Irish Poets and Modern Greece [electronic resource] : Heaney, Mahon, Cavafy, Seferis /
Kruczkowska, Joanna.author.
This book explores the perception of modern Greek landscape and poetry in the writings of Seamus Heaney and Derek Mahon. Delving into travel writing, ecocriticism, translation and allusion, it offers a fresh comparative link between Greek modernity and Irish poetry that counterbalances the preeminence of Greek antiquity in existing criticism. The first section, devoted to travel and landscape, examines Mahon's modern perception of the Aegean, inspired by his travels to the Cyclades between 1974 and 1997, as well as Heaney's philhellenic relationship with mainland Greece between 1995 and 2004. The second section offers a close analysis of their C. P. Cavafy translations, and compares George Seferis' original texts with their creative rendition in the writings of the Irish poets. The book will appeal to readers of poetry as well as those interested in the interactions between Ireland and Greece, two countries at the extreme points of Europe, in times of crisis.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction.- Chapter 1. Island visions: Derek Mahon's Cyclades -- Chapter 2. Mainland Hellas: Seamus Heaney's Peloponnese and Delphi -- Chapter 3. The winding road of translation: Derek Mahon's versions of Cavafy -- Chapter 4. Mediating the canon: Seamus Heaney's versions of Cavafy -- Chapter 5. Asphodels and aspalathoi: Seferis, Heaney, Mahon: politics and landscape -- Bibliography -- Index.
This book explores the perception of modern Greek landscape and poetry in the writings of Seamus Heaney and Derek Mahon. Delving into travel writing, ecocriticism, translation and allusion, it offers a fresh comparative link between Greek modernity and Irish poetry that counterbalances the preeminence of Greek antiquity in existing criticism. The first section, devoted to travel and landscape, examines Mahon's modern perception of the Aegean, inspired by his travels to the Cyclades between 1974 and 1997, as well as Heaney's philhellenic relationship with mainland Greece between 1995 and 2004. The second section offers a close analysis of their C. P. Cavafy translations, and compares George Seferis' original texts with their creative rendition in the writings of the Irish poets. The book will appeal to readers of poetry as well as those interested in the interactions between Ireland and Greece, two countries at the extreme points of Europe, in times of crisis.
British literature.
European literature.
Literature, Modern-20th century.
Poetry.
Comparative literature.
British and Irish Literature.
European Literature.
Twentieth-Century Literature.
Poetry and Poetics.
Comparative Literature.