Defining the layers : Seamus Heaney's metaphor of layers of colonisation in Ireland : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Literature at Massey University, New Zealand

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Date
2019
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Massey University
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Abstract
Seamus Heaney is arguably Ireland’s most notable poet. Receiving the Nobel prize for Literature in 1995, Heaney is recognised as one of Ireland’s most prominent writers. In particular, Heaney’s poems in the context of the Troubles have provided insight into why these events have occurred. He is, alongside Michael Longley, one of the foremost poets of the Troubles, and used his writing to try and understand the events of the time. Heaney grew up in Derry, Northern Ireland, and personally experienced the Troubles, however, the majority of his poetry which he wrote in context of this era, was written after he had moved to the Republic of Ireland. It is within the context of the Bog that Heaney searches for answers to the effects of colonisation on the Irish. Heaney explores the loss of culture as a result of colonisation by the British, but he also looks at how the Irish culture has evolved over the past two millennia. Within the poetry that he wrote during the Troubles, Heaney explores the concept of the Vikings’ culture of violence and retribution, suggesting that it lives on in the psyche of present-day Irish. In addition, his poems contemplate the hybridity of contemporary Irish culture, showing how the Irish, regardless of religion are one and the same, making the atrocities between sectarian groups pointless. Although Heaney was a Catholic Irish Nationalist, his vision for Ireland was one of an inclusive Ireland where all Irish were the same regardless of their religion. His exploration of religion and its creation of division of communities in Ireland is a major theme in his poems, and one which he links back to many of the ills of Irish history.
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Heaney, Seamus,, 1939-2013, Criticism and interpretation, Ireland, In literature, Colonization in literature, National characteristics, Irish, in literature
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