Konuk(sev/er)mezliğin Koşul(lu/suz)luğunu Aramak: Her Şeyi Bitirmeyi Düşünüyorum (Kaufman, 2020)
Seeking the (Un)Conditional Hos(pita/ti)lity: I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

Summary/Abstract: Guesthood encompasses the temporary status of individuals within foreign borders. The host wields the authority to determine the limits of the guest’s sojourn, thereby influencing their freedom of movement. The manner in which hospitality is offered, whether conditionally or unconditionally, sheds light on the guest’s identity conventions and crises. An identity crisis arises when the guest is unable to fulfill an invitation or visit that was initiated based on their guest identity. This study focuses on the film I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Charlie Kaufman, 2020), which delves into the intricate interplay between the uncertainties surrounding the guest’s identity and their own evolving sense of self. In the film, ghostly boundaries will be explored, where the character, who is a guest at his boyfriend’s family’s house, oscillates between drawing nearer and drifting away from his own self and guest identity throughout both the journey and the visit. Drawing upon narrative and character analysis, this study incorporates the approaches presented in Jacques Derrida’s writings on hospitality, along with the works of Immanuel Kant and Emmanuel Levinas concerning conditional and unconditional hospitality. Derrida’s hauntology and theory of ghosts prove valuable in elucidating the enigmatic atmosphere that arises from the dissolution of boundaries during the sojourn. In the study, the variability of hospitality depending on the host’s attitude and the fact that the guest is always on the verge of an identity crisis will be discussed through the lens of the hierarchical relationship between the host and the guest; the corresponding manifestations of these findings in the language of the film will be explored.

• Details
• Contents