My key texts and my theoretical framework(s):
I initially grounded my work in Feminist scholarship, with a paticular focus in work concerning Bodies & Materiality, as well as perspectives which understand writing as praxis and an enactment of power. My study really began with a study of narratives, writing as an act of power, and how to write & read first-person writing when language itself is exclusionary by nature. As such, some of the key words I used to guide my research included embodiment, materiality, women’s writing and autobiography. Given the multifaceted nature of my research I’ve combined approaches from multiple scholars and disciplines, while maintain open & queer ideals in my own approach. My understanding of the body and how it becomes implicated in ideas of Gender Formation are grounded in concepts formed & developed by Judith Butler and Elizabeth Grosz, particularly in ideas articulated in Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex (1996) and Volatile Bodies (1994). Over time my research has evolved from women’s autobiographical writing in general to a focus on first person abortion-narratives in specific. My interest grew from what I perceived to be a relative absence of ‘abortion stories’ in the personal narrative space (memoir, autobiography, personal essay etc.). While I would hesitate to call my findings a wealth of example, I have located what I call to be ‘abortion narratives’ in six contemporary memoirs: Zami by Audre Lorde, Happening by Annie Ernaux, Minor Characters by Joyce Johnson, Memoirs of a Beatnik by Diane di Prima, and Incest by Anais Nin. These memoirs form the basis of my exploration into abortion narratives, how they function, what is being said and what is being left unsaid in the (re)presentation of this significant life experience. Karen Weingarten’s 2014 book Abortion in the American Imagination: Before Life and Choice, 1880-1940 is one of the few texts examining the history of abortion narratives in the USA and how they developed and changed over time. As such, her thinking acts as a key jumping off point for my own.
My position as a researcher is: (past work, subjectivity, etc.)
My position as researcher in this work is personal and passionate. The current work occurs at the intersection of my lived experiences as a queer femme, my broader academic work in feminist narratives & story telling, and my own practice as a writer and an artist. As I have changed, so has my work. My own experiences with abortion and with the conflicted reality which ensued – that of shame, relief, silence, awareness of body and consequence – instigated my hunt for something to ground myself in. The current political attack against abortion laws makes the need for an honest conversation about abortion and bodily autonomy urgent. The catch 22 is that the very same political climate eschews honest conversation about the experience of abortion as these truths are vunerable to being coopted for the purposes of the opposition, with very real material circumstances. I approach my work with empathy and openness, and an acceptance that while I cannot answer many questions, I can contribute to the conversation.
This project matters to me and may matter to some others because:
Abortion is a basic human right, it is not a women’s issue, but a matter of bodily autonomy. In America right now, access to abortion is under attack, with more and more states removing facilities, criminalizing doctors, and reversing progres made under Roe vs Wade. The conversation is urgent as narratives inform the way we think, the way laws are formed, and the stories we tell to one another to survive in a social world.
How are abortion narratives mutually influenced by the political and legal climate at the time of writing? What is an abortion narrative and why aren’t there more of them?
