Publication

Of mermaids and changelings: human rights, folklore and contemporary irish language poetry

Ní Fhrighil, Rióna
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,
Identifiers
http://hdl.handle.net/10379/13121
 https://doi.org/10.13025/26594
Publication Date
2017-10-30
Keywords
irish-language poetry, mermaid, changeling, evil eye, empathy, universal human rights, acts of witnessing
Type
Article
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Citation
Ní Fhrighil, Rióna; , (2017). Of mermaids and changelings: human rights, folklore and contemporary irish language poetry. Estudios Irlandeses (12), 107-121
Abstract
This article investigates the intersection of human rights discourse, Irish folklore and contemporary Irish-language poetry. The author contends that contemporary Irish-language poets Louis de Paor and Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill exploit the multi-faceted nature of international folklore motifs, along with their local variants, to represent human rights violations in their poetry. Focusing specifically on the motif of the changeling in De Paor's poetry and on the motif of the mermaid in Ni Dhomhnaill's, the author traces how folklore material is reimagined in ways that eschew uncomplicated transnational solidarity but which engender empathetic settlement.
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Publisher
Estudios Irlandeses
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Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland
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Externally hosted open access publications with University of Galway authors (2)