Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore how memory functions ecologically in the poetry of Tomas Tranströmer. The term ecology is useful because of its connotative associations with the natural world as well as its broader definition of being a network of relationships as they function within and relate to their environment. Throughout his oeuvre, Tranströmer positions memory as being an external presence with which he interacts primarily because he honors it as a living being and he feels a poetic responsibility to it. As such, he grapples with the challenges of representation, particularly the limitations of language. Ultimately, he employs an ecopoetic strategy in honoring his duty to memory and creating poems that are themselves ecological milieux in which such memories can live on.

Degree

College and Department

Humanities; Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature

Rights

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