The Monstrous Mother
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: School of English
Abstract
This project is a creative/critical approach to understanding the 'monstrous mother.' The creative element (80%) will be a hybrid form that blends fiction, poetry and non-fiction to create a book length lyric essay. The story will be centred around a new mother, trying to reconcile her role - what it means for and about her body - and re-examining her relationship with her mother.
Influenced by the work of Maggie Nelson and Anne Carson, my essay-poem will interweave stories of 'monstrosity' and 'madness,' questioning Marina Warner's claim that if, 'monsters are made, not given, they can be unmade, too' (Warner, Six Myths of our Time, 1994). I aim to explore maternal subjectivities and what it means to be a 'good' and 'bad' mother in the twenty first century. The research will be interdisciplinary, encompassing medical humanities, literature, psychoanalysis, and contemporary culture.
Both aspects of my project will be creative and critical, however 20% of my project will be a series of creative essays exploring the figure of the 'monstrous mother' in myth, history and literature.
I have already conducted research in this field. My MA dissertation was a series of lyric essays responding to Sara Coleridge's life and work. I used archival material: Sara Coleridge's essays and diaries (held at the Harry Ramson Research Centre in Texas). My research involved the literary recovery of a marginalised Romantic poet, editor and essayist; it explored her experience of motherhood, post-natal depression and addiction. My essays were a blend of memoir, literary criticism and biography that explored how the nineteenth century experience of motherhood translates into the twenty-first century. The creative element of my dissertation was awarded 80% and extracts have been published in the journal Empty Mirror.
I was awarded a first-class degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Warwick in 2003. I completed a PGCE in 2004 and had a career as an English teacher before I took a break to become a mother. I began my MA at The University of Nottingham in 2018. I have already completed 160 credits of my MA, with an average mark of 76%. I am due to complete the final 20 credits of my MA at the end of January 2020 and am on course to obtain a distinction. My writing has appeared in, or is forthcoming in, journals including: Litro, Ink Sweat and Tears, The Moth, Marble and Stand
Influenced by the work of Maggie Nelson and Anne Carson, my essay-poem will interweave stories of 'monstrosity' and 'madness,' questioning Marina Warner's claim that if, 'monsters are made, not given, they can be unmade, too' (Warner, Six Myths of our Time, 1994). I aim to explore maternal subjectivities and what it means to be a 'good' and 'bad' mother in the twenty first century. The research will be interdisciplinary, encompassing medical humanities, literature, psychoanalysis, and contemporary culture.
Both aspects of my project will be creative and critical, however 20% of my project will be a series of creative essays exploring the figure of the 'monstrous mother' in myth, history and literature.
I have already conducted research in this field. My MA dissertation was a series of lyric essays responding to Sara Coleridge's life and work. I used archival material: Sara Coleridge's essays and diaries (held at the Harry Ramson Research Centre in Texas). My research involved the literary recovery of a marginalised Romantic poet, editor and essayist; it explored her experience of motherhood, post-natal depression and addiction. My essays were a blend of memoir, literary criticism and biography that explored how the nineteenth century experience of motherhood translates into the twenty-first century. The creative element of my dissertation was awarded 80% and extracts have been published in the journal Empty Mirror.
I was awarded a first-class degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Warwick in 2003. I completed a PGCE in 2004 and had a career as an English teacher before I took a break to become a mother. I began my MA at The University of Nottingham in 2018. I have already completed 160 credits of my MA, with an average mark of 76%. I am due to complete the final 20 credits of my MA at the end of January 2020 and am on course to obtain a distinction. My writing has appeared in, or is forthcoming in, journals including: Litro, Ink Sweat and Tears, The Moth, Marble and Stand
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| Stephanie Limb (Student) |