An Analysis Of Defamiliarization In Emily Dickinson’s Nature Poetry

Emily Dickinson, who is a famous American poetess of the19th century, wrote nearly1800poems in her life. Her unconventionality in writing, keen perception of outward and inward experiences and her metaphysical thought made her poems fresh and original. Most of Emily Dickinson’s poems on the subjects of religion, nature, death and immortality chosen as analysis examples have been studied from various different perspectives since1890. Among her poems, the religious theme is of the most discussed and most of them ignore the originality of her nature poetry. Among her1800poems,500poems are about nature. Nature becomes the main source of writing as well as purifying her soul. She wrote these poems with keen observation, exquisite touches and bright images to express her feelings. Dickinson’s nature poems mainly contain animals and plants, sceneries and seasons, philosophical poems that reflect the relationship between man and nature. But Dickinson’s understanding of nature is quite different from others and she often makes common things in nature unfamiliar with us. The thesis tries to explore the effect of defamiliarization in Emily Dickinson’s nature poems and the reasons for the defamiliarised features.This thesis consists of two chapters.Chapter One is devoted to the analysis of defamiliarised features in Dickinson’s nature poems. This part contains three aspects:defamiliarised animals and plants, defamiliarised sceneries and seasons, and defamiliarised philosophical poems. Dickinson not only focuses on the cute animals in nature, but also portrays those horrible creatures which can be easily ignored. Dickinson holds dual attitudes toward nature. Sometimes she portrays the harmony in nature which is just like a mother, but sometimes she thinks that human beings and other creatures in nature do not seem to be in complete harmony.Chapter Two reviews some deep reasons for the defamiliarised features. She is influenced by social background, philosophical tradition, and literature academy. Dickinson’s childhood left a shadow, which caused her later reclusion, and concentration on writing and imagination. The defamiliarization of Dickinson’s poems is in accordance with the need of her age. At that time, America kept free from the control of Britain politically. As for literature, there was a need to break away from the influence of Britain and form its own style. She is also influenced by two currents, Puritanism and Transcendentalism. Furthermore, Dickinson is a follower of Shakespeare who pursues innovation. Her writing style is unique while the former poets have not used before.The last part is the conclusion, it sums up the theory of defamiliarization, gives an overall examination on the defamiliarised features of Emily Dickinson and how the effects are achieved. Finally, it mentions some inspirations from the research and provides some suggestions for further study.