Seamus Heaney’s Human Chain, published in 2010, is still in the early stages of being placed in relation to the rest of the poet’s work. However, it seems that in the immediate reception by critics...Show moreSeamus Heaney’s Human Chain, published in 2010, is still in the early stages of being placed in relation to the rest of the poet’s work. However, it seems that in the immediate reception by critics, there has already emerged a consensus regarding two aspects of the collection; it is clear that the poems are written in the shadow of death, but, at the same time, that the poet is in a lifeaffirming mood. For instance, in his essay on Heaney’s appropriation of Virgil in Human Chain, Stephen Heiny refers to the “insistent, urgent vitality” of the collection while acknowledging that “death is the central theme” (305) of the central poem, “Route 110” (HC 48-59), and Colm Tóibín observes an “an active urge to capture the living breath of things” that accompanies this “book of shades and memories”. However, we should not equate this positivity with optimism; instead, we should place it in the context of Václav Havel’s definition of hope (quoted in RP 4-5), which Heaney understands – in his words during an interview with Paul Muldoon – as follows; “it isn’t grounded in the notion that everything will turn out well ... hope means that you believe something is worth working for” (New Yorker 40:50-41:10). In this thesis, I will analyse Human Chain through this concept of hope – cautious, realistic but deeper and more profound than optimism – as a way of explaining the curious combination that critics have identified in the collection: death and the vitality of life. By offering close readings of individual poems, I will demonstrate how “hope” underpins as well as produces this collection.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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Aan de hand van een selectie gedichten uit Britse oorlogspoëzie wordt onderzocht hoe in deze werken een keerpunt gezien kan worden in de Britse visie op de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Door middel van...Show moreAan de hand van een selectie gedichten uit Britse oorlogspoëzie wordt onderzocht hoe in deze werken een keerpunt gezien kan worden in de Britse visie op de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Door middel van memory studies en reflectie op contemporaine herdenkingen wordt geanalyseerd hoe deze nieuwe visie nog steeds dominant is in het Brits cultureel geheugen.Show less
Medieval heroes act according to a certain set of values. These values have changed from the heroic ethos in the Early Middle Ages to the chivalric code in the Late Middle Ages. In this thesis,...Show moreMedieval heroes act according to a certain set of values. These values have changed from the heroic ethos in the Early Middle Ages to the chivalric code in the Late Middle Ages. In this thesis, this change is made clear by using the texts of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green KnightShow less
This thesis describes Lady Hester Pulter’s (1605-1678) poetry, and, in particular, focuses on religious and royalist components in her work. Pulter lived for most of her life in Cottered,...Show moreThis thesis describes Lady Hester Pulter’s (1605-1678) poetry, and, in particular, focuses on religious and royalist components in her work. Pulter lived for most of her life in Cottered, Hertfordshire, where she wrote a prose romance and a collection of poetry. Her work has survived in one manuscript (MS Lt q 32) that was discovered in the University of Leeds’ Brotherton Library in 1996. Pulter wrote her poetry during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the ensuing period of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate. She openly expressed her support of the king and the royalist cause in her poems. For Pulter, Charles I was unquestionably the country´s and the church´s leader. The political aspect, though, is also present in the less obviously political poetry. References to politics crop up through the whole collection. Royalism was an integral part of her life and an inseparable part of her language. In fact, the political component forms an important characteristic of her work.Show less
In this thesis I analyse T. S. Eliot's ""The Waste Land"" in an ecocritical manner. By making use of contemporary theory on the relation between human and environment I shed new light on the...Show moreIn this thesis I analyse T. S. Eliot's ""The Waste Land"" in an ecocritical manner. By making use of contemporary theory on the relation between human and environment I shed new light on the conceptualization and representation of the environment in ""The Waste Land."" I do this by close reading descriptions of the environment in the poem, analyzing the struggle between the material and the spiritual, and analyzing language and agency.Show less
This thesis is about cultural transformation through migration between the Turkish district of Emirdağ and the diaspora in Belgium. In this research, the poems from Emirdağ and the poems from the...Show moreThis thesis is about cultural transformation through migration between the Turkish district of Emirdağ and the diaspora in Belgium. In this research, the poems from Emirdağ and the poems from the diaspora were analyzed using the qualitative research method narrative analysis. In the analysis, the reflection of cultural transformation through migration in Emirdağ's poetry has been observed. The results provide an insight into the migration culture and the outcomes of socio-cultural and economic transnationalism.Show less
Within sign language poetry there is a genre that has not been the subject of scientific research yet, even though it has been around for quite some time: visual vernacular. It differentiates...Show moreWithin sign language poetry there is a genre that has not been the subject of scientific research yet, even though it has been around for quite some time: visual vernacular. It differentiates itself from other types of sign language literature in that it hardly ever uses anything but iconic signs, and this is what makes it internationally comprehensible across sign language borders. It is even understandable to audiences who do not have any knowledge of a sign language. Besides iconic signs, it uses many cinematographic techniques such as role switching from and to different subject or objects within the story. Visual vernacular is different from another type of sign language literature called classifier stories mainly in that the latter uses sign language specific lexicon which visual verancular does not. Another similar form of art, this time outside the sign language realm, is pantomime, but this is different from visual vernacular in many ways, one of the most prominent of which is that pantomime performers are only the storyteller whereas visual vernacular performers swith between the storyteller, main protagonist and any other subject or object in the story. By making a literary overview and using a dataset of different types of visual vernacular stories, this thesis provides an inter and intra sign language poetry genre comparison.Show less
Poetry is an important tool through which Palestinians can express their national-political identity. Palestinian poetry is part of a greater tradition of Arabic poetry throughout history. In this...Show morePoetry is an important tool through which Palestinians can express their national-political identity. Palestinian poetry is part of a greater tradition of Arabic poetry throughout history. In this case, the Arabic language is key in connecting different nation states in the Arab world. Hence, Palestinian Arabic poetry reinforces the Arab identity of the Palestinian people. Another way in which poetry affects the identity of Palestinians, is in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict. This juxtaposition makes clear the distinct political nature Palestinian poetry can have. This research paper aims to answer in what ways poetry is used to express and reproduce the Palestinian political identity. It focuses on both aspects of the Arab identity and the Israel-Palestine conflict, set to a framework of significant historical events.Show less
