As if the miracle were working, on the wrong balcony : heroic observations and survival in Elizabeth Bishop's urban poetry

As if the miracle were working, on the wrong balcony : heroic observations and survival in Elizabeth Bishop's urban poetry

Bishop, Elizabeth, 1911-1979 -- Criticism and interpretation

Cities and towns in literature

New York (N.Y.) -- Poetry

Paris (France) -- Poetry

Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) -- Poetry

Moran, Timothy E.

2006

Adams, Mary, 1961-

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61740

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Elizabeth Bishop's urban poetry is full of cityscapes that are infused with sinister beauty, dream imagery, black humor, fleeting epiphanies, and the search for survival. Some of the poems oscillate on the threshold between actual cityscapes and inscapes while others focus on stories of impoverished urban citizens and their struggle for self-preservation. Bishop employs heroic observation in these poems as perspectives move through elliptical images and glimpses of the sublime that vanish as fast as they appear. Exploring the three cities of New York, Rio de Janeiro, and Paris, this thesis examines how the poet's task of looking and observing connects and relates to the city dweller's constant fight against spiritual, social, and economic oppression.

2014-09-11

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