''Mired in Attachment": Cultural Politics and the Poeï7xy of Seamus Heaney and Thomas Kinsella Robert Joseph Brazeau A
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
''MIRED IN ATTACHMENT": CULTURAL POLITICS AND THE POEï7XY OF SEAMUS HEANEY AND THOMAS KINSELLA BY ROBERT JOSEPH BRAZEAU A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial FulEilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor Of Philosophy McMaster University O Copyright by Robert Joseph Brazeau, June 1999 National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 WeUington Street 395. rue Wellington OttawaON KIAON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, Ioan, distribute or seli reproduire, prêter, disûibuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la foxme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être Mpruiiés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Cultural Politics and the Poetry of Heaney and Kinsella DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (1 999) McMaster University (English) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: "Mired in Attachent": Cultural Politics and the Poetry of Seamus Heaney and Thomas Kinsella AUTHOR: Robert Joseph Brazeau, B.A. (University of Waterloo) M. A. (University of Waterloo) SUPERVISOR: Professor Brian John NUMBER OF PAGES: vi, 296 ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the connection between Seamus Heaney' s and Thomas Kinsella' s poetry and the dominant themes of contemporary Irish cultural production and criticism. 1 begin rny study by contextualizing Heaney and Kinsella within the framework of contemporary Irish literary criticism. The discipline is marked by its explicitly political orientation, and in his critical work, The Dual Tradition, Kinsella contributes to the partisan rhetoric that has made Irish studies so inflammatory. In the first chapter, *An Equivocal Response: The Explicitly Political Poetry of Thomas Kinsella and Seamus Heaney," 1 consider the overtly ideological poetry of both writers within the larger context of contemporary Irish post- colonial criticism, In the next section of rny study, "Receding From The Public: Markers of Identity in the Poetry of Seamus Heaney and Thomas Kinsella," 1 argue that both poets respond to the public dernands placed on poetry in Ireland by redressing the narrowly-construed vision of sectarian identity with a more complex and accommodating subjectivity. Both poets turn toward fundamental concerns like a consciousness of place, the linguistic colonization of Ireland, and the vicissitudes of the Irish literary iii tradition in order to distance theniselves from the oppressive dernands of contemporary Irish politics. In the final chapter 1 look at how both poets respond to what they perceive to be a discontinuous Irish literary tradition by intervening actively in that tradition. Specifically, I consider how their employment of bardic poetic modes and traditional themes suggests that both poets feel that this tradition represents a usable past for the modern writer. As well, both poets have translated numerous works from the Irish in order to demonstrate the value of this rich tradition to a contemporary, non-Irish speaking, readership. Finally, in lieu of a formal conclusion, I situate Heaney and Kinsella within the larger context of contemporary Irish poets like Derek Mahon, Paul Muldoon, Medbh McGuckian, John Montague, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, and Eavan Boland. In the work of this group of Northern Irish and Republic of Ireland poets, 1 perceive, in different ways, a sirnilar desire to move contemporary Irish poetry and culture beyond the debilitating politics of sectarian identification. Here I consider a number of political, public, and cultural concerns that have corne to the fore in contemporary Irish writing. This dissertation would not have come to fruition without the help of a number of people. 1 wish to thank Dr, Brian John, my supervisor, for his tireless assistance and encouragement during the writing of this work. He has offered countless criticisms and insights, and 1 have relied heavily on both his published critical works and persona1 communications in the forming of many of rny own ideas on the poetry and prose writings of Kinsella, Heaney, John Montague, and Derek Mahon. As well, 1 ani indebted to him for the support he extended to me even before 1 began to work with hirn formally on this dissertation, and it is my good fortune that this support has been unflagging since the very beginning of my doctoral studies at McMaster. 1 sincerely look forward to the benefits of his continued involvement in my professional life, By virtue of this project, 1 have also been fortunate to come to know Dr, John Ferns better. Dr. Ferns has been a diligent and careful critic of my writing, and has offered me much generous support over the last two years. In addition, 1 owe a great debt of thanks to Dr. Jeffery Donaldson for his careful assessments of my work, and for writing numerous letters on my behalf. Finally, 1 would also like to thank my partner, Teresa Zackodnik, for her generosity and understanding during this hectic tirne in both of Our lives, ABBREVIATIONS (complete bibliographical information is provided in the Works Cited) CP Collected Poems by Thomas Kinsella DD Door into the Dark by Seamus Heaney DN Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney The Dual Tradition: An Essay on Poetry and Poli tics by Thomas Kinsella FD Fifteen Dead by Thomas Kinsella FDA The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, ed. Seamus Deane N North by Seamus Heaney P Preoccupations by Seamus Heaney Poems Poems 1956-73 by Thomas Kinsella PT Poems and Translations by Thomas Kinsella SA Sweeney Astray by Seamus Heaney SI Station Island by Seamus Heaney WO Wintering Out by Seamus Heaney TABLE OF CONmNTS INTRODUCTION The Changing Face of Irish Studies ............... CHAPTER 1 Ideology and the Politics of Criticism in Conternporary Irish Studies .................................... 18 CHAPTER 2 Receding From the Public: Markers of Identity in the Poetry of Seamus Heaney and Thomas Kinsella ...... 69 CHAPTER 3 Repossessing the Past: Mythology and Translation in the Work of Kinsella and Heaney ...................... 128 CONCLUS ION Challenging the Canon: Rejoinders to Critical Nationalism in Contemporary Poetry ............... Introduction The Changing Face Irish S tudies In "The Field of Cultural Production," Pierre Bourdieu examines the relationship between aesthetic practices and econornic and political power. At the centre of Bourdieurs argument is what he terms "principles of hierarchization" (401, which are conventions and codes that structure cultural production in any given society. According to Bourdieu, there are essentially two principles which govern the formation and orientation of any field of cultural production: the "autonomous principle," which reaches its apogee in the "art for art's sake" movement, and the "heteronomous principle," which asserts that works of art derive from social, material, and ideological forces beyond the aesthetic intention of the individual artist. These competing views of aesthetic production exist in a state of tension, which characterizes the political and aesthetic orientation of the field itself: The literary or artistic field is at al1 times the site of struggle between the two principles of hierarchization: the heteronomous principle, favourable to those who dominate the field economically and politically (e.g. 'bourgeois artr) and the autonomous principle (e.g. 'art for art's saker),which those of its advocates who are least endowed with specific capital tend to identify with degree [sic] of independence from the economy, seeing temporal failure as a sign of election and success as a sign of compromise. (40) While Bourdieu hirnself warns against accepting historically contingent facts for universal truths regarding artistic fields in general, there is a strong argument to be made that, with minor modification, many of Bourdieu' s assertions are applicable to contemporary Irish writing. In this specific artistic field, however, the conflict is not between bourgeois values and a politically disinterested aesthetic practice, but rather between a movernent 1 would cal1 critical nationalism and its various others. In this brief introduction, 1 will outline the central debate in current Irish literary and cultural criticism: this debate counterposes nationalist critics against the various critical models that would try to liberate aesthetics from such a strictly defined critical methodology. Critical nationalism, as 1 am using the term, refers to a propensity among critics to see nationalist political concerns as the determinative horizon of meaning in literary works. This position is perhaps'most clearly represented by critics like Searnus Deane and Declan Kiberd (and the Field Day group, with which they are associated) . While 1 discuss various aspects of Deanefs critical position in chapters one and two, it is worth noting here that he is clearly the central force behind the contemporary orientation of Irish literary studies around questions of political nationalism.