http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/2547064209

Decolonizing the mind through land and language : the poetic discourses of Seamus Heaney and Diane Glancy

Juxtaposing literary voices from different cultures that have experienced similar forms of oppression is helpful to continuing to examine and refine definitions of oppression and domination in our contemporary world. This thesis will invoke two particular literary voices, representing specific cultures that have been subjected to oppression. Cherokee poet Diane Glancy and Irish poet Seamus Heaney both use poetry as a form of resistance to the false identities assigned by an oppressive cultural atmosphere. Both Glancy and Heaney contrast the dichotomized perspectives of their native people and the colonizer on land and language. In order to do this, both Glancy and Heaney allow native voices to speak up and speak out in their poetry, and these voices use language in a way that acknowledges the experiences of oppression and colonization, but refuse to construct identity from either continued discourses of victimry or from complete ignorance of the obvious influence of the colonizer on identity. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the identity of the native voice as it is given space in both Glancy and Heaney's poetry; to consider some of the similarities between Glancy's speakers and Heaney's speakers as responders to oppression; to understand the role of the oppressor's culture in native identity. Last, and most importantly, Glancy and Heaney's poetic voices will inform my exploration of the concept of resistance, and how it can continue to play a role in the literary world as an advocate for inclusion, equality, and diversity.

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