Abstract
This MA thesis deals with Maya Deren s six short films seen from a literary perspective. I look at the film through the poetic terms rhythm, imagery, and brevity by comparing the films to how Modernist and Imagist poets employed these devices. My thesis question is how Maya Deren adapted techniques from poetry to make her six short films Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), At Land (1944), A Study in Choreography for Camera (1945), Ritual in Transfigured Time (1946), Meditation on Violence (1948), and The Very Eye of Night (1958). I link adaptation theory to how her influences from poetry have affected her process of creating a poetic cinema. I find that Deren s cinematic form is close to poetry and creates a new way for audience members to look at film.