e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies Volume 2 Cultural Survival Article 4 5-8-2006 Of Demolition and Reconstruction: a Comparative Reading of Manx Cultural Revivals Breesha Maddrell Centre for Manx Studies, University of Liverpool Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/ekeltoi Part of the Celtic Studies Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, Folklore Commons, History Commons, History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, Linguistics Commons, and the Theatre History Commons Recommended Citation Maddrell, Breesha (2006) "Of Demolition and Reconstruction: a Comparative Reading of Manx Cultural Revivals," e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies: Vol. 2 , Article 4. Available at: https://dc.uwm.edu/ekeltoi/vol2/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact open-
[email protected]. Of Demolition and Reconstruction: a Comparative Reading of Manx Cultural Revivals Breesha Maddrell, Centre for Manx Studies, University of Liverpool Abstract This paper accesses Manx cultural survival by examining the work of one of the most controversial of Manx cultural figures, Mona Douglas, alongside one of the most well loved, T.E. Brown. It uses the literature in the Isle of Man over the period 1880-1980 as a means of identifying attitudes toward two successive waves of cultural survival and revival. Through a reading of Brown's Prologue to the first series of Fo'c's'le Yarns, 'Spes Altera', "another hope", 1896, and Douglas' 'The Tholtan' – which formed part of her last collection of poetry, Island Magic, published in 1956 – the differing nationalist and revivalist roles of the two authors are revealed.