Mandelshtam

Publication Instance Details #1204

Publication Overview

Translation	Is Multilingual	Explicit Irish Context?	Ekphrasis	Has Paratext?	Reference to News, Media or Technology
No	No	No	No	Yes	No

Details

Human Rights Issues	Death Penalty/Unlawful Detention/Incarceration State Violence
Languages	Irish
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Anthology
Paratext Text	(Ag éisteacht leis an ngaoth anoir) ... *Aistriúcháin ar bhlúirí dánta Osip Mandelshtam, mórfhile Rúiseach a rugadh i Vársá 1891 agus a cailleadh in Oirthear na Sibéire 1938.
Notes	This poem commemorates Osip Mandels(h)tam, a Russian poet. Mandelstam did not find favour under the Stalinist régime and in 1937 disappeared into the system of Soviet labour camps, with the government reporting his death in 1938. The 'gaoth anoir' to which the speaker of the poem listens means the 'eastern wind', and likely refers to the USSR régime itself. It is referred to as such in several other Irish language poems about the Communist era. The speaker of the poem seems to compare Mandelstam to Christ as well, in the descriptions of his crucifixion by the ice-nails of Siberia.