The Construction of Gender Through Embarrassment, Shame and Guilt in the Poetry of Selima Hill
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THE CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER THROUGH EMBARRASSMENT, SHAME AND GUILT IN THE POETRY OF SELIMA HILL LUCY WINROW School of Arts and Media University of Salford, Salford, UK Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, October 2013 i TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER TITLE PAGE Title Page i Table of Contents ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv Introduction 1.1 Hill’s Writing 1 1.2 Hill’s Career 9 1.3 Literature Review 11 1.4 Theoretical Framework 19 1.5 Sharon Olds and Geraldine Monk 29 1.6 Structure of Thesis 31 Chapter 1: The Family 2.1 Motherhood 33 2.2 Fathers 60 2.3 Childhood 66 Chapter 2: Sex, Love and Desire 3.1 Early Depictions of Male-Female Relationships 76 3.2 Emerging Identities 86 3.3 Domestic Violence 102 Chapter 3: Institutional Life 4.1 The Psychiatric Ward 128 4.2 The Maternity Ward 148 4.3 The Burns Unit 163 4.4 Out-Patients 167 4.5 Catholicism 171 Chapter 4: Sharon Olds and Geraldine Monk 5.1 Sharon Olds 190 5.2 Geraldine Monk 224 Conclusions 266 Appendices 269 Bibliography 294 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the incredible support and guidance given to me by my supervisor Dr. Scott Thurston. Secondly I would like to thank Selima Hill who replied to my letters and very kindly agreed to meet me for an interview in September 2010. Finally, I am indebted to the University of Salford for granting me a full tuition fee waiver, without which I would have been unable to undertake this research project. iii ABSTRACT This thesis combines close poetry readings and theoretical material in an inquiry into the construction of gender through embarrassment, shame and guilt in the work of British poet Selima Hill. The introduction establishes the theoretical framework for the thesis which is informed by Judith Butler’s argument in Gender Trouble regarding the performativity of gender. It is asserted that gender is constructed under the shaping influence of embarrassment, shame and guilt within intimate relationships, and underpinned by physical and emotional (silent) violence. The main body of the thesis is divided into four chapters: Chapter One looks at Hill’s negotiation of parental roles within the family, the ‘silent violence’ inherent in intimate relationships and locates childhood as a time of malleability in relation to gender (reflected in the recurring image of the burnt baby as an embodiment of shame and guilt). Chapter Two deals with heterosexual relationships and the operation of desire and violence within Hill’s poetic landscapes; her female characters are depicted in a way that seeks to undermine the structures and conventions of representing female desire. Chapter Three covers the function of cultural institutions such as hospitals and the Church; in Hill’s work they become symbols of a controlling patriarchal society serving to produce, shape and perpetuate gender roles through evoking embarrassment, shame and guilt. In the final chapter, the theoretical framework is mapped onto the work of American poet Sharon Olds and British innovative poet, Geraldine Monk. This offers a fresh perspective on these writers whose work illuminates the themes raised in previous chapters and demonstrates the viability of the theoretical framework. The argument of this thesis culminates in considering the frequently overlooked positive effects of embarrassment in relation to gender formation, with a potentially cathartic and transformative influence on the reader. iv INTRODUCTION 1. HILL’S WRITING The unusual nature of the reception of Hill’s work became clearly apparent to me when I first saw her read on National Poetry Day at the Southbank Centre in London in October 2009. This was one of the biggest poetry events held nationally that year, which saw Hill share the stage with high-profile poets such as Carol Ann-Duffy and Roger McGough. Instead of confirming Hill’s place amongst them, the event served to highlight the curious position which she occupies of a highly successful but not famous poet. The compère for the event incorrectly pronounced Hill’s name each time she introduced her, despite Hill’s name being projected onto an enormous screen. Hill’s reading appeared to make some audience members feel uncomfortable and they responded with nervous laughter, looks of confusion and embarrassment. Hill too looked nervous onstage and seemed to be distracted on a number of occasions by the loud, forced laughter of the compère from the wings, which appeared to show little connection to the subject matter of the poems. This bizarre experience confirmed my suspicions that although Hill must have a strong following, there are difficulties in engaging with her poetry. Hill’s poetry addresses uncomfortable subjects such as mental illness, child abuse, emotional, physical and sexual