Date of Award
5-2026
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Humanities
Committee Chair
Angela Ball
Committee Chair School
Humanities
Committee Member 2
Jennifer Peterson
Committee Member 2 School
Humanities
Committee Member 3
Nicolle Jordan
Committee Member 3 School
Humanities
Committee Member 4
Katherine Cochran
Committee Member 4 School
Humanities
Abstract
From mourning peaceful rural lives to demanding preservation of rural space, the pastoral tradition no longer consists of a simple, singular definition. Today’s pastoral exists in a liminal state, or a state of in-between, in which it is neither a romanticized nature poem nor an ecological crisis poem, it now consists of both. Likewise, the rural Midwest is not just idyllic nature nor purely a site of forgotten struggle—it is both. Part of the job of today’s pastoral poem is to emphasize and hold space for the reality of what we have and what is being lost. Considering the emotional, philosophical, and cultural impact of place, contemporary women share a similar experience of existing in an in-between state, since society has neither abandoned traditional views of femininity nor committed to new ones. The poems in Rural Woman juxtapose imagery with lyricism to capture the tension of the current in-between states for both land and women and to challenge readers’ preconceived ideas of each.
With influence from ecopoetics, ecofeminism, and working-class poets, Rural Woman unravels an inheritance of class and gender oppression and offers a new narrative—one that demands female agency beyond the domestic. This collection resists the cliché of the peaceful pastoral and works to embody the laborious grit required of those who live in rural areas by insisting on the capabilities of women, how they both inflict and experience violence, and how contemporary women navigate our gendered world. Altogether, these poems navigate the social contract that has been inherited and shaped by expectations associated with class, gender, sexuality, and region.
Copyright
Emilee Kinney, 2026
Recommended Citation
Kinney, Emilee N., "Rural Woman" (2026). Dissertations. 2449.
https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/2449