'The space where a thought would be': Anne Carson, women's writing and the reception of ancient Greek myth

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My research explores the reception of ancient Greek myth through the lens of feminist thought in the work of Canadian poet, translator and classicist Anne Carson (b. 1950). I will demonstrate how feminist discourse is central to Carson's mythopoesis - the creative process of reinterpreting and rewriting mythology - an idea largely unexplored in scholarship.I begin by suggesting that Carson's translation practice uses poststructuralist feminist techniques, akin to Julia Kristeva's intertextuality and Judith Butler's resignification, to enact a rereading of a heteronormative modernity. I thenanalyse Carson's references to female writers, including Virginia Woolf and Simone Weil, who have appropriated ancient Greek myth to explore the modern subject.My conclusion suggests that Carson's writing practice offers fresh theoreticalinsights into the relationship between women's writing and ancient Greek myth.While Carson's work is indebted to the intellectual framework of the Western classical tradition, her writing has found popularity with a non-academic audience, particularly across Europe and the Americas. Grassroots women'sgroups interpret Carson's work, which raises issues pertinent to sexual and gender minorities in today's society, as a tool for social change. My research will engage with communities beyond the academy and contribute to public engagement initiatives that address different forms of discrimination.