Date of Award
2025
Degree Type
Restricted to Claremont Colleges Dissertation
Degree Name
English, PhD
Program
School of Arts and Humanities
Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair
Kara Wittman and Eric Bulson
Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member
Wendy Martin
Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member
James Morrison
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2025 Eunice Y Kim
Abstract
This work concerns object relations in American literature in the lyric mode over the past fifty years and its relationship to dealing with loss and illness. More specifically, how do people relate to things —anything from pocket watches to pieces of ribbon—that not only sustain hope but also make the process of waiting more bearable? This study will begin with an overview of object relations theory in literature, followed by an analysis of the novels and essays of four writers from different decades—Toni Morrison, Marilynne Robinson, Annie Dillard, and Teju Cole. The way in which these authors portray object relations denotes a form of patience in which one’s personal longings, contained in physical things, aspire for universal understanding.
ISBN
9798314886038
Recommended Citation
Kim, Eunice Yong. (2025). Waiting for the Miraculous: An Essay on Patience in American Literature. CGU Theses & Dissertations, 952. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/952.
