Ghosts on the Water: Marina Carr's reception of the Classical Underworld in her Midland Trilogy
Keywords:
Marina Carr, Irish Literature, Mythology, DerridaAbstract
This article discusses the use of classical sources in Marina Carr's Midland Trilogy, including The Mai, Portia Coughlain and By the Bog of Cats. It analyses Carr's construction of the Irish Midlands out of features from an anachronistically authentic Ireland, intermingled with features of the classical underworld. The Mai is seen as a re-figuration of the Odyssey, while Portia Coughlain adapts Electra and By the Bog of Cats reconstructs Medea. Within these adaptations, this article reads Carr's establishment of a cyclical time of endless repetitions through Derrida's hauntology, wherein the silence of the ghosts echoes the inexpressible elements within history itself through which the past attempts to coexist with the living.Downloads
References
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