- Title
- A field of rooms and doors: exploring unbelonging in the works of queer poets and my artistic practice
- Creator
- Human, Micaela
- Subject
- Homosexuality in art
- Subject
- Homosexuality and art
- Subject
- Art, Modern -- 20th century
- Date Issued
- 2025-04
- Date
- 2025-04
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/72264
- Identifier
- vital:79203
- Description
- This practice as research study, comprising a thesis and installation, explores the queer experience of unbelonging using liminality and the uncanny as key concepts. Losing one’s sense of belonging is something that many queer individuals experience after coming out. This unseen threshold between belonging and losing belonging is where unbelonging takes place. It will be argued that it is a liminal process, one in which queer individuals are continuously fluctuating within heteronormative society. Furthermore, this paper explores the way queer individuals both experience and embody the uncanny. On one level, within heteronormative society, queer individuals are perceived through an uncanny lens, as familiar and recognisable, yet strange and unsettling. Additionally, there is a dichotomy that occurs within queerness and the concept of the closet. When an individual is in the closet, their identity occupies the tenuous space of the ‘open secret’, thereby evoking a feeling of the uncanny within themselves. Due to its visuality and other sympathetic attributes, poetry will be considered as a valuable medium to express the nuances within the queer experience of unbelonging. The work of three queer poets will be analysed, namely Ocean Vuong, Richard Siken and Chen Chen. Finally, Dan Nadaner’s concept of ‘crossover’ (1993) will also be addressed to explain how my own work has been informed by the works of these poets, as well as underpin the relationship between poetry and the visual arts in general.
- Description
- Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Visual and Performing Arts, 2025
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (92 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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- Downloads: 1
Collections
NMU School of Music, Art and Design
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Human_M.pdf | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |