Anglo-Irish Literature

When people are asked about Irish folk music, their first thought usually goes to “Pub drinking songs”, or to the dancers all dressed in green that show rapid dance steps.
However, Irish music is much more: its origins, its development across the centuries and its themes show that this is a fertile field of research and an incredible source of lyrical and musical expression of the Irish population.

"The oldest records indicate that the performance of poetry in Gaelic Ireland was normally accompanied by music, providing a point of continuity with past tradition while bolstering a sense of community in the present. Music would also offer, particularly for poets writing in English from the eighteenth century onwards, a perceived authenticity, a connection with an older tradition perceived as being untarnished by linguistic and cultural division.

While providing an innovative analysis of theoretical work in music and literary studies, this book examines how traditional Irish music, including the related song tradition (primarily in Irish), has influenced, and is apparent in, the work of Irish poets. While looking generally at where this influence is evident historically and in contemporary Irish poetry, this work focuses primarily on the work of six poets, three who write in English and three who write primarily in the Irish language: Thomas Kinsella, Seamus Heaney, Ciaran Carson, Gearóid Mac Lochlainn, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Cathal Ó Searcaigh."

"Bowen’s Court has most commonly been confronted through methodological paradigms stressing its affinity to traditional Irish generic and historiographical conventions. In contrast, this essay reassesses Anglo-Ireland’s contribution to early twentieth-century literature by rereading Elizabeth Bowen’s text within the context of an international cultural and economic world-system. It argues that two historical narratives inform Bowen’s Court: a gothic chronicle of decline and a protoprofessional story of detached expertise. These narratives correspond to two visions of Anglo-Ireland’s transnational position, the first conceiving of the Protestant Ascendancy as neofeudal landlords who transform Irish labor into capitalist wealth, the second characterizing the Anglo-Irish as a cosmopolitan class of professional managers. By regarding these socioeconomic roles as affective dispositions between which her class vacillated, Bowen creates a cyclical history in which the deficiencies of gothic hysteria and detached professionalism supplement each other in a dialectical exchange. Understanding the socioeconomic circumstances underlying Bowen’s Court provides an important insight into how Bowen and fellow Anglo-Irish writers used affect to legitimate their class position after Irish independence, as well as how they were able to envision an Anglo-Irish renaissance.
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The way the complexities of fictional dialogue are creatively exploited in a play, a film or a novel can reveal much about the management of ordinary conversation. Although it is evident that fictional dialogue and naturally occurring conversation are different types of communication, it is no less true that fictional representations of dialogue and narratives creatively exploit linguistic features which may be characteristic of spoken language. This chapter discusses how discourse markers such as like and roysh, and quotative patterns such as be + like, go, and be + there are employed in the work of Irish author Paul Howard in order to recreate contemporary Dublin English.

Ciaran Carson has established a reputation as one of Ireland's most important poetic voices. However, Carson is also an accomplished musician whose work reflects the liminal borderland that has always existed between Irish music and Irish literature. Music is a prominent theme throughout Carson's work with songs and musical allusions frequently a feature of his poems. While music has influenced Carson's work thematically, it has played a formative role in one of the most distinctive features of his poetry until recently - that is his use of the long line. This paper argues that it is even possible in some of his poems to find comparable metres with those found in forms of traditional Irish music. Carson's use of the long line is part of his attempt to recreate what he has called the urgency of traditional Irish music in his work through an audience-aware poetic that attempts to recreate the immediacy of the live sessions Carson has partaken of as a musician. For Carson, the crucial moments of communication and understanding are those shared between the performer and the audience, an audience that can sometimes include fellow performers. However, this conviction is reflected in understandings of musical events one finds in ethnomusicology, an audience-orientated approach increasingly shared by literary theorists.

