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Of Mermaids and Others

An Introduction to the Poetry of Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill

by Cary A. Shay (Author)
©2014 Monographs XXVIII, 258 Pages
Series: Modern Poetry, Volume 8

Summary

This volume is a critical introduction to the poetry of Irish writer Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill. Writing poetry exclusively in Irish but allowing and overseeing translations of her work into several languages, primarily English, Ní Dhomhnaill is the first Irish-language poet to gain an international following. She is also a pioneer in fostering a renewed relationship between the two languages of Ireland’s literary traditions. Ní Dhomhnaill is unflinching in her interventions into problematic social, linguistic and even theoretical arenas, and is well known for her brutal parodies, ribald sexual scenarios and persistent debunking and revising of religious, political and mythological imagery. Her primary thematic concerns demonstrate her dedication to critiquing and ultimately changing dominant discourses so that they account for the presence and contributions of women writers. This volume explores the fraught issues of translating and contextualizing Ní Dhomhnaill’s œuvre, her use and revisions of Irish myth, folklore and political and religious iconography, her re-imagining of the mother in culture and religious ideology, and the devices of death, silence and psychoanalytic discourse in her mermaid cycle and other poems. The book hails Ní Dhomhnaill, who has not hitherto received a great deal of critical attention in English, as a major figure in world literature.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgements
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Chapter One: Making Sense of Translated Lives: Linguistic and Critical Contexts
  • The Language Issue
  • Translation
  • Cultural Nationalism
  • Psychoanalysis and Feminism
  • Chapter Two: Earth Mothers, Teeth Mothers, Virgin Mothers: Ní Dhomhnaill and the Revising of the Maternal
  • Chapter Three: Sexuality and the Myth of Sovereignty
  • Sovereignty
  • The Rejection of Mór Mumhan
  • Another Táin
  • Medb
  • Revising Cú Chulainn
  • Cú Chulainn and The Morrígan
  • Revising Caitlín
  • Chapter Four: Of Mermaids and Others: Death, Silence and the Unspeakable in Ní Dhomhnaill’s Folklore Poems
  • Bibliography
  • Index
  • Series index

← viii | ix → Acknowledgements

I am grateful to The British Association for Irish Studies which awarded a generous bursary in aid of this work. Thanks are due to the Colyer Fergusson Humanities Research committee at The University of Kent, who provided a grant in support of my research and language study in Ireland. I am grateful to Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, who was kind enough to discuss her writing with me, and who has inspired me greatly with her work.

Thank you to Dr Janet Montefiore, who was instrumental in seeing this book into print, and who provided invaluable help in the shaping of the manuscript at all stages. I’m very grateful to Dr Lyn Innes, who was also extremely supportive, particularly with her knowledge of Irish literature and in recommending research materials.

Finally I wish to thank my family and friends, for all their support and encouragement, which I deeply appreciate.

