DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/4X51-VA93
Defense Date
2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
David Wojahn
Second Advisor
Kathleen Graber
Third Advisor
Bryant Mangum
Abstract
Collectively, the poems in Wintering Ground track a path through sobriety, documenting episodes of backsliding and the accompanying remorse, shame, and regret, as well as brief periods of triumph followed by inevitable failure. They insist on allusion and metaphor, approaching allegory as a means to better understand alcohol abuse through the language of desire and hunger. Specifically, they engage in an intertextual conversation with Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian mythology, borrowing from each one’s accompanying philosophers, thinkers, and poets. It might be said that this method of allegory is meant to distance the speaker from his past errors and offenses, a way of evading accountability and its resulting guilt. However, it might also be said that this method only deepens comprehension of the past self. After all, what is myth other than an attempt to explain that which we do not know or cannot understand?
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-6-2021