Particles and Waves: Poetic Responses to Place - Psycho-Geography And/As Practice
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Particles and Waves: Poetic Responses to Place - Psycho-geography and/as practice Alison Clare Scott BA (Hons), MA Supervised by: Dr Paul Wright, Dr Dic Edwards Submitted in partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Wales Trinity Saint David 1 2018 DECLARATION SHEET This sheet MUST be signed and included within the thesis This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed...................... …. (student) Date .............24.09.2018........................................................... STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where correction services have been used the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in a footnote(s). Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed ......... ....... (student) Date ..................24.09.2018...................................................... STATEMENT 2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ............ ................ (student) Date ....................24.09.2018.................................................... STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for deposit in the University’s digital repository. Signed....... .......................... (student) Date ..................24.09.2018...................................................... 2 Abstract Utilising a range of psychogeographic practices, this project comprises a hybrid creative response to the natural landscape of West Wales, using the River Towy as a focal point. It is concerned with an exploration of the importance of identity, and with themes of the spiritual, land, gender, culture and history. The work’s originality results from the application of predominantly male urban writing practices in a rural Welsh environment from a woman’s standpoint. The journey recounted in the creative piece is understood essentially as a transformative, personal process of a transcendental nature, whilst also exploring and depicting the nature of the differing stages of the river and those who live in or come to the specific locations, including Carmarthen, the Cambrian Mountains, Llandeilo, Llandovery, and Llansteffan. It is informed by the belief that some places are imbued with energies that may cause specific types of human interaction and responses. The project was developed through investigative visits to predetermined sites at significant positions and with notable histories, in order to ascertain and record what might be felt, observed and experienced, leading to site-specific writing. It is formally diverse, including short essays, prose and poetry of various kinds, the use of found texts. It is presented as a ‘scrapbook’ and makes creative use of the interplay between text and image. The multi-layered approach assumes that myths, fiction and fact are all of equal importance and intuitive skills are acknowledged as essential. The work, thus, is informed by recent developments in psychogeography, i.e. ‘mythogeography’ or ‘deep topography’. The writing is experimental and influenced by the zeitgeist preference for abbreviated/truncated writing. The methodologies of this practice-based project include auto- ethnographic responses and an exploration of psychogeographic literature and practice. The creative piece is supported by a wide and deep contextual background, which has informed its development. 3 Table of Contents Contextual and Reflective Work - Table of Illustrations Page 5 Acknowledgements Page 6 Particles and Waves Page 7 Introduction Page 9 Journey along the length of the River Towy Page 14 The Source of the Towy to Rhandirmwyn Page 17 Llandovery to Talley Abbey Page 35 Llandeilo to Abergwili Page 54 Carmarthen Page 76 after Carmarthen to Ferryside and Llansteffan Page 95 End Notes Page 112 Contextual and Reflective Work Page 113 Explanation Page 113 Autoethnographic Practice Page 114 Writing – my journey Page 155 Bibliography Page 185 Appendix 1 Page 194 Appendix 2 Page 198 4 Contextual and Reflective Work - Table of Illustrations: ‘The Spiral of Ancestral Time’, R. J. Stewart, Power Within the Land Page 124 (NC, USA: Mercury Publishing, 1998), p.22. ‘VENN DIAGRAM OF PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY’ (2006), Morag Rose, Page 126 in Tina Richardson (ed.), Walking Inside Out: Contemporary British Psychogeography (London: Rowman & Littlefield International, 2015), p.148. ‘European shamanic tradition and Healing the land’, Yannick Dubois, Page 150 Inspired by Patrick’s talk at Shamanic Lands Conference 2016 http://patrickmacmanaway.com/important-conversation-agriculture/>. Acrostic poem of ROBERT CROWLEY, Page 153 Transcript from verse of title page of 1667 edition, British Museum copy 11623. Aa.37.1. Olga E. Illston, A Literary and Bibliographical Study of the Work of Robert Crowley, (1517 – 1588) Printer Puritan and Poet, p.155. ‘mappa mundi’, Sonia Overall, The Art