As a child, Shaw was horrified by the appalling poverty of the Dublin slums, and, while working in a Dublin estate office as a teenager, he actually had to collect slum rents. What's more, both sides of Shaw’s family were tied to the Protestant Ascendancy, possessing land throughout Leinster and Munster. Although Shaw himself was raised in “shabby genteel poverty”, he was taught to take pride in his family’s exalted social connections. He gradually came to realise, however, that his revered relations were complicit in the unjust land distribution prevalent in Ireland prior to the Land War. The unjust relations between landlords and tenants that Shaw witnessed in Ireland not only cast a shadow over his politics (leading him to embrace socialism as a young man) but also his drama. As this essay demonstrates, Shaw deals with Irish landlord-tenant relations directly in his three plays set in Ireland: John Bull’s Other Island, O’Flaherty, V.C., and Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman. Additionally, his exposure to Dublin slums as a child and teenager informs Widowers’ Houses, and his numerous visits to Irish (and not simply English) Big Houses was a clear influence on Heartbreak House.

This article discusses Maria Edgeworth's first novel Castle Rackrent (1800) and focusses on the notion of instability, both on the plot level and the narrative structure of the text. Notions of degeneration and decay abound in the novel. Telling the story of the financial and moral ruin of an Anglo-Irish family and the ultimate loss of their their estate, Castle Rackrent has become the ur-text of the genre of the Anglo-Irish novel.
What sets Castle Rackrent apart from other examples of the genre is its narrative structure. The main part of the text is narrated by Thady Quirk, an old, devoted and appropriately subjective servant. His obvious unreliability as a narrator is juxtaposed with a critical apparatus provided by a fictional editor. Instead of clarifying and structuring Thady's rambling account, however, the Editor also struggles in his role of scholarly commentator. Thus, neither discourse manages to provide a stable and reliable picture of pre-Union Ireland.

In John McGahern’s 1985 short story “Oldfashioned”, he ably demonstrates why a sensitive, bookish, Catholic young man raised in the repressive, anti-intellectual Irish Free State might be attracted to the way of life being led by the country’s dwindling Church of Ireland population. Throughout “Oldfashioned”, McGahern suggests that Catholics in the young state are, in the main, overly fixated on money-making, gossip, and a prosaic practicality, and that they are suspicious of anything that smacks of foreign influence. By contrast, he implies that those from Anglo-Irish Protestant backgrounds are often more open to learning and aesthetic beauty, and take a much wider view of the world. McGahern also contends in the story, however, that Catholics cannot cross over to an Anglo-Irish cultural milieu without gravely compromising their ties to their own people. As the story demonstrates, the gulf that exists between the two communities is caused primarily by the fact that Anglo-Irish Protestants are frequently open to the cultural and economic ties that Ireland has to Britain, whereas most Irish Catholics are wilfully blind to the significant influence that the neighbouring island has on their lives. By examining frequently-ignored “British” aspects of Irish life and by paying homage to the Anglo-Irish literary tradition throughout the story, McGahern reveals that his perspective on Anglo-Irish Protestants is quite unlike that of other Irish Catholic short story writers publishing during his lifetime (such as Frank O’Connor and Mary Lavin); indeed, McGahern’s “Oldfashioned” can be more easily compared to stories by writers from Church of Ireland backgrounds (such as Elizabeth Bowen and William Trevor) in which they reflect on the long, slow decline of their own community. Also, McGahern’s openness to the British aspects of Ireland’s past and present – as demonstrated by this story and by his writings more generally – indicate that his view of Irish history is influenced by Irish historical revisionism; McGahern differs from many revisionists, however, in that he does not attempt to downplay the trauma and injustice endured by many Irish people under English (later, British) rule.

