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Sibyls of the self: Lowell, Berryman, Wright, Plath, Bishop, Merrill, and Ashbery
Abstract
In the past twenty years, autobiography has generated various, sometimes controversial, discussions about its limitations and possibilities as a genre. Questions, such as truth and fiction, life and art, arise when considering the ramifications of an autobiographical endeavor. While not bound to any one theory of autobiography, this dissertation will address some of the essential problems and promises of autobiographical writing as illustrated by the seven contemporary American poets under discussion. Thus, for example, the idea of the representative life comes into focus in the chapter on Robert Lowell, the assimilation of the mask appears in the chapter on John Berryman, the creation of a sui-generic myth occurs in the chapter on Sylvia Plath, the quest for origins and identity emerges in the chapter on Elizabeth Bishop, and both the desire to communicate the self in language and the absurdity of the effort can be seen in the chapter on John Ashbery. In addition to these generic concerns about autobiography, these poets will be placed in light of a literary tradition, advanced by Emerson, which advocates self-examination as a means to self-creation. The influence of an American autobiographical stance, one found in not only Emerson but Whitman and Dickinson, underscores the readings of these poets, as this dissertation attempts to illuminate the commitment toward an invention of self which seems to be part of our heritage.
Subject Area
American literature|Modern literature|Biographies|Literature
Recommended Citation
St. Pierre-Driskill, Marianne, "Sibyls of the self: Lowell, Berryman, Wright, Plath, Bishop, Merrill, and Ashbery" (1990). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9035408.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9035408