“BEHIND OUR LULLABIES”: FEMININE MYTHOLOGIES IN CONTEMPORARY WOMEN’S POETRY

Abstract

In the Western canon, poetry and mythology have always been connected, and poetry has often reached for the myth in its attempt to understand humanity. The phallogocentric patriarchy has, however, marginalised femininity, thus creating an imbalanced, androcentric cultural milieu. In the second half of the twentieth century, with the rise of feminism and the postmodern rejection of grand narratives, many women poets have sought to rectify this situation, bringing forth a plethora of works that address the issue. The paper explores this idea, using the mythological figure of Penelope as an example of harmful ways of constructing femininity. It also focuses on the postmodern notion of the demarginalisation of the previously voiceless, through the analysis of Carol Ann Duffy’s collection The World’s Wife. In a broader sense, it examines how contemporary women’s poetry in English reappropriates the mythological feminine.