مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري

Abstract :

The novel of François Rabelais, Gargantua, the critic of the inflexible thought of the age and hence the social structure and institutions, is a work of art in which the knightly tradition and folk-humour tradition overlap. The novel, in the first place, under the influence of the emancipation mood of Renaissance, tries to introduce a new system of values to humanity, to reposition the humanity and to comprehend it, and to define it at a new threshold. This new threshold is an utopian one where the humanism of Renaissance became concrete. In this new approach involving, first of all, a deep respect for human being and all the values and meanings he is embodying, a conscious contribution and a strong orientation, the human-behaviour relation is tried to be given through the life-education relation in an integrated way. The other name for this is the compatibility of theory and practice. Via concrete events and situations are made space for striking ideas and practices towards reordering of education programme, rethinking of human perception and education as a form, content, method and process. Depicted as deep, subjective, complex and pure, man’s one of the first deeds is to salvage his inner world from the influence of every kind of dogma, from the bondage of every kind of useless information, from the shackle of redundant fear. Some processes steered by a wise guide such as delighting, one would be happy to maintain, harmless to anybody are designed. For an information-based, meticulously prepared and organized living practice, the necessity felt for the light of science and the guidance of mind is emphasised. Man thinking with his mind, acting with his sentiment, behaving with his memory, deciding with his equipment is pointed out as the strong subject of an operational axis. Born-as-a-giant Gargantua’s story in which he learns systematically –and in an utopian way- to live, to think, to read, to believe, to behave, to decide and to rule is witnessed. During this testimony, covering a long section of Gargantua’s life, it is underlined that human being is a special and precious entity, that leading him well and improving him in the right direction is possible; and the path to these experiences through the positive education respectful to the mind and science. In this entire process, it is highlighted that human being should be comprehended with an utter freedom on three levels of spirit, body and understanding. In this utopian universe constituting the base of a new human concept, the notions such as originality, freedom, ability, the conscious of planning and duty are debated within the framework of a wide range of concrete events. Rabelais calls us to think over what a human being he should be through new assertions which are indisputably utopian considering the era’s given conditions. The will to criticise and to argue the period’s problematic notions such as sophism, scholasticism, dogmatism and the like understandings and their extended applications are hidden in this call. This study aims at interpreting the human concept in the aforementioned work within the framework of the relation between humanism and utopia as a theme, comprehending and explaining this concept with regard to basic qualities and content.