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Parallels between being a writer and a mother. Depictions of mothering and writing in Kate Zambreno’s life-writing

Kavaliauskaite, Barbora LU (2024) LIVR07 20241
Master's Programme: Literature - Culture - Media
Abstract
Researchers of contemporary literature have noticed a surge in motherhood memoirs and literature that reflects on contemporary motherhood. Kate Zambreno’s three literary works – Book of Mutter (2017), Drifts (2020) and The Light Room (2023) – are examples of contemporary life-writing. In different but prominent and clear ways, these three works acknowledge and contemplate mothering, the act of writing and the sense of self in between these practices. In this Master’s thesis, these literary works are analysed through the lens of matrifocal feminist theory by employing a close-reading method. This thesis aims to conceptualise and show how the acts of mothering and writing are depicted and constructed in these three literary works. To analyse... (More)
Researchers of contemporary literature have noticed a surge in motherhood memoirs and literature that reflects on contemporary motherhood. Kate Zambreno’s three literary works – Book of Mutter (2017), Drifts (2020) and The Light Room (2023) – are examples of contemporary life-writing. In different but prominent and clear ways, these three works acknowledge and contemplate mothering, the act of writing and the sense of self in between these practices. In this Master’s thesis, these literary works are analysed through the lens of matrifocal feminist theory by employing a close-reading method. This thesis aims to conceptualise and show how the acts of mothering and writing are depicted and constructed in these three literary works. To analyse temporality and the narrator’s connection to her mother, Julia Kristeva’s notion of women’s time, her thoughts on the pregnant body, and Naomi Ladowsky’s concept of the motherline are employed. The analysis shows that by connecting to the lost motherline the narrator(s) accept not only the generational feminist knowledge of the deceased mother but also follow similar stereotypical and traditional acts of performative femininity. The act of writing becomes a mirroring act of embodying experiences of mothering. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Kavaliauskaite, Barbora LU
supervisor
organization
course
LIVR07 20241
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Kate Zambreno, motherhood studies, life-writing, matrifocal narrative, temporalities, motherline
language
English
id
9159887
date added to LUP
2024-10-21 15:34:10
date last changed
2024-10-21 15:34:10
@misc{9159887,
  abstract     = {{Researchers of contemporary literature have noticed a surge in motherhood memoirs and literature that reflects on contemporary motherhood. Kate Zambreno’s three literary works – Book of Mutter (2017), Drifts (2020) and The Light Room (2023) – are examples of contemporary life-writing. In different but prominent and clear ways, these three works acknowledge and contemplate mothering, the act of writing and the sense of self in between these practices. In this Master’s thesis, these literary works are analysed through the lens of matrifocal feminist theory by employing a close-reading method. This thesis aims to conceptualise and show how the acts of mothering and writing are depicted and constructed in these three literary works. To analyse temporality and the narrator’s connection to her mother, Julia Kristeva’s notion of women’s time, her thoughts on the pregnant body, and Naomi Ladowsky’s concept of the motherline are employed. The analysis shows that by connecting to the lost motherline the narrator(s) accept not only the generational feminist knowledge of the deceased mother but also follow similar stereotypical and traditional acts of performative femininity. The act of writing becomes a mirroring act of embodying experiences of mothering.}},
  author       = {{Kavaliauskaite, Barbora}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Parallels between being a writer and a mother. Depictions of mothering and writing in Kate Zambreno’s life-writing}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}