his study consists of two parts. The first part offers an overview of feminism’s the- Tory of differences. The second part deals with the textual analysis of poems about ‘mothering’ by women from India, the Caribbean and Africa. Literary criticism has dealt Renate Papke with the representation of ‘mothering’ in prose texts. The exploration of lyrical texts has not yet come. Poems at the Edge of Differences Since the late 1970s, the acknowledgement of and the commitment to difference has been fundamental for feminist theory and activism. This investigation promotes a diffe- rentiated, ‘locational’ feminism (Friedman). The comprehensive theoretical discussion of Mothering in feminism’s different concepts of ‘gender’, ‘race’, ‘ethnicity’ and ‘mothering’ builds the New English Poetry foundation for the main part: the presentation and analysis of the poems. The issue of ‘mothering’ foregrounds the communicative aspect of women’s experience and wants by Women to bridge the gap between theory and practice. This study, however, does not intend to specify ‘mothering’ as a universal and unique feminine characteristic. It underlines a metaphorical use and discusses the concepts of ‘nurturing’, ‘maternal practice’ and ‘social parenthood’. This metaphorical application supports a practice that could lead to solidarity among women and men in social and political fields. In spite of its ethical – po- litical background, this study does not intend to read the selected poems didactically. The analyses of the poems always draw the attention to the aesthetic level of the texts. Regarding the extensive material, this study understands itself as an explorative not concluding investigation placed at the intersections of gender studies, postcolonial and classical literary studies. Most of all, it aims at initiating a dialogue and interchange between scholars and students in the Western and the ‘Third World’. Renate Papke Poems at the Edge of Differences ISBN: 978-3-940344-42-7 Universitätsverlag Göttingen Universitätsverlag Göttingen Renate Papke Poems at the Edge of Differences This work is licensed under the Creative Commons License 2.0 “by-nd”, allowing you to download, distribute and print the document in a few copies for private or educational use, given that the document stays unchanged and the creator is mentioned. You are not allowed to sell copies of the free version. Erschienen im Universitätsverlag Göttingen 2008 Renate Papke Poems at the Edge of Differences: Mothering in New English Poetry by Women Universitätsverlag Göttingen 2008 Bibliographische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliographie; detaillierte bibliographische Daten sind im Internet über <http://dnb.ddb.de> abrufbar. D 7 Göttinger Philosophische Dissertation 1. Gutachterin: Prof. Dr. Brigitte Glaser, Universität Göttingen 2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Daniel Göske, Universität Kassel 3. Gutachterin: Prof. Dr. Regina Bendix, Universität Göttingen Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 28.02.2007 Address of the Author [email protected] This work is protected by German Intellectual Property Right Law. It is also available as an Open Access version through the publisher’s homepage and the Online Catalogue of the State and University Library of Goettingen (http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de). Users of the free online version are invited to read, download and distribute it. Users may also print a small number for educational or private use. However they may not sell copies of the online book. Titelabbildung: Mother and Child in Darfur, Sudan 2004; Samir Maleh, [email protected] Abbildung S. 5: Girl in Bihar, India 2007; [email protected] Umschlaggestaltung: Margo Bargheer, Jutta Pabst Satz und Layout: Monika Griebeler © 2008 Universitätsverlag Göttingen http://univerlag.uni-goettingen.de ISBN: 978-3-940344-42-7 Fie, fie upon her! There’s language in her eye, her cheek, her lip, Nay, her foot speaks. Her wanton spirit looks out At every joint and motive of her body. William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, Act IV, v, 55-58 1602 For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest horizons of our hopes and fears are cobbled by our poems, carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives… However, experience has taught us that action in the now is also necessary, always. Our children cannot dream unless they live, they cannot live unless they are nourished, and who else will feed them the real food without which their dreams will be no different from ours? “If you want to change the world someday, we at least have to live long enough to grow up!” shouts the child. - Audre Lorde - Sister Outsider, 36-37 1984 Preface First scene: The labour-room of a hospital in northern Bihar/India in August 2007, a thirty-year-old woman has given birth to a healthy and beautiful daughter. Deeply disappointed, she turns away, when we show her the child: it is only a girl. Second scene: I am on my way to the hospital. It is raining heavily. A family is walk- ing in front of me. A childlike mother accompanies her three children to school. She and her fragile daughter are wet through. Both her sons, however, huddle together and protect themselves with the umbrella of the family. In remembrance of these observations, I decided to return from my medical work to my dissertation and turn it into a book, whose commitment for women’s self- esteem and self-confidence proves hopefully interesting for a large number of readers. Let us shout: “Women deserve umbrellas like men.” I wish to acknowledge my debt to Professor Dr. Brigitte Glaser and Professor Dr. Daniel Göske for examining my dissertation, for making many helpful com- ments and suggestions in their reports and in our lively and fair disputation, and for encouraging me on my way. In preparing my text for publication, I followed the corrections and informa- tion given to me. Simultaneously, I wanted to preserve the spontaneity of my VIII Preface dissertation. I have therefore not attempted to transform the text by omitting questionable statements or by suppressing contradictions. I have appended, how- ever, to particular chapters the questions and arguments of our disputation. In this way, my procedure reflects my concern to initiate dialogues and exchange between students, literary critics, theorists and activists of the women’s movement in the Western and the “Third World”. This concept also underlines the explorative and, by no means, concluding character of my work. Table of Contents Preface ..........................................................................................................................5 I. Introduction ........................................................................................................11 II. Concepts of Difference concerning Gender, Race and Ethnicity.................................17 Difference concerning Gender ..................................................................................17 Difference concerning Race .......................................................................................22 Difference concerning Ethnicity ...............................................................................29 III. Mothering – a Human Experience in Practice and Theory....................................37 IV. Why a Study about Poetry – not the Novel or Drama – on Mothering? ...............41 V. Framework for a Pioneering Project .......................................................................43 VI. English Poetry by Women from India and the Diaspora ......................................52 Kamala Das (*1934).....................................................................................................56 Eunice de Souza (*1940).............................................................................................66 Melanie Silgardo (*1956).............................................................................................72 Sujata Bhatt (*1956).....................................................................................................76 Imtiaz Dharker (*1954)...............................................................................................78 VII. English Poetry by Women from the Caribbean and the Diaspora ........................97 Una Marson (1905–1965) ...........................................................................................99 Louise Bennett (*1919) .............................................................................................105 Olive Senior (*1943)..................................................................................................113 Lorna Goodison (*1947)...........................................................................................126 Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze (*1956).......................................................................................136 X Table of Contents VIII. English Poetry by Women from Africa and the Diaspora ............................... 157 Mary Laurene Browne...............................................................................................158 Ingrid Jonker (1933–1965)........................................................................................162