Graduation Year
2014
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Degree Granting Department
Communication
Major Professor
Michael LeVan, Ph.D.
Co-Major Professor
Elizabeth Bell, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Stacy Holman Jones, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Frederick Steier, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Michelle Hughes Miller, Ph.D.
Keywords
carework, communication, maternity, performative writing, relationality, subjectivity
Abstract
This dissertation is a performative interrogation of the disagreement and (dis)interest, communication issues, surrounding motherhood in contemporary U.S. culture. Textual analysis of Mary Kelly's Post-Partum Document (PPD) plays a key role in my inquiry. I juxtapose documentation from my lived experiences and academic projects with Kelly's work to build upon the themes and ideas introduced throughout PPD. This project is guided by the concepts love and (im)possibility, and I will argue that, together, they are central to understanding mothering/caregiving as a site of communication inquiry. Love and (im)possibility are inherent to both mothering and communication, but they also are essential for creating the conditions for new variations, ways of doing, and being with and for one another.
Scholar Commons Citation
Cunningham, Summer Renee, "Love and (M)other (Im)possibilities" (2014). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/5409
