The Tyranny of the Past?
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The Tyranny of the Past? Revolution, Retrospection and Remembrance in the work of Irish writer, Eilis Dillon Volumes I & II Anne Marie Herron PhD in Humanities (English) 2011 St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra (DCU) Supervisors: Celia Keenan, Dr Mary Shine Thompson and Dr Julie Anne Stevens I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of PhD in Humanities (English) is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed: (\- . Anne Marie Herron ID No.: 58262954 Date: 4th October 2011 Thesis Abstract This thesis examines the extent to which Eilis Dillon's (1920-94) reliance on memory and her propensity to represent the past was, for her, a valuable motivating power and/or an inherited repressive influence in terms of her choices of genres, subject matter and style. Volume I of this dissertation consists of a comprehensive survey and critical analysis of Dillon's writing. It addresses the thesis question over six chapters, each of which relates to a specific aspect of the writer's background and work. In doing so, the study includes the full range of genres that Dillon employed - stories and novels in both Irish and English for children of various age-groups, teenage adventure stories, as well as crime fiction, literary and historical novels, short stories, poetry, autobiography and works of translation for an adult readership. The dissertation draws extensively on largely untapped archival material, including lecture notes, draft documents and critical reviews of Dillon's work. It also includes the comments of the author's family and friends recorded in personal interviews, which provide background details on Dillon, and form an assessment of her contribution to literature and the arts. The thesis, in contextualising Dillon's output, takes a biographical and historico-literary approach, while its critical framework is underpinned by the work of relevant theorists in the multidisciplinary areas of memory studies and commemoration. Although recognising the benefits, both individually and in a national context, of the use of literature in a mnemonic sense, this thesis contends that the overuse of memory proved to be a restrictive yet reassuring factor for Eilis Dillon over a long and prodigious career. In Volume II, Dillon's publications, editions and translations are presented in a searchable digital resource at the website http://research.dho.ie/dillon/. which was created as part of this study and is hosted by the Digital Humanities of Obervatory, http://dho.ie. The digital element of the thesis was undertaken as an integral component of the dissertation in part fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) initiated and supported by St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, a college of Dublin City University (DCU), and An Foras Feasa, National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM). Completed in collaboration with two fellow students, the process of digitisation is fully described, from its origins to its delivery online, in the accompanying written dissertation in Volume II. Ackn o wledgements It has been my good fortune to be surrounded by a wonderful group of people who helped me at various stages of this challenging PhD study. I am deeply indebted to An Foras Feasa, National University of Ireland Maynooth who in collaboration with St Patrick's College Drumcondra, DCU, provided me with a three-year fellowship in the innovative field of Digital Humanities. Dr Margaret Kelleher of An Foras Feasa and Dr Mary Shine Thompson, former Dean of Research and Humanities in St Patrick's College have shown a visionary approach to this area of study, which must be commended. I wish to thank the staff of The Digital Humanities Observatory of the Royal Irish Academy for their expertise in helping to bring this project to fruition. Particular thanks are due to Dr Shawn Day and his team for their innovative solutions to my digital challenges. My Foras Feasa SPD colleagues Gaye Ashford and Teresa O'Donnell deserve the warmest thanks for their invaluable work in our collaborative digital venture, as well as for their support and friendship. Special thanks must go to Dr Mary Shine Thompson, who, from the start, as my initial supervisor, recognised my potential to undertake a doctoral study, something I had only ever dreamed of attempting. I am eternally grateful to her for the opportunities she presented to me, for her support, encouragement and, most of all, her infectious enthusiasm and can-do attitude. