SÜMBÜL, Yiğit Erciyes Üniversitesi - Edebiyat Fakültesi - İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatı Bölümü, Turkey

THE PROBLEM OF IDENTİTY, THE SEARCH FOR THESELF-CONSCİOUSNESS AND THE REFLECTİONS OF HEGELİAN PHİLOSOPHY ON RAZUMOV İN CONRAD’S UNDER WESTERN EYES

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The aim of this article is to display the problem of identity and the search for self-consciousness, in Hegelian terms, intensively experienced by Razumov in Under Western Eyes by the famous Polish-born English novelist Joseph Conrad. In the novel, written in the light of Conrad‟s own experiences in the past, the process of identity acquisition is examined in terms of Hegel‟s theories of self-consciousness, dialectics and master-slave relationship. This process begins with Razumov Sidorovitch‟s, an ordinary, reserved and passive university student in autocratic Russia, opening up to the external world and the occurrence of changes in his personality.Razumov‟s relationships first with his friend Victor Haldin, later with the government officers and lastly with the revolutionary circle and Victor‟s family members in Geneva shape his identity and lead him to self-consciousness. The constant struggle between two opposite ideas or groups generates a dialectical process of development in the society, especially in the personality of Razumov.

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Razumov , identity , personality , self , consciousness , dialectic , autocracy , revolution.

Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi

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