On Remoteness

Issue 5.3

Letter from the Editor

12 July 2021

The Process editorial board is pleased to present Issue 5.3, On Remoteness. While many of us are in the midst of faltering returns to communities and crowds, workplaces and social gatherings, the effects of remoteness—isolation, beauty, loneliness, perspective—touch us in ways we are only beginning to understand. The work in this issue ranges from art history, to psychology, to poetry, but all three authors illuminate ways that our current experiences of remoteness fit in a broader context.

In Haylee Backs’s study, “Removal: How it Develops and its Effects on Individuals,” Backs uses qualitative data gathered just before the COVID-19 pandemic to analyze the lingering emotional and psychological impacts of distance and separation. Backs emphasizes the importance of paying attention to the effects of remoteness on mental health beyond the acute, immediate awareness of the current moment. Lucy Elliot, in “Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott: Gendered Captivity and Sexualization,” looks further into the past to understand the psychological power of forced isolation. Her essay on the romanticized and objectified depiction of the Lady of Shalott in Waterhouse’s painting explores the intersections of Victorian gender expectations, sexuality, and remoteness—and suggests connections to our present longing for community and fear of the outside world. And Quinn Luthy’s “Løvetannslekta,” which combines blackout poetry, instruction manual, and personal narrative, uses dandelions to consider our relationships to what is remote, inhospitable, or rejected. Luthy’s dandelions persist in harsh spaces, distant pasts, and hostile systems, offering an image of life and resilience in what might seem bleak.

We hope that these pieces can deepen our understanding of remoteness and prompt us to continue discussing the effects of distance and connection well beyond the pandemic. You can find the call for papers for our next issue, On Transition. We look forward to your submissions!

Sincerely,

The Process Editors

Removal: How it Develops and its Effects on Individuals

Haylee Backs

Haylee Backs’s study uses qualitative data gathered just before the COVID-19 pandemic to analyze the lingering emotional and psychological impacts of distance and separation. Backs emphasizes the importance of paying attention to the effects of remoteness on mental health beyond the acute, immediate awareness of the current moment.

Keywords: connection, isolation, narrative, removal

Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott: Gendered Captivity and Sexualization

Lucy Elliott

Lucy Elliot looks further into the past to understand the psychological power of forced isolation. Her essay on the romanticized and objectified depiction of the Lady of Shalott in Waterhouse’s 1888 painting explores the intersections of Victorian gender expectations, sexuality, and remoteness—and suggests connections to our present longing for community and fear of the outside world.

Keywords: agency, femininity, painting, Victorian poetry

Løvetannslekta

Quinn Luthy

Quinn Luthy’s “Løvetannslekta,” which combines blackout poetry, instruction manual, and personal narrative, uses dandelions to consider our relationships to what is remote, inhospitable, or rejected. Luthy’s dandelions persist in harsh spaces, distant pasts, and hostile systems, offering an image of life and resilience in what might seem bleak.

Keywords: dandelions, documentary poetry, industrial nature, queer ecology