Title
School of the Elegiac
Date of Award
Fall 12-16-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Creative Writing
First Advisor
Dr. Anna Leahy
Second Advisor
Dr. Genevieve Kaplan
Third Advisor
Dr. Joanna Levin
Abstract
The various sections of this thesis are interconnected by a sense of inescapable misery. The second section works as a bridge in that sense, connecting the misery of home and abroad. Quite fittingly, W.E.B. du Bois, who toward the end of his life acquired Ghanaian citizenship (he died and is buried in Ghana), serves as the major influence from which the connective (t)issues explored in the various sections are drawn. After the du Bois tradition of examining shared black experiences, the bridge section (II) of the thesis has his words for a title. At the heart of these poems and within the pursuit of a clear image lies the question posed by W.E.B. du Bois in The Souls of Black Folk, “For where in the world may we go and be safe from lying and brute force?”
Recommended Citation
Prempeh, Nana. School of the Elegiac. 2019. Chapman University, MFA Thesis. Chapman University Digital Commons, https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000101