Who has the Last Word? The Dead and their Lively Humour in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Cré na Cille
All the characters in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s novel are dead people, but they continue to speak as if they were still alive, and have not realized they are actually dead. Another paradox may be that although all of them are dead, none is really interested in death or its metaphysics. They go on with the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Bucharest University Press
2023-10-01
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| Series: | University of Bucharest Review. Literary and Cultural Studies Series |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ubr.rev.unibuc.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/UBR2_Doncu.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797419047997931520 |
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| author | Roxana Doncu |
| author_facet | Roxana Doncu |
| author_sort | Roxana Doncu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | All the characters in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s novel are dead people, but they continue to speak as if they were still alive, and have not realized they are actually dead. Another paradox may be that although all of them are dead, none is really interested in death or its metaphysics. They go on with their earthly interests and spites, abusing and offending one another, spilling out secrets and shouting out loud. Speaking is the only thing they can still do while dead, and they take advantage of it: it is often quite difficult for the reader to understand whose voice it is in the general uproar. Gradually, voices become identifiable and attributable to characters: the reader learns to recognize them by the bad language they use, by certain quirks or by the expression of individual snobbery, pretence and hatred. By taking dead people as his characters, and faithfully recording their imagined speeches, Ó Cadhain re-imagines and refashions satire as a specific Irish genre. The speaking dead stand for the Gaelic rural communities whose language the political activist Ó Cadhain’s taught and promoted as the real repository of the idea of an Irish independent nation. The particular dialogic form of the novel, though seemingly experimental and difficult to comprehend, represents Ó Cadhain’s effort to establish democracy (lacking in the real post-independence Irish state), through the multiplicity of voice polyphony implies, at least at literary level. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:42:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-03effb1b64c0467ab99a66de73e906d6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2069-8658 2734-5963 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:42:59Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Bucharest University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | University of Bucharest Review. Literary and Cultural Studies Series |
| spelling | doaj.art-03effb1b64c0467ab99a66de73e906d62023-12-03T10:44:41ZengBucharest University PressUniversity of Bucharest Review. Literary and Cultural Studies Series2069-86582734-59632023-10-011321526Who has the Last Word? The Dead and their Lively Humour in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Cré na CilleRoxana Doncu0Westfälische Wilhelms University of Münster, GermanyAll the characters in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s novel are dead people, but they continue to speak as if they were still alive, and have not realized they are actually dead. Another paradox may be that although all of them are dead, none is really interested in death or its metaphysics. They go on with their earthly interests and spites, abusing and offending one another, spilling out secrets and shouting out loud. Speaking is the only thing they can still do while dead, and they take advantage of it: it is often quite difficult for the reader to understand whose voice it is in the general uproar. Gradually, voices become identifiable and attributable to characters: the reader learns to recognize them by the bad language they use, by certain quirks or by the expression of individual snobbery, pretence and hatred. By taking dead people as his characters, and faithfully recording their imagined speeches, Ó Cadhain re-imagines and refashions satire as a specific Irish genre. The speaking dead stand for the Gaelic rural communities whose language the political activist Ó Cadhain’s taught and promoted as the real repository of the idea of an Irish independent nation. The particular dialogic form of the novel, though seemingly experimental and difficult to comprehend, represents Ó Cadhain’s effort to establish democracy (lacking in the real post-independence Irish state), through the multiplicity of voice polyphony implies, at least at literary level. https://ubr.rev.unibuc.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/UBR2_Doncu.pdfirish literaturegaelic revivaldialoguepolyphonysatirerealism |
| spellingShingle | Roxana Doncu Who has the Last Word? The Dead and their Lively Humour in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Cré na Cille University of Bucharest Review. Literary and Cultural Studies Series irish literature gaelic revival dialogue polyphony satire realism |
| title | Who has the Last Word? The Dead and their Lively Humour in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Cré na Cille |
| title_full | Who has the Last Word? The Dead and their Lively Humour in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Cré na Cille |
| title_fullStr | Who has the Last Word? The Dead and their Lively Humour in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Cré na Cille |
| title_full_unstemmed | Who has the Last Word? The Dead and their Lively Humour in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Cré na Cille |
| title_short | Who has the Last Word? The Dead and their Lively Humour in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Cré na Cille |
| title_sort | who has the last word the dead and their lively humour in mairtin o cadhain s cre na cille |
| topic | irish literature gaelic revival dialogue polyphony satire realism |
| url | https://ubr.rev.unibuc.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/UBR2_Doncu.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT roxanadoncu whohasthelastwordthedeadandtheirlivelyhumourinmairtinocadhainscrenacille |