violence and matrophobia. Interactions take place within relationships between family members, lovers and doctors on psychiatric and maternity wards. These topics have the capacity to embarrass the reader but it will also be shown that these intimate relationships have the greatest potential to evoke shame and guilt in the event of self-recognition, in particular as Hill locates them as a source of tension for gender- identity formation where these emotions can be influential with a shaping effect. Hill deconstructs conventional notions of gender identity by showing how these emotions tear her characters apart, revealing gender identity to be multifaceted and not narrow or fixed. The self-recognition that comes with embarrassment can threaten the assumptions that an individual makes about their gender identity, which is painful for Hill’s characters and her readers. In revealing the tensions inherent in identity formation, Hill dramatises the social 1 policing of gender identity and offers the possibility of transformation through assembling a new gender identity from the fragments of a deconstructed self. While Hill does not fall neatly into the category of ‘confessional poet’, there are many themes which overlap with biographical information on Hill which she has made public. Most notable is perhaps the powerful image of the burnt baby which is repeatedly returned to across the collections. This refers to an incident when Hill was trapped in a house fire as a baby and badly burnt, leading to a year-long hospital stay. In my interview with Hill she describes this experience: [I had] this feeling of being branded, acted upon, institutionalised, abused, insulted – first by my poor mother in whose ‘care’ I was burnt (so it obviously affected her relationship to me – badly!) secondly by my father. I was marked physically as someone not pretty enough, not demure enough, not good enough, not female enough.1 Already there are emerging implications for a child’s future sense of shame, guilt and embarrassment, as well as potential effects on gender identity, as a result of the intensely intimate relationship of parent and child. This incident becomes a metaphor in Hill’s work for the way in which intimate relationships can shape and brand identity, like the transformational capacity of fire. It must be noted that her first two collections were of a more confessional nature, including many lyric poems documenting childhood and later, marriage. However, the poetry should not be read as unproblematic evidence for the psychological state of the writer, rather such information can ideally inform and shed light on their work. Hill’s frame of reference is also more general in her early work with far-flung settings littered with historical figures, as in the poems ‘Lady of Qilakitsoq’ and ‘Ulrike Meinhof’. It is by the third collection The Accumulation of Small Acts of Kindness2 (The Accumulation) that Hill’s writing begins to become more experimental in terms of poetic voice, with references drawn from a private, seemingly more personal place. The writing also seems to take on a purpose in terms of direction and vision in the exploration of certain themes. Typically she writes in free verse with a narrative running through each collection, allowing poems to be 1 Selima Hill postal interview, March 2010, p. 275. 2 Selima Hill, The Accumulation of Small Acts of Kindness (London: Chatto & Windus, 1989) 2 read individually or in sequence to form a story or extended exploration of a topic. The poems are often short or in the case of The Accumulation, an extended sequence in which images and themes return repeatedly. This approach allows Hill to present some of the difficulties and complexities inherent in attempting to negotiate gender identity, something which – in Judith Butler’s terms – emerges as a result of the stylised repetition of acts over time. The sporadic breaks and rare use of rhyme and metre in The Accumulation, creates a self-conscious and problematic speaking voice, with a defamiliarising effect. This is heightened by Hill’s surreal style of writing which consists of startling links between tenor and vehicle. Hill’s writing is dense with imagery and metaphor, forcing the reader to confront clichéd notions of gender and the potential for alternative constructions. Her impact lies in pushing the distance between tenor and vehicle to extremes while maintaining an authenticity of experience. Vicki Bertram writes in Gendering Poetry of the power of metaphor to change the way we view the world, arguing that this is especially powerful in poetry. An example from Hill’s work includes the poem ‘Gold Snails’: Women are like gardens where gold snails are walking back and forth in the rain and as they walk their curious long feet are feeling for a surface to console them.3 This poem also provides an example of the multitude of animals that populate Hill’s work; snails are repeatedly associated with male figures throughout this collection.