Objectivity of Maps and Language of Description in the Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop

Abstract

This paper will try to cover the ways in which Elizabeth Bishop’s writings would be connected to cartography, the art of map-making and physical spaces. It will also attempt to explain the influence of perspective in both poetry and geography and the relationship between writing and space, paying special attention to the way Bishop’s language and detailed descriptions of physical reality are able to express the defamiliarization of one’s surroundings and create a false sense of objectivity. For the exploration of all of these concepts I will be concentrating on different selected poems included in her published anthologies, choosing to focus on her poems "The Map", "12 O’clock News", "Poem" and "Sandpiper".