Digital and Printed Bodies: Translating the Female Physique in Charly Cox's "She Must Be Mad"

Abstract

The direction of socio-political discourses on women’s issues such as sexual violence and equal pay are often shaped through global social media. Simultaneously these platforms provide spaces for poets to engage with these very same issues in their writing, resulting in the contemporary genre of social media poetry. One such author specialising in poetry on women’s experiences is Charly Cox, a young adult poet who rose to fame on Instagram, leading to her first physical publication She Must Be Mad (2018). Through the comparative analysis of other prominent social media based authors such as Rupi Kaur, who also shares Cox’s focus on the female body and feminist discourses, as well as a translation focused analysis of several of Cox’s poems, this thesis concludes that analysis through the frameworks of Christiane Nord and Hans Hönig allows for a clear identification of several main themes and poetic elements. At its core Cox’s poetry still shares many characteristics with existing poetic conventions. The final section of this thesis recommends techniques to apply to the more particular characteristics, and discusses possible continuations of research within this niche. The most suitable translator would be a person who possesses a knowledge of common social media vocabulary and practices as well as online feminist discourse.