Сенчук І.А. Міфопоетика Вільяма Б. Єйтса. – Автореферат дисертації на здобуття наукового ступеня кандидата філологічних наук за спеціальністю 10.01.04 – література зарубіжних країн. – Чорноморський державний університет ім. Петра Могили. – Миколаїв, 2012.
Дисертація є першим у вітчизняному літературознавстві системним дослідженням творчості ірландського англомовного письменника, лауреата Нобелівської премії 1923 р. Вільяма Б. Єйтса (1865–1939) з перспективи художньої реконструкції і втілення міфологічних мотивів та образів у його поетиці. На основі міфокритичної методології, що ґрунтується на концепціях К.Ґ. Юнґа, Дж. Кемпбела, М. Еліаде, Н. Фрая, Дж. Фрейзера та ін., в роботі вивчено закономірності введення та функціонування архаїко-міфологічних елементів на рівні сюжетно-структурної організації, оповідної моделі та образної системи його творів. Розглянуто механізми впливу міфо-фольклорної традиції на формування тематики, системи стійких символів та мотивів у художній творчості митця, досліджено його есеїстику і трактат «Візія». Комплексний підхід до вивчення доробку Єйтса доводить, що на всіх етапах творчої еволюції він звертається до міфу як універсальної системи символів, засобу розбудови художнього світу та вияву глибинної природи людської психології. Використання універсальних міфологічних елементів з метою входження у вимір сакрального часу для виявлення онтологічних законів людського буття, структурування тексту за допомогою бінарних опозицій, циклічний принцип організації сюжету та реалізована через ідею театру масок концепція безособовості слугують основними принципами міфомоделювання для ірландського митця.
Ключові слова: міф, міфопоетика, міфологема, архетип, міфотворчість, антиномії, національна ідентичність, постколоніальний дискурс, В.Б. Єйтс.

Сенчук И.А. Мифопоэтика Уильяма Б. Йейтса. – Рукопись.
Диссертация на соискание ученой степени кандидата филологических наук по специальности 10.01.04 – литература зарубежных стран. – Черноморский государственный университет им. Петра Могилы. – Николаев, 2012.
Диссертация является первым в отечественном литературоведении системным исследованием творчества ирландского англоязычного писателя, лауреата Нобелевской премии 1923 г. У.Б. Йейтса (1865–1939) с точки зрения художественной реконструкции и реализации мифологических мотивов и образов в его поэтике. Основываясь на мифокритической методологии, которая базируется на концепциях К.Г. Юнга, Дж. Кемпбела, Н. Фрая, Дж. Фрейзера, М. Элиаде и др., в работе изучены закономерности введения и функционирования архаико-мифологических элементов на уровне сюжетно-структурной организации, повествовательной модели и образной системы его произведений. Рассмотрены механизмы влияния мифо-фольклорной традиции на формирование тематики, системы символов и мотивов в художественном творчестве писателя, исследованы его эссеистика и трактат «Видение». Комплексный подход к изучению наследия Йейтса доказывает, что на всех этапах творческой эволюции он обращается к мифу как универсальной системе символов, средству расширения художественного мира и выявления глубинной сути человеческой психологии. Использование универсальных мифологических элементов с целью вхождения в измерение сакрального времени для выявления онтологических законов человеческого бытия, структурирование текста с помощью бинарных оппозиций, циклический принцип организации сюжета, а также реализованная через идею театра масок концепция безличности служат главными принципами мифомоделирования для ирландского писателя.
Ключевые слова: миф, мифопоэтика, мифологема, архетип, мифотворчество, антиномии, национальная идентичность, постколониальный дискурс, У.Б. Йейтс.

