defamiliarization in the undermining of self-confidence
Defamiliarization is the act of making the familiar unrecognizable. Defamiliarization creates new perceptions of an object by breaking expectations and disrupting logic. Edson’s prose poems, “The Undermining of a Self-Confidence” defamiliarizes the content and narrative through the use of connotation and metaphor. Edson defamiliarizes the content of the poem “The Undermining of a Self-Confidence” through the use of metaphor. The use of metaphor in this poem relates crab-claws to arms. “There was an old man who had crab-claws instead of arms.” This use of metaphor draws attention to the crab-claw and its connotations. When crabs are picked up on a beach, they are expected to pinch or bite. Thus, crab-claws have a connotation of severing (biting) and snatching away (pinching).