Abstract

In Dickinson's poetry, whiteness represents a range of themes, from purity to death, and is linked closely with positions of power. This essay examines the relationship between whiteness, meaning, power, and its underlying racial logics. Reading through the lens of psychoanalytic theory, it focuses on two poems where considerations of whiteness open onto a crisis between the stable meaning of appearances and the power associated with the word "white." Tracing Dickinson's imagery through her letters and other literary subtexts, this essay argues that these poems reflect a deep engagement with the forces that shape racial recognition.

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