Content area

Abstract

In Morning in the Burned House (1995), Margaret Atwood includes a sequence of elegiac poems mourning the process of her father's illness and death. Her subsequent collection, The Door (2007), while not explicitly elegiac, explores topics such as memory, aging, death, loss, and decay. These subjects are often central to both traditional and contemporary elegies. Other poems in this volume deal with writing and poetry, examining their capacity to offer consolation in the face of death, a key aspect of elegy. Drawing on critical studies of elegy in contemporary English-language poetry and on the role of elegy in Atwood's poetry, this essay analyses the elegiac dimension of Dearly (2020), Atwood's most recent poetry collection. Many of these poems are dedicated to her partner Graeme Gibson, who was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2017 and passed away in 2019. Through close readings and formal analysis, I aim to demonstrate how these elegiac poems articulate a psychic landscape of mourning where separation after death is rejected and an alternative space for reunion with the deceased is created. Atwood moves beyond simple lamentation, exploring the liminal space between life and death, presence and absence.

Details

1009240
Literature indexing term
Identifier / keyword
Title
Presence and Absence in Margaret Atwood's Dearly
Publication title
Volume
14
Pages
105-125
Number of pages
23
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Section
Articles
Publisher
Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca
Place of publication
Huelva
Country of publication
Spain
Publication subject
e-ISSN
22541179
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
Document type
Journal Article
Publication history
 
 
Online publication date
2025-01-21
Milestone dates
2025-01-21 (Created); 2024-07-19 (Submitted); 2025-01-22 (Issued); 2025-01-22 (Modified); 2024-09-24 (Accepted)
Publication history
 
 
   First posting date
21 Jan 2025
ProQuest document ID
3282914841
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/presence-absence-margaret-atwoods-dearly/docview/3282914841/se-2?accountid=208611
Copyright
© 2025. This work is licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.
Last updated
2026-01-02
Database
ProQuest One Academic