Mythology has played a significant and traceable role in the history of Western literature. The divine narratives of antiquity have allowed poets and authors across the Western canon to conceive of contemporary experience in terms of a culturally, historically, and personally integrated mythology. At the turn of the nineteenth century, however, as the world became increasingly connected, as unprecedented scientific discovery unhinged accepted ways of understanding the world, and as the West responded to such disorienting changes with widespread uncertainty, fragmentation, and reexamination, this tradition of mythological reference took on not only an explanatory but also a revisionary role. From Ezra Pound to T.S. Eliot and from Louise Bogan to H.D. frequent reference to mythological figures with an emphatic focus on cultural reflection is obvious. However, I think some of the more particularly fascinating instances of use of this literary device occurs specifically in the context of its use by modernist female poets. It seems that, when analyzing the cultural context within which their poetry exists in conjunction with the principles of modernist aesthetics, such allusions were employed very deliberately in order to create a distinct cultural identity that revaluated the feminine identity in such a way that divested it of notions of subordination and dependence while still upholding a deep respect for the tradition of a distinctly feminine, as opposed to masculine, experience. By exploring themes of agency and objectification, humanity and divinity, creation and inspiration, as well as particularity and universality in the context of traditional mythological images of femininity, H.D. as a representative modernist female poet was able to re-examine and revise cultural delineations of selfhood using revisionist mythology that not only solidified an identity for herself as both a woman and a poet but also established an authoritative platform for her female contemporaries and successors.
I made a Powerpoint accompanying the paper I wrote to present my exploration of this central thesis specifically through an analysis of H.D. poems Helen, Helen in Egypt, and Tribute to Angels as revisions of the traditional mythological representation of women strictly as symbols of either angel or demon, beauty or evil.
The paper can be viewed here
And the powerpoint can be viewed here
Works Cited:
Dorian, Donna. “Knowledge Puffeth Up.” Parnassus: Poetry In Review 12-13.2-1 (1985): 144-159. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Friedman, Susan. “Creating A Women’s Mythology: H.D.’S Helen In Egypt.” Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal 5.(1977): 163-197. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Friedman, Susan. “On Helen.” Psyche Reborn: The Emergence of H.D. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981. 232-35. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Joseph, Michael. “The Structure of Myths.” In Search of Cupid and Psyche. Rutgers University, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Pratt, William. “Signing the Chaos: Madness and Wisdom in Modern Poetry.” On “Helen”. Modern American Poetry Society, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Walkington, J. W.. “Mystical Experience in H.D. and Walt Whitman: An Intertextual Reading of Tribute to the Angels and “Song of Myself”.” Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 11 (Winter 1994),123-136.
Awesome idea, though I’m not sure a Prezi is your best presentation option. I see this begin a very strong researched paper–something more traditional, perhaps, than a prezi. I say that because it seems your project carves out a strong, unique, and complex argument. To really do the research question here justice, I think you need to choose a medium that allows for in-depth analysis and engagement with secondary sources. What do you think?
For Friday, I’d like to see a preliminary list of primary (poems on which you might focus) and secondary works that will inform your project.
Good luck!
The Goddesses of Modernism: I like this very much. The appropriation of female mythical figures echoes that key allusive modernist strategy while suggesting a more motivated set of strategies behind these mythical renditions / reflections.
We’ll talk during our conference about possible presentation schemes (including, but also beyond, the traditional research paper).
In the meantime, please begin building a more extensive bibliography using the library catalog (make sure you use the “classic” catalog, as well as the MLA International Bibliography.
Good luck!