Senchuk I.A. Mythopoetics of William B. Yeats. – Manuscript.
Thesis for a scholarly Candidate Degree in Philology: specialty 10.01.04 – Literature of Foreign Countries. – Petro Mohyla Black Sea State University. – Mykolayiv, 2012.
The thesis is the first in Ukrainian literary studies systematic research of William B. Yeats’s works. It emphasizes a versatile nature of mythopoetic structure of the author’s writings, tracing the ways of artistic reconstruction and adaptation of mythological elements in Yeats’s poetics. Employing the mythological methodologies of textual analysis, based on theoretical conceptions of C.G. Jung, J. Campbell, M. Eliade, N. Frye, J. Frazer etc., the thesis investigates the mechanisms of introducing the archaic mythological elements into the text and the peculiarities of their functioning on the level of plot-structural organisation, narrative model and personage system of Yeats’s works, which enables to reveal their archetypical nature.
Comprehensive approach to the study of writer’s oeuvre, including the analysis of his poetry, drama and prose of different periods, allows to draw the conclusion that at all stages of his creative evolution the Irish artist employs myth as a universal system of symbols, as a means of creating the fictional world, and a way of revealing the deep nature of human psychology. Analysed writings of Yeats are regarded as myth-making texts: their imagery system comprises symbols and archetypes belonging to mythological, literary or philosophical discourses. The research proves that gradually there changes the nature of mythologism and the ways of reconstructing mythological images and motifs: while at early stage (1890–1900 ies) the mythological material usually serves as a means of Irish reality modelling and as a catalyst of historical memory, the later works (1920–1930 ies) reveal a deeper understanding of myth as a reflection of the collective unconscious and the universal model of being. Myth-making, symbolism and psychologism become the integral categories of artist’s modelling of the fictional world.
The analysis of the architectonics of W.B. Yeats’s plays within the framework of the poetics of myth gives grounds for stating that folklore-mythological structures function as psychological patterns, formal means of dramatic action, conceptual and symbolic schemes. Besides, it reveals the main vector of playwright’s artistic quest: from early symbolic drama («The Countess Cathleen», «The Land of Heart’s Desire», «Deirdre») to heroic mythopoeic drama, employing mask, dance and music and, thus, synthesizing the traditions of the Eastern and Western theatres («At the Hawk’s Well», «The Death of Cuchulain»). The mythopoetic reading of Yeats’s writings enables to reconstruct a set of mythic plots, images and motifs, borrowed from Irish, Biblical, Antic and Eastern mythologies, which serve as a source of his symbols and as structural-meaning components of his works.
As the result of study of myth functioning in Yeats’s works there can be made apparent certain «mythopoeic constants» fulfilling plot-constructing, narrative, structural and stylistic functions: these are certain motifs (the death-resurrection motif, the cyclic motif, the motif of transformation, the motif of initiation), archetypical images (the Hero, the Shadow, the Beloved), and geometrical symbols (circle, gyres, spiral). Synthesizing different mythological systems, cultural traditions and ritual practices, Yeats’s mythological texts create the author’s myth about the world, which is subordinated to the general cyclic development of nature – the phases of the Moon («Vision»). Thus, he appeals to the depth of mythologized consciousness, archetypical constants. Yeats’s works are oriented on the poetics of myth: they are characterized by mythic plot and topos, by symbolism, by the poetics of mythologems, by cyclicity, by leitmotifs, by depiction of reality as mythologized into an emblem of time and its heroes – as the markers of the epoch (the historical time is replaced by the mythical one).
Notwithstanding the cultural openness of Yeats’s work, the theme of Ireland and the wish to join the Irish mythological tradition prevailed in the writer’s oeuvre: the fictional space of the author’s writings, his early ones in particular, is constructed with regard to the Irish mythological or modern pattern, thus it possesses national character. Besides, Yeats strives to model in his poems and dramas the heroic conception of national history, based on Irish mythology and folklore. That very aspect of his work, as well as the reactualisation of Celtic heroes’ images and conscious introduction of Celtic allusions contributed to the activation of «historical memory» and the conceptualisation of Irish identity. All these facts make it possible to read Yeats as a poet of decolonisation due to whom the Irish culture stopped being a part of marginal discourse, and to use as the methodology of text interpretation the paradigms of mythological and postcolonial analysis.
Key words: myth, mythopoetics, mythologem, archetype, myth-making, antinomies, national identity, postcolonial discourse, W.B. Yeats.

