Marlatt, Cameo Rae-Ann (2018) Letters for a Newfoundland Dog and Other Encounters with Nonhuman Animals; Bird's Work. DFA Thes
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Marlatt, Cameo Rae-Ann (2018) Letters for a Newfoundland Dog and other encounters with nonhuman animals; Bird’s Work. DFA thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/30584/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Letters for a Newfoundland Dog and Other Encounters with Nonhuman Animals; Bird’s Work Cameo Rae-Ann Marlatt BAH, MSc Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctorate of Fine Arts in Creative Writing School of Critical Studies College of Arts University of Glasgow October 2017 © Cameo Marlatt, 2017 2 Abstract This project encompasses a collection of lyric essays and a collection of poetry engaging with the topic of zoopoetics, which as a field is interested in the way that attentiveness to the poiesis of nonhuman animals can shape human creative forms. The lyric essays, which form my critical component, are each centered on what Donna Haraway would refer to as a ‘companion species,’ a term that extends beyond companion animals such as pets to include any animals we share our lives with. Looking at frogs, dogs, whales, cats, bats, and parrots, I explore my personal history with specific animals of these species, and also analyze their representation in literature, art, and popular culture. Within a zoopoetic framework, the essays engage with scholarship around anthropomorphism, animals and gender, animal captivity, and animal history. The poetry collection, which forms my creative component, explores various ways of writing nonhuman animals. Writing with curiosity and attentiveness towards non-human animals, I aim for my poems to embody the shared animal-human poiesis at the heart of zoopoetics. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 5 Letters for a Newfoundland Dog and Other Encounters with Nonhuman Animals ........... 6 "A Note on Language" .................................................................................................... 7 "Amphibious Natures" .................................................................................................. 11 "Letters for a Newfoundland Dog" ............................................................................... 25 "Book, Bone, and Water" .............................................................................................. 63 "When Little Cats Wear Clothing" ............................................................................... 85 "Parrot Talk" ............................................................................................................... 100 "The Bat Enclosure" .................................................................................................... 111 Bird’s Work ..................................................................................................................... 126 "Grok" ......................................................................................................................... 127 "Night Noises" ............................................................................................................ 128 "Earth Worm" .............................................................................................................. 129 "Root" .......................................................................................................................... 130 "Bitumen" .................................................................................................................... 131 "Night Driving in Saskatchewan" ............................................................................... 132 "Flax" .......................................................................................................................... 134 "Harvest" ..................................................................................................................... 135 "This was what the floorboards spoke of:" ................................................................. 136 "Houseplants" .............................................................................................................. 137 "Wild World" .............................................................................................................. 138 "Inhabitable Space" ..................................................................................................... 140 "Green Thumb" ........................................................................................................... 141 "Berry Picking" ........................................................................................................... 142 "Tradition" ................................................................................................................... 144 "Taste" ......................................................................................................................... 145 "Field" ......................................................................................................................... 146 "dog-talk" .................................................................................................................... 148 "The Dog-walker" ....................................................................................................... 149 4 "In the Shade" ............................................................................................................. 150 "Metamorphosis" ......................................................................................................... 151 "Under the Hunting Moon" ......................................................................................... 152 "Parabola" ................................................................................................................... 156 "Bird’s Work" ............................................................................................................. 158 "Formless" ................................................................................................................... 159 "Dust" .......................................................................................................................... 160 "The Centipede" .......................................................................................................... 161 "Dissection" ................................................................................................................. 162 "Amphibian" ............................................................................................................... 163 "Bass Rock" ................................................................................................................ 164 "Gull-talk" ................................................................................................................... 165 "Coyote" ...................................................................................................................... 166 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 167 5 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, Carolyn Jess-Cooke and Colin Herd, for their enthusiastic support and untiring patience. I am grateful for their advice and encouragement, which helped me to find a shape for this project and take creative risks. I would also like to thank the staff in the Creative Writing department more generally, for an amazing three years of classes, workshops and events, and my fellow classmates for their insightful feedback on many of these poems. Lastly, I thank my family and friends, both human and nonhuman, for their invaluable companionship and support. Several of these poems have been previously published in literary journals. “Flax” and “The Dog-walker” have appeared in Issue 37 of From Glasgow to Saturn. A version of “Houseplants” appeared in Issue 13 of Lighthouse. “Grok” was published in Mairi Murphy’s wonderful collection, Glasgow Women Poets, on which I had the pleasure of acting as an assistant editor. Lastly, “Bass Rock” and “Metamorphosis” were published in Volume 4 Number 2 of Plumwood Mountain, an issue themed around the question, “What are the Animals Saying?” 6 Letters for a Newfoundland Dog and Other Encounters with Nonhuman Animals 7 A Note on Language Throughout these essays, I have sometimes made a conscious choice to use the singular “they” to refer to animals of unknown gender, rather than the objectifying “it.” I also frequently use the term “animal” in the sense of its popular usage, to refer to nonhuman animals. For the record, I acknowledge the accuracy of the term “nonhuman animals,” and appreciate its reminder that humans are animals as well. Likewise, I believe there is quite a lot at stake when we choose between “it” and “they”