Themes Of Diaspora In Rita Dove's Poetry

Rita Dove, the only female African-American appointed to the Poet Laureate of the United States, is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant stars on the contemporary American literary scene. Her poems are deeply concerned about the rootless identity of black Africans dispersed in America where a strange land is for them, and she endeavors to make the constant exploration to their African cultural roots in the journey of their identity pursuit and construction. Therefore, Dove's poetry presents distinguished features of diaspora literature.This thesis consists of five chapters by analyzing the distinct features of diaspora themes in Dove's poetry. The part of introduction will cast a brief glimpse of Dove's life experience and writing experience as well as the research status of her works, then clarify cultural connotations of "diaspora" and the research status of African diaspora literature, and finally display the significance and value as well as the main content and structure of the thesis.The main parts of the thesis will follow such a train of thought that from "the real context" to "the homeland root" to "the solving method" to analyze diasporic black Africans'pursuit and construction of identity in Dove's poems. Chapter I points out that Dove's poetry is deeply concerned about black Africans'marginal identity in strange American culture. Africans dispersed in the real context of America are marginalized geographically, socially and culturally, and have a strong desire to reconstruct a new identity in the new cultural context and an intense love for their homeland.Chapterâ…¡asserts that black Africans in diasporas, triggered by their strong African complex, want to seek for African roots. Focusing on the thematic content of Dove's poetry the first part records black Africans'ordinary life expressing their racial pride as the black and traces the diasporic history of African slaves extolling their unconquerable racial spirit. Focusing on the aesthetic forms of Dove's poetry, the second part presents that some African cultural traditions such as black language and black music reflecting that unique African artistic forms are shown vividly in the mental journey of the reconstruction of black identity.Chapterâ…¢makes a deep exploration of how Dove tries to solve the problem of diasporan Africans'identity. Her poetic notion of cosmopolitanism has been formed gradually in the course of showing concerns about Africans in diasporas. Her notion of cosmopolitanism consists of two cores --- the identity construction and the notion of "home". Dove tries to construct diaspora identity for African Americans in the context of her cosmopolitanism, which is the spiritual return back home for African in diasporas.The part of conclusion sums up the former chapters and makes a brief and objective evaluation of the whole thesis. It reiterates the diasporic characteristics of Dove's poetry and points out that in the context of globally cultural diversity the analysis Dove'poetry and poetics may exert great influence not only for African American literature but also for the further diasopra study of other ethnic minorities.