| Popis: |
Dog Stars weaves together confessional and persona poems that reflect on family, personhood, and death and how death shapes the experience of life. Themes include the reciprocal nature of life and death, compassion, longing and hunger, the reinvention of mythology to fill in the gaps, the nature of monsters, and the authority of mythology. The thesis asks: What does a creation owe its maker, whether they are a builder, a parent, or a god? What makes a creature a monster? And if death is imminent, why bother living at all? A wide cast of speakers—from history, nature, personal experience, and mythology—respond to these questions. Norse mythology in particular takes center-stage as a study of family relationships and personhood focused on Loki’s brood. The thesis is divided into three sections and beginning with Twilight, or Ragnarok, “the twilight of gods.” Ragnarok is always known, like death itself, and begins with the birth of narrative. Twilight portrays the world as it is, with its origin stories. This section maintains the status quo as characters like Loki, Embla, and unnamed speakers struggle with expectations and the demands of living. Identity becomes a question as shape shifters either succumb to or resist these expectations.The second section, Night, signals Ragnarok in full swing. This is a period of destruction, loss, and grief, as the status quo begins to crumble. A grandfather dies, the wolves begin their pursuit, and the world itself deteriorates. Speakers cope and endure these losses, often with a sense of fear and guilt; other characters, like the wolves, grapple with the consequences of an innate longing and hunger that nothing can satisfy. In Daybreak, the cycle begins with the inherited history of the first cycle, to start a palimpsest of cycles. Speakers begin the process of building and rebuilding cities for themselves and transformations are no longer a means to survival, but an expression of autonomy and joy. |
