SUBTLE PEDAGOGY: THE SUBVERSION OF CULTURAL HEGEMONY IN COLONIALPOETICS

Many scholars discount the colonial poetic production of early America due to its
seemingly European-derivative nature of form or its repetitive focus on stringent pedagogy
regarding virtue and religiosity. Because of this, many overlook colonial poets and their poetry
as being of little significance to the modern reader; this could not be more incorrect. Through
analysis of the writings of the Puritan poets Michael Wigglesworth and Anne Bradstreet, as well
as those of Enlightenment poet Phillis Wheatley, a remarkable trend of subversion of the cultural
hegemony of colonial America emerges. This honors thesis analyses the ways in which colonial
American poets fought against the hegemonic oppression they faced by thoroughly breaking
down the overlooked canon of Wigglesworth, Bradstreet, and Wheatley. In doing so, the ways in
which the aforementioned poets protested their suppressed creativity, personhood, and freedom
become clear.