Mythic Contexts and Marginalized Figures: Unveiling Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin's Poetics

The following is a discussion of how Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin's poetic strategies are revealed through her representations of myth. Ní Chuilleanáin uses myth as a platform to maintain her enigmatic persona and to convey personal experiences without explicitly disclosing them. She also uses myth to question gender roles in hegemonic narratives. Through close readings I examine how Ní Chuilleanáin depicts women as missing or silenced in traditional myth and also how she amalgamates male mythic characters and marginalized female figures to deconstruct gender binaries and offer the latter a more active role. I also discuss her use of the Mary Magdalene figure and nuns to portray an empowered female figure that functions both inside and outside of the patriarchal order. Lastly, I examine Ní Chuilleanáin alongside Eavan Boland, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Medbh McGuckian to compare ways in which they all use myth to represent the female image, particularly in opposition to phallocentric metaphors for the female body.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Fitzpatrick, Nicole Ann

• Eavan Boland

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/39309

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/39309