셰이머스 딘의 『어둠 속 읽기』에 감춰진 문학의 정치 (Politics of Literature Hidden in Seamus Deane’s Reading in the Dark)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국제임스조이스학회
· 수록지 정보 : 제임스조이스저널 / 25권 / 1호 / 51 ~ 73페이지
· 저자명 : 안명덕

초록

On the surface, Reading in the Dark looks like a memoir or autobiography of an anonymous speaker narrating his family history through chasing the truth of his eldest uncle Eddie’s death. However, this style is a kind of a political fiction which hides the political intention of the writer, Seamus Deane; the style makes readers realize the fact that British colonialism is a fundamental cause of silence, tragedy, and death in an Irish Catholic community in Derry, Northern Ireland. First person narrator plays a role in causing that optical illusion for readers and critics to misunderstand this book as a non-political one. To avoid that kind of illusion, we should not only analyze this book itself, but also consider the role of the writer of this book, who gives clues which help us discover a hidden or veiled function of the book.
The hidden function of Reading in the Dark is a propaganda for Irish Catholics’ reality in Northern Ireland and justification of this ethnic group’s resistance against British colonialism like the IRA. Deane, a poet, a literary critic, and one of Irish Catholics from Northern Ireland, has been trying to build the identity of Ireland based on Irish nationalism. His main concern is the independence of Ireland from British colonialism and the reunification between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. To achieve this, he uses Irish literature to identify who the Irish are and what Irish literature is. In addition, it is a tool to give an Irish Catholic common group memory and strongly criticize revisionism as a cause of weakening Irish nationalism. The first person narrator in Reading in the Dark tries to make readers witness lots of tragic happenings caused by British colonialism among Irish Catholics through his narration, for they would probably empathize the Irish’s present through this planned meeting at least. Thus, Reading in the Dark is a work that hides a political function Deane wants to get from Irish literature.

영어초록

On the surface, Reading in the Dark looks like a memoir or autobiography of an anonymous speaker narrating his family history through chasing the truth of his eldest uncle Eddie’s death. However, this style is a kind of a political fiction which hides the political intention of the writer, Seamus Deane; the style makes readers realize the fact that British colonialism is a fundamental cause of silence, tragedy, and death in an Irish Catholic community in Derry, Northern Ireland. First person narrator plays a role in causing that optical illusion for readers and critics to misunderstand this book as a non-political one. To avoid that kind of illusion, we should not only analyze this book itself, but also consider the role of the writer of this book, who gives clues which help us discover a hidden or veiled function of the book.
The hidden function of Reading in the Dark is a propaganda for Irish Catholics’ reality in Northern Ireland and justification of this ethnic group’s resistance against British colonialism like the IRA. Deane, a poet, a literary critic, and one of Irish Catholics from Northern Ireland, has been trying to build the identity of Ireland based on Irish nationalism. His main concern is the independence of Ireland from British colonialism and the reunification between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. To achieve this, he uses Irish literature to identify who the Irish are and what Irish literature is. In addition, it is a tool to give an Irish Catholic common group memory and strongly criticize revisionism as a cause of weakening Irish nationalism. The first person narrator in Reading in the Dark tries to make readers witness lots of tragic happenings caused by British colonialism among Irish Catholics through his narration, for they would probably empathize the Irish’s present through this planned meeting at least. Thus, Reading in the Dark is a work that hides a political function Deane wants to get from Irish literature.

참고자료

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