title: Write the Body Bloody: Violence, Gender & Identity in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath & Ai

authors: Elliott, Rachael

subjects: Sylvia Plath

abstract: Poems that hang themselves on the rope of acts, apparitions and assertions of violence, voiced by a fierce ‘I’, are primary modes in the work of both Sylvia Plath and Ai.  Their violent ‘I’s burst the boundaries of acceptable poetic expression in moments of crisis, trauma and uncertainty, giving voice to the unspeakable. Yet critical analysis has made a habit of dividing these poets’ violent use of the first person, placing Plath firmly in the category of (naked) autobiographical confession and Ai in the tradition of (masked) dramatic monologue. This thesis highlights the links between the modes in which Plath and Ai inhabit the poetic ‘I’, exploring how they each use scenes of violence to perform and interrogate issues of gender and identity, expose the nexus of tenderness and cruelty and obscure the roles of villain and victim. It argues that neither the category of confessional poetry or dramatic monologue can cage these poets’ seizure of the ‘I’ or explain their emphasis on self as theatre and character as concert. It examines the ways in which selected poems from each writer’s work do violence to the gender and identity limits implicit in both labels.
The creative section which follows this legacy of ‘unacceptable’ women’s writing continues to agitate against the gender limits imposed upon women. It does not flinch from conflict and unpicks the body to discover what identity really means. It embodies the ghosts that haunt my writing self, demanding they be given a voice. My poetry is a breathing fusion of my personal and my dramatic selves. Like the poetry of Plath and Ai, my own creative work refuses to be caged.

text: Write the Body Bloody: Violence, Gender & Identity in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath & Ai Poems that hang themselves on the rope of acts, apparitions and assertions of violence, voiced by a fierce ‘I’, are primary modes in the work of both Sylvia Plath and Ai.  Their violent ‘I’s burst the boundaries of acceptable poetic expression in moments of crisis, trauma and uncertainty, giving voice to the unspeakable. Yet critical analysis has made a habit of dividing these poets’ violent use of the first person, placing Plath firmly in the category of (naked) autobiographical confession and Ai in the tradition of (masked) dramatic monologue. This thesis highlights the links between the modes in which Plath and Ai inhabit the poetic ‘I’, exploring how they each use scenes of violence to perform and interrogate issues of gender and identity, expose the nexus of tenderness and cruelty and obscure the roles of villain and victim. It argues that neither the category of confessional poetry or dramatic monologue can cage these poets’ seizure of the ‘I’ or explain their emphasis on self as theatre and character as concert. It examines the ways in which selected poems from each writer’s work do violence to the gender and identity limits implicit in both labels.
The creative section which follows this legacy of ‘unacceptable’ women’s writing continues to agitate against the gender limits imposed upon women. It does not flinch from conflict and unpicks the body to discover what identity really means. It embodies the ghosts that haunt my writing self, demanding they be given a voice. My poetry is a breathing fusion of my personal and my dramatic selves. Like the poetry of Plath and Ai, my own creative work refuses to be caged.

year: 2014

title: Let's get connected: A new graph theory-based approach and toolbox for understanding braided river morphodynamics

authors: Connor-Streich, Gabriel

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Our understanding of braided river morphodynamics has improved significantly in recent years, however, there are still large knowledge gaps relating to both long‐term and event‐based change in braided river morphologies. Furthermore, we still lack methods that can take full advantage of the increasing availability of remotely sensed datasets that are well suited to braided river research. Network analysis based on graph theory, the mathematics of networks, offers a largely unexplored toolbox that can be applied to remotely sensed data to quantify the structure and function of braided rivers across nearly the full range of spatiotemporal scales relevant to braided river evolution. In this article, important commonalities between braided rivers and other types of complex network are described, providing a compelling argument for the wider uptake of complex network analysis methods in the study of braided rivers. We provide an overview of the extraction of graph representations of braided river networks from remotely sensed data and detail a suite of metrics for quantitative analysis of these networks. Application of these metrics as new tools for multiscale characterization of braided river planforms that improve upon traditional, spatially averaged approaches is discussed and potential approaches to network‐based analysis of braided river dynamics are proposed, drawing on a range of different concepts from braided river research and other network sciences. Finally, the potential for using graph theory metrics to validate numerical models of braided rivers is discussed.

