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The “Break” in Seamus Heaney’s “Mid-Term Break”

Year 2022, , 93 - 98, 28.01.2022
https://doi.org/10.51290/dpusbe.987030

Abstract

The term “mid-term break” is frequently attributed to the half term at schools—a short vacation season for students. However, as one of Irish poet Seamus Heaney’s poem, it represents a new period, a characteristic transition from one situation to another. Through this autobiographical poem narrating his brother Christopher's death, Heaney presents a moment of death, which may happen to anyone, as far away from emotions as possible, with all its nakedness. Contrary to the event’s ordinariness, the grief triggered by death within the family causes unusual reactions, in other words, “breaks”, in all members. Even though all people within the impact circle of the event have been intensely influenced by culture and religion and accordingly they thaped theirc characteristics in these ways, they display unexpected behaviors as a result of these breaks. In this study, including a versatile analysis of the poem from history to religion, Heaney’s sudden stepping into the nature of an adult from adolescence, and how personalities shaped by culture take on different roles in the situation of pain and grief are examined.

References

  • Altman, T. (2019, August 1). Mid-term break. LitCharts. https://literariness.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/LitCharts-mid-term-break.pdf
  • Badham, P. (1988). The contribution of religion to the conflict in northern Ireland [with comments and rejoinders]. International Journal on World Peace, 5(1), 45–67. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20751203.pdf
  • Corcoran, N. (1986). In between: On seamus Heaney’s life. In Seamus Heaney (pp. 234–262). Lonodon: Faber & Faber.
  • Fitzpatrick, D. (2013). Protestant depopulation and the Irish revolution. Irish Historical Studies, 38(15), 643–670. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43654520
  • Heaney, S. (2006). Death of a naturalist (2nd ed.). London: Faber & Faber.
  • Law, P. (1986). Seamus Heaney. Sydney Studies, 12, 92–100. https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/SSE/article/view/427
  • Leo, M. D. (2018). Family, childhood and nature: A reading of Seamus Heaney’s death of a naturalist (Thesis). Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. http://dspace.unive.it/bitstream/handle/10579/14366/865898-1220917.pdf?sequence=2
  • Marks, G. (2019). “No gaudy scars”: Seamus Heaney’s mid-term break and the speaker-poet’s discovery of irony. The Explicator, 78(1), 21–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940.2019.1674770
  • McConnell, G. (2014). ‘Its flesh was sweet / Like thickened wine’: Iconography and sacramentalism in the poetry of Seamus Heaney. In Northern Irish Poetry and Theology (1st ed., pp. 52–121). Lonodon: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • McKeown, K., Professor, F. H., & Rooney, D. (1998). Changing fathers? Fatherhood and family life in modern Ireland. Cork: Collins Press.
  • O’Brien, E. (2003). Seamus Heaney: Searches for answers. London: Pluto Press.
  • Parker, M. (1994). Seamus Heaney: The making of the poet. Lonodon: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Stephens, J. (2014). Death – a source in Seamus Heaney’s early autobiographical poetry. Études Irlandaises, 39(1), 155–168. https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesirlandaises.3806
  • Vendler, H. (2000). Seamus Heaney. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
  • White, T. J. (2010). The impact of British colonialism on Irish catholicism and national identity: Repression, reemergence, and divergence. Études Irlandaises, 35(1), 21–37. https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesirlandaises.1743
  • Williams, K. (2018, December 22). Can religious sceptics celebrate Christmas? Just look to Seamus Heaney. The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/can-religious-sceptics-celebrate-christmas-just-look-to-seamus-heaney-1.3726504
  • Yadav, M. K., & Yadav, M. S. (2018). An analytical study of catholic sufferings in the poetry of Seamus Heaney. International Journal of Research, 5(7), 1350–1361. https://journals.pen2print.org/index.php/ijr/article/view/13289

Seamus Heaney’in “Mid-Term Break” İsimli Şiirinde “Kırılma”

Year 2022, , 93 - 98, 28.01.2022
https://doi.org/10.51290/dpusbe.987030

Abstract

“Mid-term break” (sömestr) terimi, sıklıkla, öğrenciler için bir eğitim yılında iki yarıyıl arasındaki kısa tatil sezonuna atfedilir. Diğer yandan, İrlandalı şair Seamus Heaney’in şiirlerinden biri olanrak—“Mid-term break”—yeni bir dönemi, bir durumdan diğerine karakteristik geçişi temsil eder. Kardeşi Christopher'ın ölümünü anlatan bu otobiyografik şiirle Heaney, herkesin başına gelebilecek bir ölüm anını, duygulardan olabildiğince uzak, tüm çıplaklığıyla sunmaktadır. Olayın olağanlığının aksine, aile içinde ölümün tetiklediği yas, tüm üyelerde olağandışı tepkilere, yani “kırılmalara” neden olmaktadır. Olayın etki çemberi içindeki tüm insanlar, kültür ve dinden yoğun bir şekilde etkilenmiş ve buna bağlı olarak karakterlerini bu yöndee şekillendirmiş olsalar da, bu kırılmalar sonucunda beklenmedik davranışlar sergilemektedirler. Şiirin, tarihten dine çok yönlü bir analizini içeren bu çalışmada, Heaney'nin ergenlik döneminden bir yetişkinin doğasına ani adım atması ve kültürün şekillendirdiği kişiliklerin acı ve keder durumunda nasıl farklı roller üstlendiği incelenmektedir.

