Abstract
This research takes a postmodern approach to Seamus Heaney's two poems: Bogland and The Tollund Man. The evidences in the research bring illuminations to the significant issues of postmodern concept. Heaney's poetry was studied in myth, politics and revolutionary movement in the area of Irish classical poetry. Recently, his poems are considered as postmodern. To answer that how much his poems are traditional, modern or postmodern is the aim of this project.
Key Words: postmodernism, myth, imagery, technique, poetry, deadly, violence, corpse, bog, imagination, freedom.
Introduction
This research is a case study including discussions and analysis of two poems by Seamus Heaney, one of the postmodern poets. The poems, which are going to be analyzed, are: Bogland and The Tollund Man.
In Heaney's poetry we can see a connection between the mythical and the logical, the past and the present, to describe his thoughts and emotions, concerning the Irish troubles and human experiences. Heaney represent his feelings toward these problems by using imagery and structural techniques that are present in his poems .
Chapter one of this study is a literature review of the ideology of postmodernism with emphasis on postmodernism and poetry. It also includes the meaning of postmodernism, different views and criticism on Heaney's poetry and his ideas about the principles of imagism.
Chapter two analyzes the poem Bogland and reveals some points in describing the poem such as its national sides and two key images in the poem and explains how the poet has achieved and used them in his poems. It also discusses about Heaney's essay on a poem called The Bog People by P.V Globe.
Chapter three is...
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From Internet: http://athena.louisville.edu/~cscart01/pomopoetry.html
From Internet:
http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html
Notes
1 Dr. Mary Klages, Associate Professor, English Department, University of Colorado, Boulder: http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html
2 Dr. Christopher Carter Professors at University of Louisville, Postmodern Poetries March 1999.
3 Seamus Heaney, essay on The Bog People by P. V Globe, 1969
4 From a study guide on internet:
http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/poetry/heaney.htm
Poetry’s role is evaluated according to what extent it mirrors, shapes and is reshaped by historical events. In the mid-19th century, some critics viewed poetry as “an expression of the poet’s personality, a manifestation of the poet’s intuition and of the social and historical context which shaped him” ( Preminger, Warnke, Hardison 511). Analysis of the historical, social, political and cultural events at a certain time helps the reader fully grasp a given work. The historical approach is necessary in order for given allusions to be situated in their social, political and cultural background. In order to escape intentional fallacy, a poet should relate his work to universal
Macey, David. “Postmodernity.” The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory. London: Penguin Books, 2001. 307-309. Print.
Stade, George, and Karen Karbiener. “Heaney Seamus.” Bloom’s Literature. Facts on File, Inc. Web. 30 Mar. 2014
...ttachment or emotion. Again, Heaney repeats the use of a discourse marker, to highlight how vividly he remembers the terrible time “Next morning, I went up into the room”. In contrast to the rest of the poem, Heaney finally writes more personally, beginning with the personal pronoun “I”. He describes his memory with an atmosphere that is soft and peaceful “Snowdrops and Candles soothed the bedside” as opposed to the harsh and angry adjectives previously used such as “stanched” and “crying”. With this, Heaney is becoming more and more intimate with his time alone with his brother’s body, and can finally get peace of mind about the death, but still finding the inevitable sadness one feels with the loss of a loved one “A four foot box, a foot for every year”, indirectly telling the reader how young his brother was, and describing that how unfortunate the death was.
New historicism is premised upon an ideological attempt to wed the practice of history and literary criticism. In this type of textual analysis, the literary work is juxtaposed with historical events (characteristic of the time period in which the work was produced) in an effort to understand the implications within the text. This line of inquiry serves to recover a "historical consciousness" which may be utilized in the rendering of literary theory. "Poems and novels came to be seen in isolation, as urnlike objects of precious beauty. The new historicists, whatever their differences and however defined, want us to see that even the most unlike poems are caught in a web of historical conditions, relationships, and influences."[1] Such an introspective framework ultimately contributes to a wide variety of conceptualizations in literary analysis; such as Marxism, Feminist criticism, and post-structuralism. This attempt to contextualize literary works in a historical manner is also supplemental to more conventional types of literary analysis such as deconstructionism. New historicism, however, tends to be representative of a postmodern project which inevitably leads scholars to question the application of historical concepts as an ideological tool in literary analysis. The attempt to establish a connection between a literary text and historical event is often reflective of the paradigms characteristic to the practice of writing history. These paradigms foster a notion of exclusivity which may actually hinder a literary analysis. Such an introspective framework ultimately contributes to a wide variety of conceptualizations in literary analysis; such as Marxism, Feminist criticism, and post-structuralism....
