Cultural Memory as a Bridge between the Past and the Present: Sheena Blackhall’s “The Irish Famine”

Year 2024, Volume: 41 Issue: 2, 407 - 420, 30.12.2024

İmren Yelmiş

https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.1349481

Abstract

Cultural memory, which might be observed in monuments, museums, historicised buildings, objects and even literary works, transmits to contemporary generations many traumatic events of history such as holocausts, famines, mass emigrations, starvation, pandemia, and, as a result, builds a link between history and the present. The traumatic impact of the Irish Famine, too, is awakened within the present by means of monuments such as the Famine Monument and the tour ship, the Jeanie Johnston on the Custom House Quay in Dublin, and literary texts such as Sheena Blackhall’s poem, “The Irish Famine”. In this sense, the bronze statues in the monumental area that depict the Famine’s traumatic impact upon the starving Irish, the ship which invites its visitors to take a metaphorical journey to the historical “coffin ships” adventures of the Irish, and Blackhall’s poem that (re-)presents and reinterprets them become devices of cultural memory. In the stanza where Blackhall reinterprets the Jeanie Johnston, the ship that represents historical facts about the Irish diaspora, readers feel a metaphorical slap in the face due to the unexpected reflection of a contemporary event: The African refugee problem. In the light of these discussions, this paper aims to discuss, in line with the concept of cultural memory, a Scottish poet, Sheena Blackhall’s poem, “The Irish Famine” as a literary text that constructs a bridge between the past and the present by means of its (re-)presentation and reinterpretation of the Great Irish Potato Famine represented in the Famine Monument and the tour ship, the Jeanie Johnston on the Custom House Quay in Dublin.

Keywords

Cultural memory as a bridge between the past and the present, the Great Irish Potato Famine, Sheena Blackhall’s “The Irish Famine”, the Famine Monument and the Jeanie Johnston on the Custom House Quay in Dublin

Supporting Institution

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Thanks

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Geçmiş ve Günümüz Arasında Köprü Olarak Kültürel Hafıza: Sheena Blackhall’un “The Irish Famine” Adlı Şiiri

Abstract

Anıtlar, müzeler, tarihî binalar, nesneler ve hatta edebiyat eserlerinde görülen kültürel hafıza, soykırımlar, kıtlıklar, kitlesel göçler, açlık, pandemi gibi tarihin pek çok travmatik olayını günümüz nesillerine aktarır. İrlanda Kıtlığı’nın travmatik etkisi de günümüzde Dublin Gümrük Binası İskelesi’nde bulunan Kıtlık Anıtı gibi anıtlar ve bir tur gemisi olan Jeanie Johnston aracılığıyla ve Blackhall’un “The Irish Famine” adlı şiiri gibi edebî eserlerle yeniden uyandırılmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, Kıtlığın açlık çeken İrlandalılar üzerinde oluşturduğu travmatik etkiyi tasvir eden anıtsal alandaki bronz heykeller, ziyaretçilerini İrlandalılar’ın tarihi “mezarlık gemi” maceralarına metaforik bir seyahate davet eden gemi ve onları (yeniden) sunan ve yeniden yorumlayan Blackhall’un şiiri, kültürel hafızanın birer aracı olurlar. Blackhall’un İrlanda diyasporası gerçeklerini temsil eden Jeanie Johnston’ı yeniden yorumladığı kıtada, okuyucular, Afrika mülteci problemi gibi güncel bir olayın umulmadık bir şekilde yansıtılmasından dolayı yüzlerine metaforik bir tokat yemiş gibi hissederler. Bu tartışmalar ışığında bu makale, kültürel hafıza kavramı doğrultusunda, İskoç şair Sheena Blackhall’un “The Irish Famine” adlı şiirini, Dublin Gümrük Binası İskelesi’nde bulunan Kıtlık Anıtı ve bir tur gemisi olan Jeanie Johnston’da temsil edilen İrlanda Patates Kıtlığı’nı yeniden sunup yorumlayarak geçmiş ve günümüz arasında köprü oluşturan bir eser olarak tartışmayı amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

geçmiş ve günümüz arasında köprü olarak kültürel hafıza, Büyük İrlanda Patates Kıtlığı, Sheena Blackhall’un “The Irish Famine” adlı şiiri, Dublin Gümrük Binası İskelesi’ndeki Kıtlık Anıtı ve Jeanie Johnston

Project Number

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