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Original in Translation: Poets Between Languages

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Limits and Languages in Contemporary Irish Women's Poetry

Part of the book series: New Directions in Irish and Irish American Literature ((NDIIAL))

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Abstract

This chapter examines the transactions related to the division between the two main languages of Irish literature. While it focuses on the theoretical and practical aspects of poetic translation which is viewed as a zone of passage or transformation, attention is also paid to the complex artistic and cultural issues surrounding translation from a minority language (Irish) into a major one (English). This chapter begins with an exposition of the Irish-language poetry by Aifric Mac Aodha who has based her work on the concept of translation. The latter part of the chapter touches upon the occasions when other poets of both English and Irish, including Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Medbh McGuckian, Eavan Boland and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, consciously place themselves in the liminal position between the two languages.

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Theinová, D. (2020). Original in Translation: Poets Between Languages. In: Limits and Languages in Contemporary Irish Women's Poetry. New Directions in Irish and Irish American Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55954-0_7

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