Date of Award
5-2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
English
Program
Creative Writing (MFA)
First Advisor/Chairperson
Dr. Patricia Killelea
Abstract
Scrounge is a poetic excavation of rural abjection and the enduring consequences of the death of the American Dream in the post-industrial Midwest. Drawing from Julia Kristeva’s concept of abjection, the collection explores life in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where generations have witnessed the slow, ongoing decomposition of a dream that never fully disappears—a corpse that haunts rather than vanishes. The material remnants of this corpse are visible in the region’s shuttered factories, opioid-ravaged bodies, and foreclosed homes, while its immaterial form lingers in the unrelenting cultural myth that hard work guarantees prosperity. Ultimately, Scrounge is both an autopsy and an elegy—an autopsy on the corpse of the American Dream and an elegy for the remarkable lives that persist in its absence. While these poems cannot change the material conditions that created them, they serve as a testament to the resilience of Midwesterners and an invitation for those who live in this liminal space to authorize themselves to create meaning beyond the broken promises of a forgotten system.
Recommended Citation
Watanen, Alexander J., "Scrounge" (2025). All NMU Master's Theses. 884.
https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/884
Access Type
NMU Users Only
Justification for Restricting Access
Since this is a draft of a manuscript I’m hoping to further develop and publish, I’d like to keep it as private as possible for now. I’ve put a lot of work into this project, and if it’s made available online—even just to NMU users who could potentially copy and repost it—a publisher might pass on it. Many publishers, especially independent and nonprofit ones, can’t take the financial risk of publishing work that’s already accessible. Thank you for understanding.
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