Seamus Heaney’s poem “Blackberry-Picking” does not merely describe a child’s summer activity of collecting berries for amusement. Rather, it details a stronger motivation, ruled by a more primal urge, guised as a fanciful experience of childhood and its many lessons. This is shown through Heaney’s use of language in the poem, including vibrant diction, intense imagery and powerful metaphor—an uncommon mix coming from a child’s perspective.
The tales were rediscovered around 1880 inspiring the Irish literary revival in romantic fiction by writers such as Lady Augusta Gregory and the poetry and dramatic works of W.B. Yeats. These works wer...
There are many factors that will shape a young boy’s life, but possibly none more important than the role of that boy’s father. Seamus Heaney and Theodore Roethke both have shown the importance of the father role in their poems “Digging” and “My Papas Waltz.” Although the roles of the fathers in these poems were different, the respect and admiration shown by their sons is one in the same. Weather it is Heaney’s father digging under his window, or Roehtke’s father dancing him around as a little boy, the love shown in these two poems, shows a direct relation on the lives they shared with their fathers.
The poem, “Field of Autumn”, by Laurie Lee exposes the languorous passage of time along with the unavoidability of closure, more precisely; death, by describing a shift of seasons. In six stanzas, with four sentences each, the author also contrasts two different branches of time; past and future. Death and slowness are the main motifs of this literary work, and are efficiently portrayed through the overall assonance of the letter “o”, which helps the reader understand the tranquility of the poem by creating an equally calmed atmosphere. This poem is to be analyzed by stanzas, one per paragraph, with the exception of the third and fourth stanzas, which will be analyzed as one for a better understanding of Lee’s poem.
One must examine the work as a reactionary piece to the issues of the time period it was written in, while insuring that it carries along the ideals it intends to redefine, without question. Works Cited Ramazani, Jahan. Richard Ellmann, Robert O’Clair, ed. The Norton Anthology of Modern And Contemporary Poetry. Vol.
“I wanted to grow up and plough, /To close one eye, stiffen my arm.” (“Follower” 17-18). Seamus Heaney is writing about a son; interested in following his father’s footsteps to become a farmer. The poem depicts the son’s past memories of his father. Fascinated in his father’s work, influenced by his mastery at farming, the son strives to become the same at a young age. “The Writer” on the other hand, portrays a father’s observation of his daughter, struggling to write a story as an author. Both pieces, share a common interaction between parent and child, but the parent-child relationships themselves are fundamentally different. These poems represent a reflection of how the parents respectively tackle the task of raising their child.
In These Two Poems, Gillian Clarke Gives The Impression Of Someone Who Is Uncomfortable With Her Surroundings? Compare And Contrast Clarke's Feelings About Violence, Change And The Attitude Of Those That Perpetuate These Themes. The intention of this essay is to compare the corresponding themes of violence, change and the attitude of those who influence these themes. in the poems 'Jac Codi Baw' and 'No Hands'. Both poems are by Gillian.
In the 1950s, authors tended to follow common themes, these themes were summed up in an art called postmodernism. Postmodernism took place after the Cold War, themes changed drastically, and boundaries were broken down. Postmodern authors defined themselves by “avoiding traditional closure of themes or situations” (Postmodernism). Postmodernism tends to play with the mind, and give a new meaning to things, “Postmodern art often makes it a point of demonstrating in an obvious way the instability of meaning (Clayton)”. What makes postmodernism most unique is its unpredictable nature and “think o...
In conclusion, the use of elements of post modernism add a richness to literature and to the reading experience of the reader. Elements such as irony, magic realism and fragmentation cause people to think and make connections between the literature they are reading and how it relates to their own lives and the lives of the authors and other readers. The short stories studied in Ms. Reynolds 4U English class all contained many effective post modern elements that made students go more in depth with their reading and understanding of noted English literature. Perhaps some people were enlightened and adopted a postmodern view on the world.
The New Critics, just like Wimsatt and Beardsley put forward in their essay, also believed in the ‘organicity’ of the text. In the essay, they write, “A poem should not mean but be.” And, since the meaning of the poem or the text is the medium through which it can exist, and words, in turn, is the medium through which the meaning is expressed, the poem or the text b...