У статті досліджено особливості функціонування та еволюцію образу Кухуліна в драматургії Вільяма Б. Єйтса. Доведено, що у центрі трьох обраних для аналізу п’єс – «Коло яструбиного джерела» (1916), «На Бейловім березі» (1904), «Смерть Кухуліна» (1939) – життя героя постає в його трагічних кульмінаціях, відповідаючи парадигмі «квесту», і вибудовується за правилами тріади: теза – антитеза – синтез.
Ключові слова: кельтський міф, Кухулін, теза, антитеза, синтез, героїчний міф, квест, бінарні семантичні опозиції, В.Б. Єйтс.
The article researches the peculiarities of functioning and evolution of Cuchulain image in William B. Yeats’s dramaturgy. It proves that in three plays under analysis – «At the Hawk’s Well» (1916), «On Baile’s Strand» (1904), and «The Death of Cuchulain» (1939) – the hero appears in the most tragic moments of his life which corresponds to the quest paradigm and is arranged according to the rules of the triad: thesis – antithesis – synthesis.
Key words: Celtic myth, Cuchulain, thesis, antithesis, synthesis, heroic myth, quest, binary semantic oppositions, W.B. Yeats.
В статье исследованы особенности функционирования и эволюция образа Кухулина в драматургии Уильяма Б. Йейтса. Доказано, что в центре трёх выбранных для анализа пьес – «У ястребиного источника» (1916), «На берегу Бейле» (1904), «Смерть Кухулина» (1939) – жизнь героя отображена в её кульминациях, отвечая парадигме «квеста», и строится за правилами триады: тезис – антитезис – синтез.
Ключевые слова: кельтский миф, Кухулин, тезис, антитезис, синтез, героический миф, квест, бинарные семантические оппозиции, У.Б. Йейтс.

Целью этой статьи является прочтение как части постколониального художественного дискурса наследия ирландского англоязычного писателя Уильяма Б. Йейтса (1865-1939), жизнь и творчество которого невозможно отделить от культурной и исторической матрицы – процесса культурной деколонизации Ирландии и формирования ирландской идентичности на рубеже ХIХ-ХХ веков. Кроме того, задача статьи состоит в выделении мотивов этнонационального бытия в его поэтических текстах различных периодов с целью выявления в них структуры противостояния английскому колониализму и создания ирландской идентичности как составной части дискурса национального самосознания, несмотря на то, что написаны они на английском, то есть имперском языке.

The article focuses on the research of the narrative structure and the exposure of thanatological motifs as the compositional and narrative principle in William B. Yeats’s play «Deirdre». It aims to prove that literary motifs as the bearers of certain meanings and images may determine the composition of the literary work and influence its narrative. Being the means of realization of the author’s aesthetic ideas, the peculiarities of narrative structure in Yeats’s play are of interest in this article.
Key words: thanatological motif, narrative structure, plot, character, myth, W.B. Yeats.

Стаття присвячена дослідженню оповідної системи та виявів танатологічних мотивів як композиційно-оповідного принципу побудови наративу у драмі «Дейрдре» ірландського англомовного письменника Вільяма Б. Єйтса. Маємо на меті довести, що літературні мотиви як структурно-змістові одиниці та носії певних значень й образів можуть виконувати функції сюжетних ходів, визначаючи композицію твору та обумовлюючи у ньому наратив. Специфіка побудови оповіді у драмі Єйтса стає предметом особливого інтересу як засіб реалізації ідейно-естетичних задумів автора.
Ключові слова: танатологічний мотив, наративна структура, сюжет, персонаж, міф, В.Б. Єйтс.

У статті досліджено особливості функціонування євангельської легенди про божественну й людську сутність Ісуса Христа і його смерть на хресті заради людства як оповідної та понятійної структури драми Вільяма Б. Єйтса «Голгофа». Простежено часткову десемантизацію й інверсію новозавітного сюжету, зокрема традиційного християнського канону щодо образів Лазаря та Юди, а також доведено, що автор надає епізодам Нового Завіту позаісторичного й психологічного смислу.
Ключові слова: християнський міф, Ісус Христос, десемантизація новозавітного сюжету, В.Б. Єйтс.
The article researches the peculiarities of functioning of the Gospel legend about the divine and human nature of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for mankind as a narrative and conceptual structure for William B. Yeats’s play «Calvary». It traces a partial desemantisation and inversion of the New Testament’s plot, in particular the traditional Christian canon concerning the images of Lazarus and Judas. It also proves that the author gives eternal and psychological meaning to the episodes from the New Testament.
Key words: Christian myth, Jesus Christ, desemantisation of New Testament’s plot, William B. Yeats.