The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge permission for use of the following: Extracts from “Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill” in Sleeping With Monsters: Conversations with Scottish and Irish Women Poets by Rebecca Wilson, edited by Gillean Somerville-Arjat, published in 1990 by Wolf hound. Extracts from Selected Essays by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, published in 2000 by New Island. Extracts from Selected Poems: Rogha Dánta by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill with translations by Michael Hartnett, published in 2000 by New Island. Extracts from “Comhrá: A conversation between Medbh McGuckian and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, edited, with a foreword and afterword, by Laura O’Connor,” published in 1995 in The Southern Review: Special Issue on Irish Poetry. Extracts from An Crann Faoi Bhláth/The Flowering Tree: Contemporary Irish Poetry with Verse Translations edited by Gabriel Fitzmaurice and Declan Kiberd, published in 1991 by Wolf hound Press. Extracts from “Spíonáin is Róiseanna, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill” by Gabriel Rosenstock, published in 1993 in Poetry Ireland Review 39. Extracts from Modern Irish Poetry, A New Alhambra by Frank Sewell, published in ← ix | x → 2001 by Oxford University Press. An extract from Mere Irish and Fíor Gael: Studies in the Idea of Irish Nationality, Its Development and Literary Expression prior to the Nineteenth Century by Joep Leerssen, published in 1996 by Cork University Press. Extracts from “Contemporary Poetry in Irish: Divided Loyalties and the Chimera of Continuity” by Caoimhín Mac Giolla Léith, published in 1989 in The Irish Review. Extracts from “Continuing the Link: an aspect of contemporary Irish poetry” by Georóid Denvir, published in 1988 in The Irish Review. Extracts from “Offshore On Land – Poetry in Irish Now” by Liam Ó Muirthile, in A New View of the Irish Language edited by Caoilf hionn Nic Pháidín and Séan Ó Cearnaigh, published in 2008 by Cois Life. Extracts from “Afterword: Irish-Language Literature in the New Millennium” by Bríona Nic Dhiarmada, in The Cambridge History of Irish Literature Volume II: 1890–2000 edited by Margaret Kelleher and Philip O’Leary, published in 2006 by Cambridge University Press. Extracts from Pharaoh’s Daughter by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill with translations by Ciaran Carson, Michael Coady, Peter Fallon, Michael Hartnett, Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, Medbh McGuckian, Tom Mac Intyre, Derek Mahon, John Montague, Paul Muldoon, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, and George O’Brien, published in 1990 by The Gallery Press. An extract from “A Translator of the Irish Language Today” by Breandán Ó Doibhlin, published in 2000 in Éire-Ireland 34/1&2. An extract from “O’Cadhain Raises Irish from the Grave” by Declan Kiberd, published in 2006 in The Irish Times. Extracts from “Writing In Modern Irish – A Benign Anachronism?” by Máire Mhac an tSaoi, published in 1995 in The Southern Review Special Issue on Irish Poetry. An extract from Changing States: Transformations in Modern Irish Writing by Robert Welch, published in 1993 by Routledge. Extracts from The Dual Tradition by Thomas Kinsella, published in 1995 by Carcanet. An extracts from “A Letter to the Editor” by Biddy Jenkinson, published in 1991 in Irish University Review. An extracts from “Movie-Shows From Babel: Translation and the Irish Language” by Michael Cronin, published in 1993 in The Irish Review. Extracts from “Disappearing Language: Translations from the Irish” by Louis De Paor, published in 1996 in Poetry Ireland Review 51. An extract from “Acts of Translation: An Interview with Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill” by Kaarina Hollo, published in 1998 in Edinburgh ← x | xi → Review. Extracts from “Review: Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill Selected Poems/Rogha Dánta” by Proinsias Ó Drisceoil, published in 1988 in Poetry Ireland Review. Extracts from Reading the Future: Irish Writers in Conversation with Mike Murphy by Mike Murphy, published in 2000 by Lilliput. Extracts from “Translator’s Note: The Mermaid in the Hospital” by Paul Muldoon, published in 2007 in Poetry. Extracts from The Astrakhan Cloak by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill with translations by Paul Muldoon, published in 1999 by The Gallery Press. Extracts from “The Task of the Translator” by Barra Ó Séaghdha, published in 1993 in Irish Review. Extracts from “Traductio ad Absurdum” by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, published in 1993 in Krino. Extracts from “Thoughts On Translation: A discussion from Irish and into Irish with special reference to recent translations of poetry” by Tomás Mac Síomóin, Mícheál Ó Cróinín, and Alan Titley, published in 1993 in Poetry Ireland Review. Extracts from A Kind of Scar: The Woman Poet in a National Tradition by Eavan Boland, published in 1989 by Attic Press. Extracts from Sex and Nation: Women in Irish Culture and Politics by Gerardine Meaney, published in 1991 by Attic Press. Extracts from “Lashings of the Mother Tongue: Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill’s Anarchic Laughter” by Mary O’Connor, in The Comic Tradition in Irish Women Writers edited by Teresa O’Connor, published in 1996 by Florida University Press. Extracts from “The Power of Discourse and the Subordination of the Feminine” by Luce Irigaray, translated by David Macey, in The Irigaray Reader edited by Margaret