. The interaction between the very large number of enthusiastic participants and Assoc. Prof. Dr. RoseAnna Mueller, remarkably eager to lecture, proves that the goal of inspiring interest in Latin American Literature is successfully achieved.  We offer sincere Gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr. RoseAnna Mueller and all the participants for the effective seminar.

(Yeşim Kurşunlu ELIT IV)

Assoc. Prof. Dr. RoseAnna Mueller to Lecture on “Women Narrating Latin American Women’s Lives”

This week, the Department of English Language and Literature is hosting a lecture by Assoc. Prof. Dr. RoseAnna Mueller who has been a faculty member at the Columbia College Chicago in Humanities and Foreign Languages, Department of Humanities, History and Social Sciences. She acted as the Humanities Coordinator from 1996 to 1999, and is currently the Director of Women’s/Gender Studies Minor. 

Professor Mueller’s talk is based on the Venezuelan author Teresa de la Parra’s Three Lectures: Women’s Influence in the Formation of the American Soul (1930), which described the important roles women played during the Conquest, Colony, and Independence eras in Latin America. De la Parra believed that women’s history had yet to be written and that as a public intellectual she owed it to her audience to inform them of the contributions women had made to Latin American history and how they were poised to contribute to its future.

A more recent and contested way to document women’s lives is through testimonio. Postmodernism brought with it a new way to interpret this literary genre and testimonio gives voice to a previously marginalized person by virtue of class, gender or race. The testimonies of Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala), Domitila de Chungarra (Bolivia), and Reyita de los Santos (Cuba) are excellent and dramatic examples of this genre. They document the lives of three “ordinary” women struggling with race, class and gender issues, as well as economic and patriarchal life circumstances. 

Another way to document women’s lives is through film. The Argentinian filmmaker María Luisa Bemberg used this medium to tell the story of two powerful women. Yo la peor de todas tells the life of the intellectual colonial Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Camila tells the powerful and previously censored story of Camila O’Gorman, who defied the state, the church and her family to be with her lover.

                       

            Assoc. Prof. Dr. RoseAnna Mueller ‘s talk entitled “Women Narrating Latin American Women’s Lives” will take place on Wednesday, April 3, in C-Block Amphitheater at 5:40 p.m. Everyone interested in literature, narration and testimonio is invited. Refreshments will be served before and after the talk. For more information, please contact elit@bilkent.edu.tr.

Third Undergraduate Conference on Anglo-American Literature: Madness

Bilkent University is pleased to announce the third undergraduate conference on Anglo-American Literature, jointly hosted by the Departments of English Language and Literature and American Culture and Literature. The conference will focus on madness in literature and arts, but perspectives informed by other disciplines (psychology, philosophy, history, anthropology) are also welcome. Please visit the conference website at 
http://www.angloamericanbilkent.info/ for details.
Contact: angloamerican2013@bilkent.edu.tr