unbecoming

In her collection of poems Unbecoming, Laura Muensterer, in her poetic discourse, emphasizes the interior originality of the self, its renewal, and the tendency to transcend the centralization of the historical self towards poetic impersonal images. The speaker then transforms herself into a representative image of another spectral self that exhausts the centrality of the personal presence, and then the discourse suggests in its implicatures the precedence of that circular spectral self over the historical self that suffers from pain, or wounds in the structure of the presence.

Consequently, the mental state of the speaker reflects her belief in the abstract inner originality that awaits verification through metaphorical images and transformations, and internal mental representations based on the harmony between images such as spectra, shadows, swimming in an infinite ocean without drowning, and the internal self-combustion of fire as if it were a circular figurative fire. Also, the poet produces a promise speech act that contains the continuing joyful spiritual journey into the future in new internal virtual spaces reflected by the mirror sign that we can see filled with gaps, allegorical rooms, and imaginary worlds that tolerate both adventure and inner peace.

In addition, this stage of Laura's writing reminds me of the blending of Eastern visions, the perception of the individual self and the possibility of transcending the centralization of the personal presence in postmodernism, or the current return of spiritual depth beyond postmodernism, and it also reminds me of Carl Jung's archetypes such as the spiritual journey, the explorer archetype or the creator archetype. Also, this stage that enhances the spiritual experience comes in the context of the need for circular authenticity and the abundance of similes, images, and virtual and metaphorical spaces.

Moreover, the speaker forms her view of both the experimental self and the potential circular or more authentic spectral self according to a cognitive metaphor described by Lakoff, Fauconnier, and Mark Turner; The speaker sees herself in spaces as disparate as black holes, oceans, deserted spaces, and dreamy rooms beyond the mirror; They are spaces that combine the experiential presence in the world and the transcendent presence in which both cosmic sympathy and the inner peace that the self seeks beyond its historical presence in the world are achieved.

Finally, I see that Laura has contributed to revealing contemporary mental images and representations about internal and spiritual originality and the possibility of its realization in our current global cultural context.