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Migrating myths: From Greece to Nicaragua, Mexico and Ireland

Shaughnessy, Lorna
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http://hdl.handle.net/10379/7246
 https://doi.org/10.13025/20221
Publication Date
2018
Keywords
Migrating myths, Greece, Nicaragua, Mexico, Ireland, Irish Latin American Studies
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Article
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Citation
Shaughnessy, Lorna. (2018). Migrating Myths: From Greece to Nicaragua, Mexico and Ireland. Irish Migration Studies in Latin America, 9(1).
Abstract
Michèle Najlis is a Nicaraguan poet associated with the Sandinista Revolution; her 1991 collection of poems Cantos de Ifigenia (Songs of Iphigenia) has had a deep and lasting impact on my academic and creative work. This article analyses the political context in which Najlis’ poems were written, and examines how she deploys the mythical narrative of Iphigenia’s sacrifice to communicate the mood of disillusionment and despair that followed the defeat of the Sandinistas in the 1990 elections, particularly for women activists. It explores the ways in which this mythical narrative has served as a vehicle to explore themes such as war and betrayal, comparing Euripides’ plays, Iphigenia in Aulis and Iphigenia among the Taurians, Najlis’ Cantos de Ifigenia, and some of my own poetry and 2017 theatre piece, The Sacrificial Wind.
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Publisher
Society for Irish Latin America Studies (SILAS)
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland
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Spanish (Scholarly Articles)