Avian Rhetoric, Murmurations by Melissa T. Yang Bachelor of Arts, Mount Holyoke College, 2011 Master of Arts, University of Pitt
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Avian Rhetoric, Murmurations by Melissa T. Yang Bachelor of Arts, Mount Holyoke College, 2011 Master of Arts, University of Pittsburgh, 2016 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2019 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Melissa T. Yang It was defended on June 14, 2019 and approved by Troy Boone, Associate Professor, Department of English Peter Trachtenberg, Associate Professor, Department of English John Walsh, Associate Professor, Department of French & Italian Languages & Literatures Dissertation Co-Advisors: Cory Holding, Assistant Professor, Department of English Annette Vee, Associate Professor, Department of English ii Copyright © by Melissa T. Yang 2019 iii Avian Rhetoric, Murmurations Melissa T. Yang, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2019 This dissertation explores the omnipresent role birds play in the English language and in Western cultural history. Reading and weaving across academic discourse, multi-genre literature, and obsolete and everyday figures, I examine the multiplicity of ways in which birds manifest and are embedded in modes and materialities of human composing and communicating. To apply Anne Lamott’s popular advice of writing “bird by bird” literally/liberally, each chapter shares stories of a species, family, or flock of birds. Believing in the enduring rhetorical power of narrative assemblages over explicit thetic arguments, I’ve modeled this project on the movements of flocked birds. I initially proposed and now offer a prosed assembly of avian figures following each other in flight, swerving fluidly across broad and varied landscapes while maintaining elastic, organic connections. My project opens on starling murmurations, and the second chapter follows skeins of geese to goose-quill pens. Chapter three homes in on pigeon deliveries, via pigeonholes and dovetails. I close with corvids, with so-called murders of crows and the legacy of a literary raven. Throughout this work, I emphasize the powerful poetics birds have inspired, juxtaposed with reminders of our frequent marginalization and elimination of these species as pests. I hope such exhibits of human reliance on and exploitation of birds as materials of writing and rhetorics will help cultivate more mindful care and ethical treatment of the avian world, and the larger natural world. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... vii 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Preparing for Takeoff .................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The Bird-Human Contact Zone .................................................................................... 5 1.3 Composing Avian Rhetorics .......................................................................................... 8 2.0 Avian Rhetoric, Murmurations ........................................................................................... 14 3.0 Gossamer Skeins to Gooseflesh ............................................................................................ 50 4.0 Homing Worlds ..................................................................................................................... 87 5.0 Corvid Jizz ........................................................................................................................... 126 6.0 Conclusion: On a Lark ....................................................................................................... 167 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 171 v List of Figures Figure 1: "Murmur #20," Richard Barnes (2005) ......................................................................... 14 Figure 2: “The Progress of Composition” detail from “The Barnacle” (June 1865) .................... 50 Figure 3: Pigeon(hole)s at the home of Dave Corry (October 2017) ............................................ 87 Figure 4: News from the John Yodanis Collection (1919–1987) ............................................... 125 Figure 5: Raven at the Tower of London (May 2019) ................................................................ 126 vi Acknowledgements I have much to be grateful for, and many more names to thank than I can fit into these opening pages. First, I must acknowledge the open-mindedness and generosity of spirit and time offered by my support system at the University of Pittsburgh. I mulled over hours of inquiries and investigations with my incredible co-advisors, Cory Holding and Annette Vee. Cory met me wherever I wanted to go, in my work and in person, from library gardens to the cemetery. I’ve known Cory for a half-decade and still don’t know where her campus office is. This is by design, and I believe our peregrinations have enriched the peripatetic design of my work. My second dissertation director, the inimitable Annette Vee, introduced me to the study of materialities of writing in a seminar which single-handedly solidified the avian direction of my dissertation. Annette is tireless department leader, a dedicated mentor, and a pragmatic presence who perpetually pushes me to be a more rigorous researcher and thinker. I audited Peter Trachtenberg’s nonfiction workshop my first year of graduate school, and the piece I workshopped in his class became my first publication. Peter gives me feedback that reminds me to write for an audience beyond the academy. I was fortunate to audit Troy Boone’s ecocriticism seminar, as well, and serendipitously, we’ve both written about Charles Dickens’ raven Grip. I first met John Walsh when we worked together to help run the local Northeast MLA conference, and since generously stepping in as my outside reader, he has diligently provided productive and constructive written feedback, along with helpful multilingual expertise. Several faculty members not on my current committee have generously devoted time to enable my endeavors: Nancy Glazener, whose unwavering support in publication practicums and beyond have been so consistent and appreciated; Paul Kameen, who worked through multiple vii revisions of my “jizz” project, now pending publication; and Don Bialostosky, who often forwarded me fun stories of birds. Enormous gratitude also goes to those who made my wonderful work-study experiences possible: Jean Grace, Geeta Kothari, and Sandy Foster in the writing center, and Matt Lavin in the Digital Media Lab. Jesse Daugherty and the English Department office staff deserve shout-outs as well. Finally, I must thank my undergraduate mentors, formerly of Mount Holyoke: Laura Greenfield and Christine Overstreet, who led me to the field of rhetoric and composition, and of course, Andy Lass. My research was made possible as well by the Pittsburgh bird enthusiasts and professionals who took me under their wing and shared their lives, loves, and work with me: from the BirdSafe Pittsburgh group to the Christmas Bird Counters, led by Mark VanderVen; from Kate St. John’s walks and talks to Bob Mulvihill’s National Aviary projects. Thanks to Dave Corry of the Tarentum Homing Club pigeon racers, to Mallory Sarver, for Powdermill and park adventures, and more. Thanks also to many librarians, archivists, educators—especially to my reliable interlocutors at Hillman, Heinz, the Philadelphia Free Library, Oxford, and beyond. Peers I’d like to acknowledge include my first-year cohort who became my first Pittsburgh community of many to come. I want to thank my Pittsburgh Acro family, who reminded me to be playful and exploratory and to care for my body while I cultivated this so- called life of the mind. Much love to my many friends, near and far, human and animal—you know who you are. I’m grateful to my parents, Kuochu and Steve, for cultivating in me from a young age the love of reading and learning, and for letting us raise the birds that led me to this line of passionate inquiry. Finally, this is for my amazing sister, Dr. Jenn, my lifelong best friend, expert on roots, and patient editor—I couldn’t have done this without you. viii 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Preparing for Takeoff My initial curiosity in birds was piqued through rather traditional study of Western literary canon from the Middle Ages to the Victorian era, and has since expanded in every direction. In the beginning, it was the abundance of birds in poetry which caught my attention— from Chaucer’s “Parlement of Foules” to Romanticist poetry, with Coleridge’s iconic albatross, Shelley’s skylark, and Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale,” not to mention John Clare’s observant avian poems, and many more. I have long been enamored by Emily Dickinson’s ouevre—“Hope is the Thing with Feathers” is the first poem I ever memorized in elementary school. In college, I became fascinated with Charles Dickens’ pet raven Grip, and his influence on Edgar Allan Poe during a memorable seminar with Chris Benfey on “Literary Biography.” I credit this project for launching me into full-time avian study—and I’ve now come full circle, and woven pieces of this project into the final chapter of my dissertation. x “Concepts are the ideas that hold a discipline—like ornithology—together but