Committee Chair

Braggs, Earl

Committee Member

Einstein, Sarah; Jackson, Richard

Department

Dept. of English

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Silence for the One about to Sing contains a chapbook of 30 poems (selected from two collections) and a prologue. In the prologue, I discuss my influences and inspirations, and explain the creative and critical devices I use throughout my art. Inspired by the Portuguese music genre of fado and its latest iteration, the novo fado, selections in each collection feature code-switching, recurring motifs (birds, oil, and water), and sensory language. A variety of speakers and travelogues is also used to explore themes of agency, identity, loss, and restoration. These devices coalesce to produce a progressive framework for the classic elements of fado (i.e., melancholia, location, and longing) and the innovative expression of novo fado, a dynamic which comprises the poetic arc of each piece in my collections. Much of the writing represents a mixture of allegorical, narrative, and surrealist poetry styles.

Acknowledgments

I offer my sincerest gratitude to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga English Department and Library for their support of my graduate studies. I extend heartfelt gratitude to Drs. Earl Braggs, Richard Jackson, and Sarah Einstein for their engaged reading of my essay and manuscript. I thank Drs. Chad Littleton and Margaret Herb for their mentorship and personal investment in my graduate school experience. I give additional thanks to Drs. Joyce Smith and Rebecca Jones for directing my graduate studies program and to my colleagues, consultants, and students without whom academia would not have been the collaborative, postmodernist adventure it has been. Very special thanks to my colleague, Agnes Fellner, for lending her expertise to the final touches of this project.

Degree

M. A.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts.

Date

5-2016

Subject

American poetry -- 21st century

Keyword

Poetry; Fadista; Fado; Novo fado; Saudade; Hyperreality

Discipline

English Language and Literature

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

ix, 58 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Date Available

5-1-2017

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