Year of Publication

2018

Competition Category

Humanities: Creative

College

Fine Arts

Department/School

Art and Visual Studies

Abstract

This poetic anthology represents a collection of works which examine the duality of nature and industrialism, and how they coexist in modern society. It also communicates the idea that we -- as a collective human race -- should listen to the metaphorical “voices” of the natural world and pay regard to the needs of the Earth we inhabit. The anthology borrows stylistically and thematically from works of Japanese modernists Sagawa Chika and Hirato Renkichi, who particularly identify with and inspire the message of this anthology in that, while the Western tradition often suggests that nature and the urban are diametrically opposed, they communicate that the two inevitably coexist. This work, rather than admonishing industrialism for overthrowing nature, points a finger at colonialism (“Serpent” references the tragedy of Native American culture’s near-extinction due to white colonialism). Additionally, the work addresses the overall reaction to industry by the human race, how our perspective on time has changed, how we view everything as temporary, and how we tend to over-dramatize certain things while rushing through others. Throughout the anthology, allusions are made to current and historical events, as well as literary works including that of the Beat movement in American poetry, Greek mythology, Moby Dick, and Edgar Allan Poe, in order to contribute to the idea of nature’s timelessness and the ever-growing human industry. As a whole, this anthology intends to evoke thought on our relationship with time and planet Earth.

Notes

Haley Drake won the honorable mention in the Humanities: Creative category.

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