Date of Award

5-2025

Degree Type

Creative Project

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

English

Committee Chair(s)

Benjamin Gunsberg (Committee Chair)

Committee

Benjamin Gunsberg

Committee

C.R. Grimmer

Committee

David Wall

Abstract

This multimodal poetry thesis explores the Female Shadow, an adaptation of Carl Jung’s concept of the Shadow that focuses on women’s experiences, through the themes of silence, abuse, and generational trauma. Incorporating multimodal forms such as video poetry and visual poetry alongside traditional print poetry, the collection mirrors the fragmented nature of trauma and the instability of memory. This collection draws from feminist theorists like Hélène Cixous, bell hooks, and Trinh T. Minh-ha, as well as poets engaging with Jungian concepts such as Sylvia Plath, Robert Bly, and Châtillon Coque. This work examines repression, voice, and the unconscious. Formally, it employs found poetry, ekphrasis, fragmentation, and anaphora, reflecting the lived reality of trauma survivors. Rather than resolving the Female Shadow, this collection seeks to witness and give form to it, asking: How is the Female Shadow created? How do women come to know their Shadows? And what is left after the Shadow has taken shape?

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