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I was burning, while you came blaming me for the smell of ashes.

Kamryn Tanner, “I Burn For You”

Philosophy

The story behind the card

The line opens “I Burn For You”, a poem posted under the name Kamryn Tanner on Poetry.com, a site where anyone can publish verse; on social media it also travels under other, unreliable names. The poem speaks from inside a painful relationship, where the one who is hurt is also blamed. Psychologists call this victim blaming. In the 1960s the American psychologist Melvin Lerner linked it to the just-world belief: wanting the world to be fair, people often decide that those who suffer must have deserved it.

Türkçe oku
Ben yanıyordum; sen ise gelip kül kokusu yüzünden beni suçluyordun.
Kamryn Tanner, “I Burn For You”

Bu dize, Poetry.com'da Kamryn Tanner adıyla yayımlanan “I Burn For You” (Senin İçin Yanıyorum) adlı kısa şiirin ilk dizesidir. Poetry.com herkesin şiir paylaşabildiği bir sitedir; dize sosyal medyada başka adlarla da dolaşır, ama bu atıfların hiçbiri güvenilir değildir. Şiir, incinen kişinin üstelik suçlandığı sancılı bir ilişkiyi içeriden anlatır. Psikoloji buna mağduru suçlama der. Amerikalı psikolog Melvin Lerner 1960'larda bunu adil dünya inancıyla açıkladı: Dünyanın adil olduğuna inanmak isteyen insanlar, acı çeken kişinin bunu bir şekilde hak ettiğine kolayca karar verir.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Just-world fallacy
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