FemPoetiks of American Poetry and Americana Music : A Woman’s Truth

From the poems of Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, and Emily Dickinson emerges what the author calls FemPoetiks, a discourse of female empowerment. Situating the work of these poets in their historical eras, Linda Nicole Blair considers a sampling of their poems side-by-side with a number of song lyrics by singer-songwriters Brandi Carlile, Rhiannon Giddens, and Lucinda Williams, having found commonalities of theme, motif, and language between them. Blair argues that while FemPoetiks has continued to develop in various ways in American poetry by women, the fact that this discourse finds expression in songs by Americana female artists indicates a matrilineal line of influence from the 1630s to today. In order to show the omnipresence of this powerful feminist discourse, she closes this book with eleven interviews she conducted with female singer-songwriters from around the United States. The phenomenon of FemPoetiks is not limited to the arts but extends into all areas of American life, from the domestic to the political. FemPoetiks is a woman's truth. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Introduction Comparing Poems and Song Lyrics: A Brief Primer Chapter Previews Chapter 1: The Revelation of the Feminine FemPoetiks American/a Feminism Fighting for Equal Time and Space: Women in Poetry and Music Women and Americana Music American Identity and Americana Music Chapter 2: Anne Bradstreet and Brandi Carlile: The FemPoetiks of Resistance Anne Bradstreet (1612–1672) The Poems Brandi Carlile (1981–) The Song Lyrics Concluding Thoughts Chapter 3: Phillis Wheatley and Rhiannon Giddens: The FemPoetiks of Revolution Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784) The Poems Rhiannon Giddens (1977–) The Song Lyrics Concluding Thoughts Chapter 4: Emily Dickinson and Lucinda Williams: The FemPoetiks of Rebellion Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) The Poems Lucinda Williams (1953–) The Song Lyrics “I envy Seas” and “I Envy the Wind”: A Side-by-Side Comparison Concluding Thoughts Chapter 5: Women of Americana: The Interviews Caitlin Canty Lynn Drury Taylor Dupuis Cindy Emch Tammy Frost Jess Jocoy Beth McKee Michaela Anne Neller Gretchen Peters Leanne Trevalyan Jamie Lin Wilson Conclusion Bibliography Discography Further Reading Index About the Author "From the poems of Anne Bradstreet, America's first published poet, FemPoetiks of American Poetry and Americana Music presents a powerful discourse that developed in the poetry of writers like Phillis Wheatley and Emily Dickinson and in Americana song lyrics of writers like Brandi Carlile, Rhiannon Giddens, and Lucinda Williams"-- Provided by publisher