Relatability is the New Sentimentality: The feminization and denigration of women’s writing
Speaker: Dr. Kiera Obbard
Instagram poetry (Instapoetry) has been called amateur, artless writing that prioritizes emotions and relatability over literary complexity. However, the denigration of Instapoetry—a genre predominantly written by and for women and women of colour—based on its relatability is reminiscent of the longer history of the denigration of women’s writing that is popular, sentimental, and economically successful. Beginning with the poetess tradition, this talk will trace the longer history of the feminization and subsequent denigration of women’s writing and connect it to contemporary critics of Instapoetry to elucidate the sociohistorical and gendered dimensions of the continued exclusion of women’s work from the literary canon.
Kiera Obbard (she/her) is a poet and the 2024-2026 Michael Ridley Postdoctoral Scholar in Digital Humanities at the University of Guelph, where she studies the feminization and subsequent denigration of women’s writing and associated publishing technologies. Her current book project examines the complex social, cultural, technological and economic conditions that have enabled the success of social media poetry in Canada.
The DH@Guelph presents... series is open to everyone. Refreshments will be served. We look forward to seeing you in THINC Lab!