Whitford, published in 2000 by Blackwell. Extracts from Improprieties: Politics and Sexuality in Northern Irish Poetry by Clair Wills, published in 1993 by Oxford University Press. Extracts from “Engendering the Postmodern Canon?: The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing Volumes IV & V: Women’s Writing and Traditions” by Gerardine Meaney, in Opening the Field: Irish Women: Texts and Contexts edited by Patricia Boyle Haberstroh and Christine St Peter, published in 2007 by Cork University Press. Extracts from Black Sun: Depression and Melancholia by Julia Kristeva, translated by Leon S. Roudiez, published in 1989 by Columbia University Press. Extracts from Psychoanalysis and Gender by Rosalind Minsky, published in 1996 by Routledge. Extracts from “Femininity” by Sigmund Freud New Introductory Lectures in Psychoanalysis, edited by James Strachey, published in 1973 by Penguin. Extracts from This Sex Which ← xi | xii → Is Not One by Luce Irigaray, translated by Catherine Porter, published in 1985 by Cornell University Press. Extracts from The Speculum of the Other Woman by Luce Irigaray, translated by Gillian C. Gill, published in 1985 by Cornell University Press. Extracts from Luce Irigaray: Philosophy in the Feminine by Margaret Whitford, published in 1995 by Routledge. Extracts from Object Lessons: The Life of the Woman and the Poet of Our Time by Eavan Boland, published in 1995 by Norton. Extracts from Repossessions: Selected Essays on the Irish Literary Heritage by Seán Ó Tuama, published in 1995 by Cork University Press. Extracts from Four Archetypes Mother, Rebirth, Spirit, Trickster by C.G. Jung, translated by R.F.C. Hull, published in 1986 by Ark. An extract from Pillow Talk by Paula Meehan, published in 1994 by The Gallery Press. Extracts from Selected Poems by Marina Tsvetaeva, translated by Elaine Feinstein, published in 1993 by Oxford University Press. Extracts from An Duanaire 1600–1900: Poems of the Dispossessed edited by Seán Ó Tuama and translations by Thomas Kinsella, published in 1981 by Dolmen Press. Extracts from In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women, Culture and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth by Tikva Frymer-Kensky, published in 1992 by Fawcett Columbine. Extracts from Land of Women: Tales of Sex and Gender from Early Ireland by Lisa Bitel, published in 1996 by Cornell University Press. Extracts from “The Treachery of Wetness: Seamus Heaney and the Politics of Parturition” by Moynagh Sullivan, published in 2005 in Irish Studies Review. Extracts from “What Foremothers?” by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, published in 1993 in Poetry Ireland Review. Extracts from The New Oxford Annotated Bible by Theodore Bergren et. al., published in 2007 by Oxford University Press. Extracts from Handbook of Prayers by Rev. James Socías, published in 2001 by Scepter Publishers. Extracts from “Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill: Taibhsí í mBéal na Gaoithe” broadcast 24.4.2007 by Radio Telefís Éireann on RTE 1. Extracts from Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection by Julia Kristeva, published in 1982 by Columbia University Press. Extracts from Celtic Mythology by Proinsias Mac Cana, published in 1970 by Hamlyn. Extracts from The Living Stream: Literature and Revisionism in Ireland by Edna Longley, published in 1994 by Bloodaxe. Extracts from “‘Bog Queens’: The representation of women in the poetry of John Montague and Seamus Heaney” by Patricia Coughlan, in Gender in Irish Writing edited by David ← xii | xiii → Cairns and Toni O’Brien, published in 1991 by The Open University Press. Extracts from “Great Bladdered Medb; Mythology and Invention in the Táin Bó Cúailnge” by Charles Bowen, published in 1875 in Éire-Ireland. Extracts from “Society and Myth c. 700–1300” by Máire Herbert, in The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing Volume IV: Women’s Writing and Traditions, published in 2002 by Cork University Press. Extracts from “Celtic Heroine? The Archaeology of the Deirdre Story” by Máire Herbert, in Gender in Irish Writing edited by David Cairns and Toni O’Brien, published in 1991 by The Open University Press. Extracts from The Book of the Cailleach: Stories of the Wise Woman Healer by Gearóid Ó Crualaoich, published in 2006 by Cork University Press. Extracts from “Gormlaith and her Sisters, c. 750–1800” by Máirín Ní Dhonnchadha, in The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing Volume IV: Women’s Writing and Traditions, published in 2002 by Cork University Press. Extracts from “Sovereignty and Politics c. 1300–1900” by Máirín Nic Eoin, in The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing Volume IV: Women’s Writing and Traditions, published in 2002 by Cork University Press. An extract from Feis by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, translated by Máirín Ní Dhonnchadha, published in 1991 by An Sagart. Extracts from Myth, Legend & Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition by Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, published in 1990 by Ryan Publishing. An extract from “The Story of Mis and Dubh Rois” in The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing Volume IV: Women’s Writing and Traditions, published in 2002 by Cork University Press. Extracts from “Women in Irish Mythology” by Proinsias Mac Cana, in The Crane Bag Book of Irish Studies, published in 1982 by Blackwater. Extracts from Sex and Nation: Women in Irish Culture and Politics by Gerardine Meaney, published in 1991 by Attic Press. Extracts from Myth and Motherland