Date of Award
Fall 1-3-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Amy Moorman Robbins
Second Advisor
Dr. Sonali Perera
Academic Program Adviser
Dr. Janet Neary
Abstract
This work explores language poet Susan Howe’s conceptualization of the natural world in her 1989 poem, Thorow. Conceptualization of a distinct and pure wilderness, inherited from Puritan settlers, is traced through Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and located in Howe’s experience at Lake George in 1987. This thesis describes Howe’s efforts to decolonize and open up closed historical narratives. Howe’s careful deconstruction of normative linguistic structures exposes the restrictive nature of standard syntax and canonical narratives.
Recommended Citation
Walsh, Samantha R., "Imagining Wildernesses: Susan Howe’s Poetic Corrective" (2020). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/554