"A noisy situation": the Feminine and Feminist New Absurd in twenty-first-century British and American poetry and Send Shells

Clake, Jenna (2018). "A noisy situation": the Feminine and Feminist New Absurd in twenty-first-century British and American poetry and Send Shells. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis consists of a critical study, ‘“A Noisy Situation”: The Feminine and Feminist New Absurd in Twenty-first Century British and American Poetry’, followed by a poetry collection, \(Send\) \(Shells\). The critical study is a guidebook to the New Absurd, and thereby informs the reading of \(Send\) \(Shells\). Chapter One introduces the New Absurd as a descendant of male-dominated Absurdism; feminine and feminist humour is explored through Sam Riviere, Heather Phillipson, Selima Hill and Luke Kennard. Chapters Two, Three and Four focus on individual poets: Jennifer L. Knox’s \(A\) \(Gringo\) \(Like\) \(Me\), Emily Berry’s \(Dear\) \(Boy\) and Caroline Bird’s \(The\) \(Hat-Stand\) \(Union\) and \(In\) \(These\) \(Days\) \(of\) \(Prohibition\). The following themes are investigated: culture, class, and elitism; reality and imagination; feminine humour and sadness. Chapter Five explores apocalypse and technology through Maxine Chernoff, Jane Yeh, and Anne Carson. Chapter Six analyses failures to communicate through Rebecca Perry, Crispin Best, Rachael Allen, and Sara Woods. In conclusion Kayo Chingonyi, Rishi Dastidar, Mona Arshi and Anne Boyer are read to explore poets utilising the New Absurd, a prominent and influential movement in modern poetry, which does not have a specific membership, and might be seen as an aesthetic rather than a school.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):