“Silence into Language and Action”: Political Poetry of Audre Lorde
| Thesis title in Czech: | "Mlčení v řeč a činy": Politická poezie Audre Lorde |
|---|---|
| Thesis title in English: | “Silence into Language and Action”: Political Poetry of Audre Lorde |
| Key words: | Audre Lorde|politická poezie|aktivismus|poezie jako aktivismus|Hnutí za občanská práva|feminismus|intersekcionalita|rasismus|sexismus|utlačování|bezpráví|Emmett Till|Clifford Glover |
| English key words: | Audre Lorde|political poetry|activism|poetry as activism|Civil Rights Movement|feminism|intersectionality|racism|sexism|oppression|injustice|Emmett Till|Clifford Glover |
| Academic year of topic announcement: | 2021/2022 |
| Thesis type: | Bachelor's thesis |
| Thesis language: | angličtina |
| Department: | Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (21-UALK) |
| Supervisor: | doc. PhDr. Mariana Machová, Ph.D. |
| Author: | hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept. |
| Date of registration: | 10.07.2022 |
| Date of assignment: | 13.07.2022 |
| Administrator's approval: | not processed yet |
| Confirmed by Study dept. on: | 06.09.2022 |
| Date and time of defence: | 31.01.2023 10:00 |
| Date of electronic submission: | 09.01.2023 |
| Date of proceeded defence: | 31.01.2023 |
| Submitted/finalized: | committed by student and finalized |
| Opponents: | Mgr. Pavla Veselá, Ph.D. |
| Guidelines |
| Audre Lorde defined herself as a “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet” and dedicated her life and work to confronting social injustice such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. She lived through the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Arts Movement and saw poetry as a tool for igniting action. Poetry was to move people to combat social injustices. This BA thesis will examine Lorde’s poems through her essays and transcribed speeches and the foundations she laid regarding the purpose of poetry expressed in them, especially the idea of poetry as illumination. For Lorde, poetry is a form of dialogue, she uses poetry as a way of communication, and her politically engaged poems reflect the struggles and injustices of the Black Americans. Lorde’s theoretical and ideological notions proposed in her texts “Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” and “Poetry Is Not a Luxury” provide a compelling insight into her values and aims, and embody helpful material for the analysis of her poems, especially the ones related to specific historical events, such as the tragic deaths of Emmett Till and Clifford Glover. Through witnessing and reimagination in her poetry, Lorde crafts a testimony of outrage and heartache that is laid out for the reader, all while asking them to “do their work.” For Lorde, the personal is political; she strives to combat her silences and bear witness to society of oppression in the US. This thesis will discuss the aims and possible effects of her work through the lens of political poetry and poetry as communication. |
| References |
| Burr, Zofia. Of Women, Poetry, and Power. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2022. Dowdy, Michael. American Political Poetry in the 21st Century. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007. Evans, Mari. Black Women Writers (1950–1980): A Critical Eevaluation. Garden City: Anchor Press, 1984. Hill Collins, Patricia. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge, 2000. Lorde, Audre. I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre Lorde. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider. Trumansburg: Crossing Press, 1984. Metress, Christopher. “‘No Justice, No Peace’: The Figure of Emmett Till in African American Literature.” MELUS 28, no. 1 (2003): 87–103. Ramazani, Jahan. Poetry and Its Others. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. Steele, Cassie Premo. We Heal from Memory: Sexton, Lorde, Anzaldúa and the Poetry of Witness. New York: Palgrave, 2000. Tate, Claudia. Black Women Writers at Work. Harpenden: Oldcastle, 1985. |