Date of Award
5-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. Stevie Edwards
Committee Member
Dr. Angela Naimou
Committee Member
Professor Nic Brown
Abstract
The elegy has a long, complex history–it’s a genre that’s been evolving for centuries. Exploring the origins, traditions and poetics of this genre translate directly into the critical and creative work of this thesis. Understanding two specific origins of the elegy (Western and Eastern) clarifies why the elegy has undergone a “reconstruction”. This “reconstructing” benefits both audience and writers because it acknowledges and cares for various kinds of grief. The critical component explores the different poetics (feminine and revolutionary) that have influenced the elegy while the creative component engages with these poetics. With a heavy focus on personal loss, I focus on bringing my grief to the center, resisting the Western Greek origin of elegy that negates women’s participation in grieving. And as I move from the personal to the public, I engage with revolutionary poetics as a way to use elegiac poetry to cope with larger scale issues.
Recommended Citation
Whaley, Rebecca L., "A Walk with a Friend Named Grief" (2026). All Theses. 4702.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4702