Date of Award
5-16-2024
Publication Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
English Language, Literature, and Creative Writing
Keywords
Concrete;Mouth;Poetry
Supervisor
Susan Holbrook
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Mouthful is a creative writing project centered around mouth. This collection of poetry explores the different aspects of the mouth such fear, eroticism, consumption, and speech. The organization of this work traces the movement of a speaker cycling through a clinical view of the mouth to a deeply personal one and then repeating. These different elements of the mouth are explored in depth through a multitude of forms, from concrete to lyric, to fully embody the mouth. Through embodiment this work aims to build an awareness of and connection to the mouth for readers. Following the poetic works in this thesis is a brief critical essay looks at why this collection focuses on the mouth alone. It is subdivided into five sections; the introduction, Snapping Maws, Lips Smacking, Talking at, Talking over, Talking too much, Armed to the Teeth. The first section opens with an in depth look at the history of the mouth in literature through author such as Mary Borden, bp Nichol, Marie Annharte Baker and Jordan Scott. This section as well as this essay as a whole uses a number of theorists who discuss post colonial theory, the body in literature, horror and formal aspects of poetry. Moving from this first passage Why the Mouth? Looks at the different at the different common associations of the mouth and where they originate. In discussing these different aspects the paper posits the importance of the mouth to identity and vice versa.
Recommended Citation
Jessop, Maya Elizabeth Ann, "Mouthful" (2024). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 9412.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/9412