The Self-Publishing Phenomenon and Poetry in the 21st Century: Rupi Kaur

Pejenaute Sainz, Sofía
Herrero Granado, Mª Dolores (dir.)

Universidad de Zaragoza, FFYL, 2018
Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana, Área de Filología Inglesa

Graduado en Estudios Ingleses

Resumen: This dissertation will explore the great impact that technology has had on many aspects of daily life and, more specifically, the influence and importance that it has had over literature in recent years. Firstly, these important technological advances have dovetailed into new ways of writing and reading literature. There has been an ever-increasing development in the way of reading and searching for information, from the traditional method, characterized by concrete traditional printed sources, to the electronic one (i.e. electronic book devices), with which we are already living. Secondly, technology has not only influenced reading habits, but also the way in which these books come to light as a result of a new phenomenon known as ‘self-publishing.’ The analysis of this new phenomenon will reveal the advantages and disadvantages that it poses. This dissertation will also focus on Indian-Canadian poet Rupi Kaur, who decided to resort to the self-publishing phenomenon in order to launch onto the market her first collection of poetry Milk and Honey. It will tackle the importance that social networks have over poetry nowadays, thus building a bridge and a strong link between poetry and social networks. This dissertation will study her peculiar style of writing poetry, mainly as a means to denounce and protest against certain social issues. In order to carry out this analysis, support my arguments and strengthen my conclusions I will rely on a number of articles, books and websites on the influence of Internet on literature, self-publishing and Rupi Kaur in order to analyse this subversive and most influential collection of poetry, and show it as a wonderful illustration of this new cultural phenomenon.

Tipo de Trabajo Académico: Trabajo Fin de Grado