Tongues

Tongues is a collection of feminist ekphrastic poetry dealing with themes of power, voice, agency, and sexuality. The majority of the poems which comprise this collection are written in response to art by women and of feminist themes. These poems delve into the feminist power struggle to create a space for women where they can be acknowledged and heard, while also being active participators in their own fate. These are attempts to go against the objectification of women's bodies in art and explore the muses of female artists away from the male gaze. Drawing from French feminist theory of l'ecriture feminine, Anzaldua's theories of "caught-in between" identity, and feminist revisionary mythmaking, in the tradition of Adrienne Rich and HD, this thesis probes the liminal spaces of historically marginalized women to claim their place in the patriarchal society and the art world. These poems attempt to subvert, redefine, and re-envision the myths of gender and archetypal roles of women, to create a new myth of a woman as agent of her own identity. Instead of relying on the binaries of separatist feminism, these poems will attempt to humanize femininity to emphasize human connection. It is not enough to paint the woman as a female warrior or helpless victim; the poet must practice "nonattachment" as Jane Hirshfield calls it, to move beyond simplistic labels towards a universal truth.