Date of Award
May 2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
Committee Member
Walt Hunter
Committee Member
Walt Hunter
Committee Member
Maya Hislop
Committee Member
Jamie Rogers
Abstract
This project reveals the ways in which contemporary women poets return to and embrace the senses. Sensory expression has long been a source of shame, especially for women. Our fear of embracing our bodies and their situation in the world is symptomatic of misogynistic tropes and the phallocentric order. By prioritizing the body, poets like Jorie Graham, Carolyn Forché, and Morgan Parker subvert the patriarchal order and make space for women in the literary canon. They also challenge us to recognize sensuality as a valuable facet of poetic expression, a locus of untapped information, and a great source of power. Taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound offer glimpses into spirituality, mortality, heredity, fear, pain, and love. By incorporating theorists like Audre Lorde, Hortense Spillers, and Helene Cixous, I support these poets in their mission to treat the senses like stepping-stones for self-discovery or self-actualization. It is through this expression that women succeed in what Cixous calls “writing women”– a process that is radical, deconstructive, and always political.
Recommended Citation
Keebler, Samantha, "Contemporary Women's Poetry and Leaning Into the Senses" (2021). All Theses. 3536.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/3536