The Study of Mourning in Female Elegy

Abstract

Elegy is a genre which has been under the influence of the rules imposed by male poets throughout its history. Therefore, only a little space is left for the female poets who desire to express their individuality. However, female elegists’ contributions to the development of the genre cannot be denied because their struggles to defy the established rules have offered tremendous varieties. Female poets, contrary to traditional male poets, are against the idea of separation from the dead as they believe it is the corpse, not the thoughts, which disappears when a person dies. Therefore, their mourning is continuous, which is demonstrated by a circular structure moving from sorrow to sorrow. On the other hand, the fact that female elegists cannot find a substitute for the deceased is interpreted as a distinct sign of melancholia by some critics inspired by Freud’s statements in his essay “Mourning and Melancholia” (1917). Another distinction is that female elegists do not regard elegy as a tool to claim themselves as the inheritors of the deceased. This study is an examination of mourning in female elegies. In examining “Remembrance” and “North Haven”, the present study aims to contribute to the discussions about the representation of female mourning in Anglo-American women’s poetry

Keywords

• elegy,Emily Brontë,Remembrance,Elizabeth Bishop,North Haven,individuality,melancholia,mourning

The Study of Mourning in Female Elegy

Abstract

Ağıt, tarihi boyunca erkek şairler tarafından ortaya konulan kuralların etkisi altında kalmış bir tür- dür. Bu nedenle, benzersizliklerini açığa vurmak isteyen kadın şairler için çok az bir alan bırakılmıştır. Fa- kat, kadın ağıt yazarlarının bu türe olan katkıları inkar edilemez; çünkü yerleşmiş kurallara karşı gelme ça- baları muazzam farklılıklar sunmuştur. Kadın şairler, erkek şairlerin aksine, bir kişi öldüğünde düşüncele- rin değil, bedenin yok olduğuna inandıklarından ölen kişiden ayrılma düşüncesine karşı çıkarlar. Bu ne- denle, matemleri süreklidir ve bu gerçek, üzüntüden üzüntüye doğru hareket eden dairesel bir yapıyla gös- terilir. Öte yandan kadın ağıt yazarlarının ölünün yerini dolduracak bir şey bulamamaları, Freud’un “Mo- urning and Melancholia” (1917) adlı makalesindeki ifadelerinden esinlenen bazı eleştirmenler tarafından melankolinin belirgin bir göstergesi olarak yorumlanır. Bir diğer ayrım da kadın ağıt yazarlarının ağıtı ken- dilerini ölünün varisi olarak iddia etmek için kullanabilecekleri bir araç olarak görmemeleridir. Bu çalış- ma, kadın şairler tarafından yazılan ağıtlarda görülen matemin bir incelemesidir. Mevcut çalışma, İngiliz yazar Emily Brontë’nin “Remembrance” başlıklı şiiri ile ve Amerikalı yazar Elizabeth Bishop’un “North Haven” başlıklı şiirini inceleyerek Anglo-Amerikan kadın şairlerin şiirlerindeki matem temsilleri hakkın- daki tartışmalara katkıda bulunmayı amaçlamaktadır

Keywords

• ağıt
• Emily Brontë
• Remembrance
• Elizabeth Bishop
• North Haven
• özgünlük
• melankoli
• matem.

References

1. The Norton Anthology of American Literature retreived from: http://www.wwnorton.com/college/eng- lish/naal7/ contents/B/authors/bryant.asp. on March 15 2012.
2. Bergmann, Martin S.. “Introduction”, in Leticia Glocer Fiorini, Thierry Bokanowski and Sergio Lewkowicz (eds.), On Freud’s “Mourning and Melancholia,” (London: Karnac Books, 2009).
3. Bishop, Elizabeth. “North Haven”, in Helen Vendler (ed.),. The Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry (New York: I.B. Tauris, 1978), ll.12-13.
4. Brontë, Emily. “Remembrance”, in Joseph Black et al (eds.), The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: Concise Edition, Volume B (Ontatio: Broadview Press, 2008), ll. 1-2.
5. Costello, Bonnie. Elizabeth Bishop: Questions of Mastery (Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1991).
6. Cuddon, J.A. Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (London: Penguin Books, 1999).
7. Eng, David L. and David Kazanjian. “Introduction: Mourning Remains,” in David L. Eng and David Kazanjian (eds.), Loss: The Politics of Mourning (California: The University of California Press 2003).
8. Freud, Sigmund. On Murder, Mourning and Melancholia [translated by Shaun Whiteside] (London: Penguin Books, 2005).

9. Freud, Sigmund. “Mourning and Melancholia,” in Leticia Glocer Fiorini, Thierry Bokanowski and Sergio Lewkowicz (eds.), On Freud’s “Mourning and Melancholia” (London: Karnac Books, 2009).
10. Freud, Sigmund. “Mourning and Melancholia,” in Pamela Thurschwell, Sigmund Freud (Oxon: Routledge, 2009).
11. Peeck-O’Toole, Maureen. Aspects of Lyric in the Poetry of Emily Brontë (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1988).
12. Kennedy, David. Elegy (Oxon: Routledge, 2007).
13. Moorey, James. Living with Grief and Mourning (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995).
14. Pellegrini, Ann. “Staging Sexual Injury: How I Learned to Drive,” in Janelle Reinelt and Joseph R. Roach (eds.), Critical Theory and Performance: Revised and Enlarged Edition (Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 2007).
15. Schenck, Celeste M. “Feminism and Deconstruction: Reconstructing the Elegy,” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 6 (1986).
16. Vickery, John B. The Modern Elegiac Temper (Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 2006)