Reforging gods, reclaiming myth: Feminist revisionist mythmaking in the poetry of Barbara Jane Reyes

Over recent decades, feminist scholars and female authors have pursued a revisionist approach to transform and redefine myths that traditionally depict women in a stereotypical and reductive manner. A landmark study in this direction is Harriet Macmillan’s thesis entitled “The Stories We Tell Oursel...

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Main Author: Galasinao, Elvis A, Jr.
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Language:English
Published: Animo Repository 2024
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Online Access:https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_lit/20
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Institution: De La Salle University
Language: English
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spelling oai:animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph:etdm_lit-10202024-10-28T06:34:44Z Reforging gods, reclaiming myth: Feminist revisionist mythmaking in the poetry of Barbara Jane Reyes Galasinao, Elvis A, Jr. Over recent decades, feminist scholars and female authors have pursued a revisionist approach to transform and redefine myths that traditionally depict women in a stereotypical and reductive manner. A landmark study in this direction is Harriet Macmillan’s thesis entitled “The Stories We Tell Ourselves to Make Ourselves Come True: Feminist Rewriting of Mythology in the Canongate Myths Series.” At the outset, one is drawn to the keywords in the title: stories, tell, come true, feminist rewriting. They all echo a revisionist energy that is recognized within feminist theory as a call to action for women writers to critically examine and counter the mythological, folkloric, and religious stories that have historically propagated misogynistic views. Such a process enables poets like Barbara Jane Reyes to scrutinize and reinterpret the gender dynamics in the myths they engage with. For Reyes, these narratives are a powerful platform to counteract and establish an alternative canon. Through her inquiry into these classic tales in her poetry, Reyes empowers the female figure to take on a more dynamic and creative role, crafting and shaping meaning rather than merely serving as its vessel. This thesis delves into the innovative revisionist myths in Barbara Jane Reyes's poetry collections, including “Letters to a Young Brown Girl” (2020),” “Invocation to Daughters” (2017), “To Love as Aswang” (2015), “Diwata” (2010), “Poeta en San Francisco” (2005), and “Gravities of Center” (2003). Echoing Macmillan’s approach, these poetry collections are scrutinized as a singular compilation, aiming to uncover the influence and potency of integrating a feminist lens in the reinterpretation of mythological tales. Reyes’s poetic gesture is viewed as a deliberate act of resistance against oppressive mythological constructs that depict women as silent, passive, or objectified, aiming to address and dismantle these issues critically. The analysis explores how Reyes employs literary techniques such as tone variation, use of pronouns, metaphorical and biblical references, narrative style, and repetition as tools in her revisionist myth-making approach to engage her audience and drive social change. The main arguments suggest that, echoing the work of Macmillan and other feminist scholars, mythology is a strong foundation for women writers from various cultural backgrounds to investigate the gendered aspects of myth-making and storytelling. This research underlines the necessity of comprehending the precise historical and situational contexts in which these myths originated and their evolution over time. It highlights exploring narratives from personal, social, and self-reflective perspectives. Additionally, such a stance can now be gleaned in a growing body of feminist writings. This is only to say that the act of revision inherent in feminist rewriting is critical, as it constructs an alternative worldview that challenges entrenched beliefs. 2024-01-01T08:00:00Z text application/pdf https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_lit/20 Literature Master's Theses English Animo Repository Barbara Jane Reyes Mythology, Philippine—In literature Feminism and literature American Literature
institution De La Salle University
building De La Salle University Library
continent Asia
country Philippines
Philippines
content_provider De La Salle University Library
collection DLSU Institutional Repository
language English
topic Barbara Jane Reyes
Mythology, Philippine—In literature
Feminism and literature
American Literature
spellingShingle Barbara Jane Reyes
Mythology, Philippine—In literature
Feminism and literature
American Literature
Galasinao, Elvis A, Jr.
Reforging gods, reclaiming myth: Feminist revisionist mythmaking in the poetry of Barbara Jane Reyes
description Over recent decades, feminist scholars and female authors have pursued a revisionist approach to transform and redefine myths that traditionally depict women in a stereotypical and reductive manner. A landmark study in this direction is Harriet Macmillan’s thesis entitled “The Stories We Tell Ourselves to Make Ourselves Come True: Feminist Rewriting of Mythology in the Canongate Myths Series.” At the outset, one is drawn to the keywords in the title: stories, tell, come true, feminist rewriting. They all echo a revisionist energy that is recognized within feminist theory as a call to action for women writers to critically examine and counter the mythological, folkloric, and religious stories that have historically propagated misogynistic views. Such a process enables poets like Barbara Jane Reyes to scrutinize and reinterpret the gender dynamics in the myths they engage with. For Reyes, these narratives are a powerful platform to counteract and establish an alternative canon. Through her inquiry into these classic tales in her poetry, Reyes empowers the female figure to take on a more dynamic and creative role, crafting and shaping meaning rather than merely serving as its vessel. This thesis delves into the innovative revisionist myths in Barbara Jane Reyes's poetry collections, including “Letters to a Young Brown Girl” (2020),” “Invocation to Daughters” (2017), “To Love as Aswang” (2015), “Diwata” (2010), “Poeta en San Francisco” (2005), and “Gravities of Center” (2003). Echoing Macmillan’s approach, these poetry collections are scrutinized as a singular compilation, aiming to uncover the influence and potency of integrating a feminist lens in the reinterpretation of mythological tales. Reyes’s poetic gesture is viewed as a deliberate act of resistance against oppressive mythological constructs that depict women as silent, passive, or objectified, aiming to address and dismantle these issues critically. The analysis explores how Reyes employs literary techniques such as tone variation, use of pronouns, metaphorical and biblical references, narrative style, and repetition as tools in her revisionist myth-making approach to engage her audience and drive social change. The main arguments suggest that, echoing the work of Macmillan and other feminist scholars, mythology is a strong foundation for women writers from various cultural backgrounds to investigate the gendered aspects of myth-making and storytelling. This research underlines the necessity of comprehending the precise historical and situational contexts in which these myths originated and their evolution over time. It highlights exploring narratives from personal, social, and self-reflective perspectives. Additionally, such a stance can now be gleaned in a growing body of feminist writings. This is only to say that the act of revision inherent in feminist rewriting is critical, as it constructs an alternative worldview that challenges entrenched beliefs.
format text
author Galasinao, Elvis A, Jr.
author_facet Galasinao, Elvis A, Jr.
author_sort Galasinao, Elvis A, Jr.
title Reforging gods, reclaiming myth: Feminist revisionist mythmaking in the poetry of Barbara Jane Reyes
title_short Reforging gods, reclaiming myth: Feminist revisionist mythmaking in the poetry of Barbara Jane Reyes
title_full Reforging gods, reclaiming myth: Feminist revisionist mythmaking in the poetry of Barbara Jane Reyes
title_fullStr Reforging gods, reclaiming myth: Feminist revisionist mythmaking in the poetry of Barbara Jane Reyes
title_full_unstemmed Reforging gods, reclaiming myth: Feminist revisionist mythmaking in the poetry of Barbara Jane Reyes
title_sort reforging gods, reclaiming myth: feminist revisionist mythmaking in the poetry of barbara jane reyes
publisher Animo Repository
publishDate 2024
url https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_lit/20
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