У статті досліджено фігури зіставлення опозиційних понять та образів як характерну рису поетики Вільяма Б. Єйтса (1865–1939). Здійснений аналіз віршів зі збірки «Вежа» (1928) доводить, що в творчості Єйтса бінарним опозиціям належить центральне місце поряд з іншими засобами творення образності. Особливу роль відіграють антиномії, в основі яких протиставлення таких понять, як життя і смерть, гармонія і хаос, прекрасне і жахливе, вічне і тимчасове. Фундаментальне значення мають антиномії, що на рівні історико-літературного контексту реалізуються як опозиції митця й оточуючої дійсності, мистецтва й природи, традиції й сучасного письменства, а на рівні соціо-культурного дискурсу – як опозиції Ірландії й Англії.
Ключові слова: антиномії, бінарні опозиції, амбівалентність, дуальність, В.Б. Єйтс.

В статье исследованы фигуры сопоставления оппозиционных понятий и образов как характерную черту поэтики Уильяма Б. Йейтса (1865–1939). Проведенный анализ стихотворений из сборника «Башня» (1928) доказывает, что в творчестве Йейтса бинарным оппозициям принадлежит центральное место наряду с другими средствами конструирования образности. Особое место занимают антиномии, в основе которых противопоставление таких понятий, как жизнь и смерть, гармония и хаос, прекрасное и ужасное, вечное и быстротечное. Фундаментальное значение имеют антиномии, которые на уровне историко-литературного контекста реализуются как оппозиция художника и окружающей действительности, искусства и природы, традиции и современной литературы, а на уровне социо-культурного дискурса – как оппозиция Ирландии и Англии.
Ключевые слова: антиномии, бинарные оппозиции, амбивалентность, дуальность, У.Б. Йейтс.

The article studies the figures of juxtaposition of opposing concepts and images as a characteristic feature of the poetics of William B. Yeats (1865–1939). The analysis of the poems from his collection «The Tower» (1928) proves that, alongside other means of imagery creating, binary oppositions play the main role in Yeats’s oeuvre. Of primary importance are the antinomies which are based on such contrasting concepts as life and death, harmony and chaos, beauty and deformity, eternity and temporality.  Of great significance are antinomies which on the level of historical and literary context are realized as the oppositions of the artist and the reality, the art and the nature, the tradition and the modern writing, while on the level of socio-cultural discourse – as the oppositions of Ireland and England.
Key words: antinomies, binary oppositions, ambivalence, duality, W.B. Yeats.

Ірина Сенчук
Літературні образи В.Б. Єйтса як національні ідентифікаційні знаки
Стаття присвячена проблемі формування національної літературної ідентичності і має на меті довести тезу про те, що художні тексти – зокрема поезії й драми – В.Б. Єйтса вплинули на творення ірландської ідентичності в соціологічному та філософському розумінні цієї категорії. Беручи за основу ірландську національну традицію, Єйтс представляє героїв кельтської міфології як національні ідентифікаційні знаки, що постають в його творчості символічним втіленням ірландських форм думки і рис характеру.
Ключові слова: національна ідентичність, міф, міфологія, міфопоетичний простір, символ, В.Б. Єйтс.

Ирина Сенчук
Литературные образы У.Б. Йейтса как национальные идентификационные знаки
Статья посвящена проблеме формирования национальной литературной идентичности и ставит своей целью доказать тезис о том, что художественные тексты – в частности, поэзии и драмы – У.Б. Йейтса оказали влияние на определение ирландской идентичности в социологическом и философском понимании этой категории. Используя ирландскую национальную традицию, Йейтс представляет героев кельтской мифологии как национальные идентификационные знаки, которые в его творчестве становятся символическим воплощением ирландских форм мысли и черт характера.
Ключевые слова: национальная идентичность, миф, мифология, мифопоэтическое пространство, символ, У.Б. Йейтс.

