Ursinus College Digital Commons @ Ursinus College English Honors Papers Student Research 4-15-2018 The irB d That Flew Backwards Robin Gow Ursinus College,
[email protected] Adviser: Meredith Goldsmith Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/english_hon Part of the American Studies Commons, Digital Humanities Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, and the Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits oy u. Recommended Citation Gow, Robin, "The irB d That Flew Backwards" (2018). English Honors Papers. 7. https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/english_hon/7 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Honors Papers by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Gow 1 The Bird that Flew Backwards Robin F. Gow 04/20/2018 Submission Statement: Submitted to the Faculty of Ursinus College in fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in English Gow 2 Abstract: The Bird that Flew Backwards examines women poets from literary Modernism in the 1910s and Beat culture in the 1950s. Analyzing these eras in tandem reveals contrasting historical constructions of American womanhood and how sociocultural trends influenced how the “poetess” constructed herself and her work and illustrates the retrograde nature of women’s rights in the 1950s. Through close reading, digital mapping, and historical background, The Bird that Flew Backwards establishes a new critical perspective by linking the more well-known Modernists with lesser-known women in 1910s Greenwich Village Bohemia.