by Richard Kearney, published in 1984 by Field Theatre Co. Ltd. Extracts from Ulysses by James Joyce, published in 1992 by Penguin. Extracts from The Táin: From The Irish Epic Táin Bó Cuailnge, translated by Thomas Kinsella, published in 1986 by Oxford University Press. Extracts from Inventing Ireland by Declan Kiberd, published in 1996 by Vintage. Extracts from “Transmutations of an Irish Goddess” by Máire Herbert, in The Concept of the Goddess edited by Sandra Billington and Miranda Green, published in 1996 by Routledge. Extracts from “Recent Irish Poetry” by ← xiii | xiv → Samuel Beckett, in Disjecta: Miscellaneous Writings and a Fragment edited by Ruby Cohn, published in 1983 by Calder. Extracts from Selected Plays by W.B. Yeats, edited by Richard Allen Cave, published in 1997 by Penguin. Extracts from “Féile Filíochta International Poetry Competition, Judges Reading: Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill” by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, published on iTunes in 2007 by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council Library Service. Extracts from The Fifty Minute Mermaid by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill with translations by Paul Muldoon, published in 2007 by The Gallery Press. Extracts from “Of Mermaids and Others: Remarkable Revelations in The Fifty Minute Mermaid ” by Cary A. Shay, published in 2010 in Nordic Irish Studies. An extract from Memories, Dreams, Reflections by C.G. Jung, published in 1973 by Vintage. Extracts from Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, published in 1986 by James Currey. Extracts from Over Her Dead Body: Death, femininity and the aesthetic by Elisabeth Bronfen, published in 1992 by Manchester University Press. Extracts from The Wounded Surgeon: Confession and Transformation in Six American Poets by Adam Kirsch, published in 2005 by W.W. Norton. Extracts from “Fairies and Anorexia: Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill’s ‘Amazing Grass’” by Angela Bourke, published in 1993 in Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium volume XIII. An extract from The Redress of Poetry, Oxford Lectures by Seamus Heaney, published in 1995 by Faber and Faber. Extracts from The Water Horse by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, translations by Medbh McGuckian and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, published in 1999 by The Gallery Press. Extracts from “Two Essays on Analytical Psychology” by C.G. Jung, in Collected Works, volume 7, published in 1990 by Routledge. Extracts from Jung and the Post-Jungians by Andrew Samuels, published in 1985 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. Extracts from Collected Stories by Elizabeth Bowen, published in 1999 by Vintage. Extracts from “Metaphor and Metamorphosis in the Poetry of Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill” by Caoimhín Mac Giolla Léith, published in 2000 in Éire-Ireland 35/1&2 (2000). Extracts from Women Creating Women: Contemporary Irish Women Poets by Patricia Boyle Haberstroh, published in 1996 by Syracuse University Press. Extracts from “Idir Dhá Chomhairle/Between Two Minds: Interculturality in Literary Criticism in Irish” by Máirín Nic Eoin, published in 2008 in Field Day Review 4. Extracts from ← xiv | xv → “Beleaguered But Determined: Irish Women Writers in Irish” by Mary Harris, published in 1995 in Feminist Review 51. Extracts from The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats volume III: Autobiographies, William H. O’Donnel and Douglas N. Archibald, eds., published in 1999 by Scribener. Extracts from “Inside and Outside History” by Anne Stevenson, published in 1992 in PN Review 18,3. Extracts from “Woman in Europe” in Aspects of the Feminine by C.G. Jung, R.F.C. Hull, trans., published in 1986 by Princeton University Press. Extracts from “The Bodily Encounter with the Mother” by Luce Irigaray, David Macey, trans., in The Irigaray Reader, Whitford, Margaret, ed., published in 2000 by Blackwell. Extracts from “Myth, History and the Politics of Subjectivity: Eavan Boland and Irish Women’s Writing” by Gerardine Meaney, published in 1993 in Women: A Cultural Review 4/2. Extracts from “The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious” by C.G. Jung, in Collected Works volume 9, part I, R.F.C. Hull, trans., published in 1980 by Princeton University Press. Extracts from “The Syzygy: Anima and Animus” by C.G. Jung, in Collected Works volume 9, part II, R.F.C. Hull, trans., published in 1989 by Routledge. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions in the above list and would be grateful for notification of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.← xv | xvi →

Details

Pages
XXVIII, 258
Year
2014
ISBN (PDF)
9783035305678
ISBN (ePUB)
9783035399592
ISBN (MOBI)
9783035399585
ISBN (Hardcover)
9783034308106
DOI
10.3726/978-3-0353-0567-8
Language
English
Publication date
2014 (January)
Keywords
parodies myth iconography psychoanalytic discourse folklore
Published
Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Wien, 2014. 258 pp.

Biographical notes

Cary A. Shay (Author)

Cary A. Shay holds degrees in Classical Studies, Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama and English Literature from universities in the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom. She completed her PhD at the University of Kent. Her research interests include modern poetry, Anglo-Irish and Irish-language literature, psychoanalytic theory, and feminism and psychoanalysis.

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