Semester of Graduation
spring 2023
Degree
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
English Department
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
The Hold is a collection of poems interlaced with prose that tells the story of a Black woman who searches for pleasure in the aftermath of her assault. These poems narrate her journey to Gorée Island, the island in Dakar, Senegal that became a holding cell for enslaved Africans during the transatlantic slave trade. Her return to the island within the contemporary evokes allows her to hear the unnamed erotic rebellions that took place between the enslaved African women inside of the holding cell. As she hears the ancestral languages of desire, longing, and love emanate from the Atlantic Ocean, the door of no return, the island itself, she is simultaneously confronted with the legacies of the plantation that paved the way for her assault.
Date
4-5-2023
Recommended Citation
Smith, Penda, "The Hold" (2023). LSU Master's Theses. 5777.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/5777
Committee Chair
Francisco, Ariel
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_theses.5777