Iryna Senchuk
William B. Yeats’ Literary Images as Nation Identity Markers
The article focuses on the problem of national literary identity’s construction and aims to prove the statement that William B. Yeats’ literary texts – in particular his poetry and dramas – influenced the shaping of Irish identity in a way that sociology and philosophy treat this notion. Turning to Irish national tradition as the basis of his own works, Yeats represented the heroes of Celtic mythology as nation identity markers which have become the symbolic embodiment of Irish thought and character in his poems and dramas.
Key words: national identity, myth, mythology, mythopoetic space, symbol, W.B. Yeats.

This paper proposes that at a time when Northern Ireland increasingly descended into civil strife and crisis, Seamus Heaney looked to landscape, and to a lesser but comparable, extent traditional music, to articulate a distinctive voice, beyond the claims of tradition and community, ‘to use the first person singular’ as he has remarked, ‘to mean me and my lifetime’.  Indeed, Heaney has faced a crisis of identity that has preoccupied Irish poets since at least the time of Yeats, a crisis brought on by the discontinuity in the Irish literary tradition, by an unresolved postcolonial condition and a struggle between the pull of community and tradition and that of the individual artiste. Heaney’s work has been challenged by the tensions that underlie relations between each of these elements and a quest for motifs, including that provided by traditional music, adequate to his own predicament. In this context, while traditional music and song would appear to have provided Heaney with what he interpreted as an appropriate metaphor for artistic inspiration, his portrayal often avoided the political and social complexities associated with this music. Poems considered in this analysis include 'The Given Note', 'The Tollund Man', 'Broagh', 'Digging', 'The First Flight', 'Belderg', 'The Singer’s House', 'In Memoriam Sean Ó Riada', and 'Song',  and the album The Poet and the Piper, a collaboration between Heaney and the acclaimed traditional musician, uilleann piper Liam O'Flynn.

Sia la formazione di Tommaso Landolfi che la sua attività di traduttore dal russo, dal francese e dal tedesco hanno stimolato degli studi comparati all'interno di queste tre aree linguistiche. Meno studiato è invece il ruolo che la letteratura anglo-irlandese ha avuto nell'evoluzione artistica dello scrittore di Pico. Attraverso l’accostamento di due testi landolfiani, Favola (1938) e Il principe infelice (1943), ad alcuni racconti brevi di Oscar Wilde pubblicati nelle raccolte The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888) e A House of Pomegranates (1891), l’articolo mette in luce il rapporto che la scrittura di Landolfi intrattiene con la poetica dell’autore dublinese.  /  Both Tommaso Landolfi’s education and his translations from Russian, French and German have inspired a number of comparative studies within these three linguistic areas. On the contrary, how Anglo-Irish literature influenced this writer’s artistic evolution has not yet been thoroughly explored. This article aims to explore the relationship between Landolfi and Oscar Wilde by comparing Landolfi’s Favola (1938) and Il principe infelice (1943) with a selection of Wilde’s short stories included in the collections The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888) and A House of Pomegranates (1891).

Music and song are both important influences on, and themes in, the poetry of Thomas Kinsella. His poetry also features several individuals associated with music, none more frequently than his close friend, the composer Seán Ó Riada, a central figure in the revival in popularity of Irish traditional music since the 1950s. This paper charts some significant developments in Kinsella's work from the late 1950s, and indeed, intriguing parallels, and shared emphases, apparent in the comments and work of both Kinsella and Ó Riada. For Kinsella, his experience of traditional song - described in his poem 'The Shoals Returning' - preceded the incorporation of Gaelic literature into his poetry while his recurring emphasis on the audience's role in the act of communication echoes his own identification of a central characteristic of the performance of traditional song, or sean-nós, in Irish.