References

  • Altman, T. (2019, August 1). Mid-term break. LitCharts. https://literariness.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/LitCharts-mid-term-break.pdf
  • Badham, P. (1988). The contribution of religion to the conflict in northern Ireland [with comments and rejoinders]. International Journal on World Peace, 5(1), 45–67. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20751203.pdf
  • Corcoran, N. (1986). In between: On seamus Heaney’s life. In Seamus Heaney (pp. 234–262). Lonodon: Faber & Faber.
  • Fitzpatrick, D. (2013). Protestant depopulation and the Irish revolution. Irish Historical Studies, 38(15), 643–670. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43654520
  • Heaney, S. (2006). Death of a naturalist (2nd ed.). London: Faber & Faber.
  • Law, P. (1986). Seamus Heaney. Sydney Studies, 12, 92–100. https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/SSE/article/view/427
  • Leo, M. D. (2018). Family, childhood and nature: A reading of Seamus Heaney’s death of a naturalist (Thesis). Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. http://dspace.unive.it/bitstream/handle/10579/14366/865898-1220917.pdf?sequence=2
  • Marks, G. (2019). “No gaudy scars”: Seamus Heaney’s mid-term break and the speaker-poet’s discovery of irony. The Explicator, 78(1), 21–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940.2019.1674770
  • McConnell, G. (2014). ‘Its flesh was sweet / Like thickened wine’: Iconography and sacramentalism in the poetry of Seamus Heaney. In Northern Irish Poetry and Theology (1st ed., pp. 52–121). Lonodon: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • McKeown, K., Professor, F. H., & Rooney, D. (1998). Changing fathers? Fatherhood and family life in modern Ireland. Cork: Collins Press.
  • O’Brien, E. (2003). Seamus Heaney: Searches for answers. London: Pluto Press.
  • Parker, M. (1994). Seamus Heaney: The making of the poet. Lonodon: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Stephens, J. (2014). Death – a source in Seamus Heaney’s early autobiographical poetry. Études Irlandaises, 39(1), 155–168. https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesirlandaises.3806
  • Vendler, H. (2000). Seamus Heaney. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
  • White, T. J. (2010). The impact of British colonialism on Irish catholicism and national identity: Repression, reemergence, and divergence. Études Irlandaises, 35(1), 21–37. https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesirlandaises.1743
  • Williams, K. (2018, December 22). Can religious sceptics celebrate Christmas? Just look to Seamus Heaney. The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/can-religious-sceptics-celebrate-christmas-just-look-to-seamus-heaney-1.3726504
  • Yadav, M. K., & Yadav, M. S. (2018). An analytical study of catholic sufferings in the poetry of Seamus Heaney. International Journal of Research, 5(7), 1350–1361. https://journals.pen2print.org/index.php/ijr/article/view/13289
There are 17 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section RESEARCH ARTICLES
Authors

Mahmut Kayaaltı 0000-0002-6970-2313

Publication Date January 28, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022

Cite

APA Kayaaltı, M. (2022). The “Break” in Seamus Heaney’s “Mid-Term Break”. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi(71), 93-98. https://doi.org/10.51290/dpusbe.987030
AMA Kayaaltı M.The “Break” in Seamus Heaney’s “Mid-Term Break.” Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. January 2022;(71):93-98. doi:10.51290/dpusbe.987030
Chicago Kayaaltı, Mahmut. “The “Break” in Seamus Heaney’s ‘Mid-Term Break’”. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, no. 71 (January 2022): 93-98. https://doi.org/10.51290/dpusbe.987030.
EndNote Kayaaltı M (January 1, 2022) The “Break” in Seamus Heaney’s “Mid-Term Break”. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 71 93–98.
IEEE M. Kayaaltı, “The “Break” in Seamus Heaney’s ‘Mid-Term Break’”, Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, no. 71, pp. 93–98, January 2022, doi: 10.51290/dpusbe.987030.
ISNAD Kayaaltı, Mahmut. “The “Break” in Seamus Heaney’s ‘Mid-Term Break’”. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 71 (January 2022), 93-98. https://doi.org/10.51290/dpusbe.987030.
JAMA Kayaaltı M. The “Break” in Seamus Heaney’s “Mid-Term Break”. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 2022;:93–98.
MLA Kayaaltı, Mahmut. “The “Break” in Seamus Heaney’s ‘Mid-Term Break’”. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, no. 71, 2022, pp. 93-98, doi:10.51290/dpusbe.987030.
Vancouver Kayaaltı M. The “Break” in Seamus Heaney’s “Mid-Term Break”. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 2022(71):93-8.

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