of Walking, Page 174 (Bristol: Shearsman Books, 2015), p.33. ‘in the rain / departure’, Sonia Overall, The Art of Walking, Page 175 (Bristol: Shearsman Books, 2015), p.18. ‘another brook’, Lee Duggan, Reference Points, Page 176 (UK: Aquifer Books, 2017), p.13 5 Acknowledgements It has been quite a pilgrimage over five years and I have been very lucky to have received all sorts of contributions to support and sustain me and the work that I was doing. I would like to thank Dr Paul Wright for his unstinting thoughtfulness and encouragement. I am very glad to have had the companionship and backing from fellow-students from the MA Creative Writing course: Annie Bell-Davies and Anthony Jones before his untimely demise. My literary acupuncturist, Audley Burnett, shared his acumen and took such a kind interest in my writing. Chris Ozzard gave me vital signposts along the way and I benefited hugely from his willingness to share his expertise, information and copies of rare books. Dr Nigel Rodenhurst was an unfailing and dependable support in the background. I was lucky to be invited to Lyndon Davies’ Glasfryn Seminars and the Black Mountain College Celebration Weekend in Crickhowell and to have the opportunity to encounter psychogeography and experimental writing at its source. I had a wonderful, informative and enriching experience from my writer’s residency thanks to Gemma Dymond of the National Trust and her staff at Dinefwr Park. Fi Latus contributed hugely during my explorations of the themes: women, walking, the natural landscape and art. I gained greatly from my work with Jill Teague of the international academy for poetry therapy, who walks and writes and works with therapeutic practice in North Wales. It was good to share psychogeography and PhD matters with Simon Poole of Storyhouse in Chester. Georgina Gray, psychotherapist, was important in helping me to keep mental health for sound academic practice. Professor John Illston and Olga Illston gave far more than one should expect from parents and shared their wisdom, knowledge and interest, which made all the difference to my understanding of the project. My husband Garry Scott enabled me to make the journey by being the raft that kept me afloat. My daughters, Katie, Emma, Francesca showed me the way of positivity and my son Matthew the way of endurance. 6 Particles and Waves Alison Clare Scott 7 Contents Introduction Page 9 Journey along the length of the River Towy Page 14 The Source of the Towy to Rhandirmwyn Page 17 Llandovery to Talley Abbey Page 37 Llandeilo to Abergwili Page 54 Carmarthen Page 76 after Carmarthen to Ferryside and Llansteffan Page 95 End Notes Page 112 8 By chance on a map: by way of an introduction There was no obvious reason why I chose to visit Lynmouth. I'd never been there before, no one else had recommended it to me, I couldn't remember it ever featuring on a travel show. I found it by chance on a map, knew it was on the Devon coastline and the route to reach it looked a reasonably easy drive. A bed and breakfast was selected through cheapness and Tripadvisor, not because it had any other interest. That was discovered on arrival, when we were given our room: this was the place Shelley had stayed with his first wife, Harriet. Pencil line drawings of them hung in a room that had been dressed anachronistically. It was easy to see the appeal of the area to Shelley, being situated on the coast, divided by a river that courses around and between rocks and boulders, tumbling down the slope to the beach, where it joins the sea. The sheer wooded inclines around the harbour ensure a sense of isolation and of possible adventures; smugglers returning from the high seas, bringing contraband to hide out in the woods that stretch from the shore, up the steep hills and over onto the moors above. The cliffs that tower above the sea, where breezes vibrate the turquoise waters under a warm sun on the best days, are difficult to climb, yet stimulate the desire to explore and immerse oneself in the scenery. Lynmouth’s seclusion, its wildness and its antiquity are a draw to intrepid walkers, those who like the rural and those of a romantic nature. As we rambled around the harbour, gaining our bearings, a feeling of strangeness overcame me. A strong sense of otherworldliness rose like a sea mist, obscuring the simple enjoyment of our visit to this quirky fishing village where tourist souvenirs beset every shop on the little street that runs up from the landing point. It seemed to me to be more than the ghosts of sailors greeting their families on their return or women waiting forlornly for those who never came back. It was almost as if I were looking at a distorted mirror reflection of uneven proportions, that slipped in and out of my view. The local artist, whose studio occupied the space of several small shops, was clearly making a good living depicting landscape views of Lynmouth from varying angles and his work did not suggest the incongruity that I was sensing.