text: Let's get connected: A new graph theory-based approach and toolbox for understanding braided river morphodynamics Our understanding of braided river morphodynamics has improved significantly in recent years, however, there are still large knowledge gaps relating to both long‐term and event‐based change in braided river morphologies. Furthermore, we still lack methods that can take full advantage of the increasing availability of remotely sensed datasets that are well suited to braided river research. Network analysis based on graph theory, the mathematics of networks, offers a largely unexplored toolbox that can be applied to remotely sensed data to quantify the structure and function of braided rivers across nearly the full range of spatiotemporal scales relevant to braided river evolution. In this article, important commonalities between braided rivers and other types of complex network are described, providing a compelling argument for the wider uptake of complex network analysis methods in the study of braided rivers. We provide an overview of the extraction of graph representations of braided river networks from remotely sensed data and detail a suite of metrics for quantitative analysis of these networks. Application of these metrics as new tools for multiscale characterization of braided river planforms that improve upon traditional, spatially averaged approaches is discussed and potential approaches to network‐based analysis of braided river dynamics are proposed, drawing on a range of different concepts from braided river research and other network sciences. Finally, the potential for using graph theory metrics to validate numerical models of braided rivers is discussed.

year: 2018

title: Te whakahaumanu i ngā taonga takatāpui: Belonging and thrivance for takatāpui

authors: Ngātai-Tautuku, Te Aorere

subjects: takatāpui

abstract: This thesis celebrates takatāpui belonging and thrivance; created by, with and for takatāpui. It is carefully crafted with an abundance of love for this community to which I belong. Informed by the overarching conceptual framework of Te Pū o te Rākau (pūrākau) methodology (Lee-Morgan, 2019), this thesis follows pūrākau of how takatāpui and queer Māori identify and express belonging and thrivance. The intention of this study is to privilege the voices and lived experiences of people who have been consistently subject to the systematic dehumanisation of Western research conventions.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, anti-Māori racism, homophobia and transphobia have risen exponentially in Aotearoa, spurring an increase in aggressive violent attacks on marginalised communities. It is progressively evident that the fundamental right to tino rangatiratanga affirmed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi to express self-determination has failed to be honoured (Came et al., 2024; Mutu, 2011a). Therefore, it is paramount within this rangahau to give power to and centralise the voices of takatāpui as they express their experiences of belonging. 

Drawing upon the springs of mātauranga takatāpui  (re)generated by takatāpui academics, this rangahau is firmly grounded within a takatāpui worldview. Adapted elements from Te Pū o te Rākau methodological framework are implemented in this rangahau to (re)affirm the importance of takatāpui voices and interdependent relationships. Experienced through the ritualistic ceremony of wānanga, informed by Kaupapa Māori tenet - titiro, whakarongo… kōrero – I facilitated a wānanga for a group of kaipūrākau to share their pūrākau at Te Kohinga Mārama marae. Throughout the wānanga the kaipūrākau shared hilarious, heartwarming and painful pūrākau about their lived experiences as Indigenous queer people navigating a settler-colonial Western society and their encounters with belonging. These precious pūrākau are then translated into key themes that communicate the findings of this rangahau, that are described as Whanaungatanga, Tuakiritanga, Mana Motuhake and Te Hari Te Koa.

text: Te whakahaumanu i ngā taonga takatāpui: Belonging and thrivance for takatāpui This thesis celebrates takatāpui belonging and thrivance; created by, with and for takatāpui. It is carefully crafted with an abundance of love for this community to which I belong. Informed by the overarching conceptual framework of Te Pū o te Rākau (pūrākau) methodology (Lee-Morgan, 2019), this thesis follows pūrākau of how takatāpui and queer Māori identify and express belonging and thrivance. The intention of this study is to privilege the voices and lived experiences of people who have been consistently subject to the systematic dehumanisation of Western research conventions.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, anti-Māori racism, homophobia and transphobia have risen exponentially in Aotearoa, spurring an increase in aggressive violent attacks on marginalised communities. It is progressively evident that the fundamental right to tino rangatiratanga affirmed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi to express self-determination has failed to be honoured (Came et al., 2024; Mutu, 2011a). Therefore, it is paramount within this rangahau to give power to and centralise the voices of takatāpui as they express their experiences of belonging. 

Drawing upon the springs of mātauranga takatāpui  (re)generated by takatāpui academics, this rangahau is firmly grounded within a takatāpui worldview. Adapted elements from Te Pū o te Rākau methodological framework are implemented in this rangahau to (re)affirm the importance of takatāpui voices and interdependent relationships. Experienced through the ritualistic ceremony of wānanga, informed by Kaupapa Māori tenet - titiro, whakarongo… kōrero – I facilitated a wānanga for a group of kaipūrākau to share their pūrākau at Te Kohinga Mārama marae. Throughout the wānanga the kaipūrākau shared hilarious, heartwarming and painful pūrākau about their lived experiences as Indigenous queer people navigating a settler-colonial Western society and their encounters with belonging. These precious pūrākau are then translated into key themes that communicate the findings of this rangahau, that are described as Whanaungatanga, Tuakiritanga, Mana Motuhake and Te Hari Te Koa.

year: 2025-06-19