The female-authored lyric in the Anthropocene: a creative-critical investigation into nonhuman concerns in contemporary anglophone poetry by women

Allen, Rachael

Abstract

This study consists of a portfolio of creative work in the form of a sequence of verse and prose poems, entitled Kingdomland, preceded by a critical thesis: ‘The Female-Authored Lyric in the Anthropocene: a creative-critical investigation into nonhuman concerns in contemporary anglophone poetry by women.’ The critical thesis argues for a radical, feminist interrogation of what it means to write lyric poems about nonhuman spaces and beings in the Anthropocene, the geological age wherein human activity dominates all aspects of what is deemed the ‘natural’ world. This thesis utilises an inherently interdisciplinary methodological framework that incorporates theoretical approaches such as poetry criticism, animal studies, ecocriticism, alongside close reading and my own poetic practice. It is argued that the four poets critically addressed within this thesis, alongside my own poetry collection, all work to problematize the fabric of the contemporary lyric mode in order to self-reflexively reconsider how we address and speak to and for the nonhuman. Aligning lyric theory with discourse on how patriarchal cultures have led to climate crisis, I identify and practice a strand of thinking in contemporary feminist poetries that problematise and resists the prevailing and damaging mainstream discourse and notions in both contemporary ecocritical thinking and poetic modes. It is concluded that this poetry works towards a new way to consider our nonhuman environments in order to provide radical space for hope in an era defined by climate crisis.

Citation

Allen, R. (2020). The female-authored lyric in the Anthropocene: a creative-critical investigation into nonhuman concerns in contemporary anglophone poetry by women. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4922253

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Nov 22, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 8, 2026
• Keywords: Creative writing
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4922253
• Award Date: Jan 7, 2020