A Voice from Beyond. The Story of the Deirdre Story

Auteurs

  • Giovanna Tallone

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.37389/abei.v13i0.3624

Mots-clés :

Deirdre, Standish O’Grady, Lady Gregory, James Stephens

Résumé

The multiple life of the story of Deirdre and the Sons of Uisneach in the Literary Revival has its roots in the multiple life of its sources. Though
mainly connected to the wide range of drama renditions in the background of the Irish Dramatic Movement, the Deirdre story is first of all a narrative concerning language. The Old Irish Version, Longes mac N-Uisleann (The Exile of the Sons of Uisneach) opens with a speech act below the level of articulation, unborn Deirdre’s cry from her mother’s womb. The prophecy of destruction that follows is thus a prescribed text. In medieval versions and folklore renditions, including the Middle Irish text, Oidhe Chloinne Uisneach (The Violent Death of the Children of Uisneach) the detail disappears or it is developed otherwise. However, in its various versions and remakes, words and language are relevant,
as taboos, oaths and mutually exclusive words represent a structuring principle. The purpose of this essay is to examine the sources of the Deirdre story and its prose remakes in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, with particular reference to Standish O’Grady, Lady Gregory and James Stephens, shedding light on the way the power of language that characterises the old legend is developed in different cultural contexts.

Biographie de l'auteur

  • Giovanna Tallone
    Giovanna TALLONE, a graduate in Modern Languages from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, holds a PhD in English Studies from the University of Florence, and is currently cooperating with the Department of English at Università Cattolica, Milan. She has presented papers at several IASIL conferences and published articles and critical reviews on Brian Friel, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, Mary Lavin, Lady Augusta Gregory, Clare Boylan, James Stephens and Seamus Heaney. Her main research interests include contemporary Irish drama, Irish women writers, and the remakes of Old Irish legends.

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Publiée

2011-11-17

Numéro

Rubrique

Intertextualities

Comment citer

Tallone, G. (2011). A Voice from Beyond. The Story of the Deirdre Story. ABEI Journal, 13, 35-44. https://doi.org/10.37389/abei.v13i0.3624