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to my supervisor Celia Keenan, former Director of the MA in Children's Literature in St Patrick's College, for sharing her wealth of knowledge and experience in the area of children's literature, for her insightful comments and, most of all, for her endless patience in helping to bring this dissertation to completion. I wish to extend my sincere thanks also to Dr Julie Anne Stevens, current Director the MA programme in Children's Literature, who, despite her many other commitments, took on a supervisory role in the final months of my studies and offered invaluable assistance. In addition, I would like to show appreciation to Dr Noreen Doody and her colleagues in the English Department as well as to Dr Ciarán Mac Murchaidh, current Dean of Research and Humanities, for their guidance and advice in relation to my work. In the course of a long association with St Patrick's College at various stages in my life, initially as a teacher trainee, as a member of staff for a short time, as an MA student, and most recently as a PhD fellow, I have received wonderful support and friendship from members of staff in all departments as well as from my fellow students. I wish to acknowledge their graciousness, kindness and interest over the past few years in particular. I am also indebted to old friends who I have sorely neglected and new friends and colleagues I have met along the way, who have all accompanied me along the challenging road towards a PhD. And finally to family - a sincere thank you to the Kennys, all of whom have supported this venture and encouraged me along the way, and to Don Herron for his most welcome and helpful advice. To my son Brian, who has been affirming and patient in sharing his digital expertise with me on what has been a steep learning curve; To my daughter Amy for endless hours of editing, proof-reading, critiquing, and not least, cheerfully urging me on; and as always, to Aidan for.... everything! Vol I - Thesis Contents Page Abstract Acknowledgements Contents Thesis Introduction 1 Thesis Organisation 3 Thesis Framework 5 Contextual Framework 5 Biographical Context 5 Historical Context 7 Nationalism and Patriotism in Context 8 Literary Context 13 Social Context 18 Childhood in Context 20 Conceptual Framework 22 History and Memory 22 Reliability of History and Memory 26 Commemoration, Remembering and Forgetting 29 Literature as Commemoration 31 Methodological Approach 32 Primary Sources 3 2 Interview s 34 Secondary Sources 36 Conventions and Clarifications 3 6 Approaching this Dissertation 38 Chapter One: Family and Other Formative Influences 40 Introduction 40 Memory of Ancestry 41 The Plunkett Family 42 The Dillon Family 48 Very Early Memories 51 Family Background in Literature 54 Family Relationships 58 Nationalist Influence 64 Literary Influences 67 Influence of Contemporary Writers 69 Conclusion 72 Chapter Two: Memory of Landscape and Language 74 Introduction 74 Landscape Remembered 75 Language Remembered 82 Dillon's Background in the Irish Language 85 Dillon's Writing in the Irish Language 88 Irish Language and Identity 92 Postcolonial Pragmatism 97 Issues of Translation 101 Translating the Lament 104 Conclusion 111 Chapter Three: Memory of a Childhood, Memory of a People 113 Introduction 113 Remembered Reading/Recommended Reading 115 Children's Literature in Twentieth-Century Ireland 122 Becoming an Irish Children's Writer 124 'Teenage' Adventure Story 129 Search for Identity 134 The Island as Literary Setting 136 Remembering and Re-inventing the People of the West 139 History - A Message of Reconciliation 145 Historical Fiction for Children 152 Conclusion 155 Chapter Four: Remembered Settings in Adult Fiction 158 Introduction 158 Dillon and the Short Story 160 Adopting the Novel 165 Contemporary Crime Novels 168 The Tradition of Irish Crime Writing 169 A Question of Class 173 More Character Than Crime 176 Some Recurring Themes 178 Assessm ent of the Crime Novels 180 An Ephemeral Genre 181 Contemporary Literary Novels 183 The Head of the Family (1960) 184 Bold John Henebry (1965) 190 Conclusion: End of an Apprenticeship 196 Chapter Five:"The Bitter Glass” of Retrospection in Dillon's Historical Novels 198 Introduction 198 Historical Fiction 199 The Role of Literature in National Commemoration 201 Dillon and Commemoration 205 The Bitter Glass (1958) 207 Across the Bitter Sea (1973) 210 Ambitious Aims 212 Reliance on Family Memory 215 Aims Fulfilled 220 The Novel Reviewed 222 Blood Relations (1978) 224 W ild Geese (1981) 229 Citizen Burke (1984) 233 The Interloper (1987) 237 Conclusion 241 Chapter Six: Eilis Dillon Remembered 246 Introduction 246 Critical Forces 247 Literary Ambassador 250 Responsibility of the Writer 253 Contribution to the Arts 255 Contribution to Literature 258 Lost Legacy 262 Personal and Official Remembrance 266 Conclusion: A Final Appreciation 270