The Merfolk and Music

Publication Instance Details #793

Publication Overview

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

Details

Human Rights Issues	Displacement/Forced Migration Indigenous Rights (incl. culture & language)
Irish Context	Emigration (from Ireland) Irish Language/Culture Specific Irish place or place-name mentioned Great Famine (Ireland)
Languages	English
Original Language	Irish
Original Poem	Na Murúcha agus an Ceol
Original Author	Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill
Genre	Part Of Lyric Sequence
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	This sequence of poems, 'Na Murúcha a Thriomnaigh', makes use of the international folk tale of the mermaid to construct an allegorical world in which the merpeople have left the water and now live uneasily among humankind on earth. The speaker of the poem outlines the awkward relationship between merpeople and music, despite their songs and musical culture which they had in their homeland underwater. The speaker of the poem also highlights the personal relationship she had with 'our mermaid' in this poem, when the mermaid demands the music in the car be turned off. This poem makes reference to the trauma and hardship of the merpeople, which led them to abandon not only music, but also any kind of 'frivolous' pastime in order to create a secure life for themselves. The Great Famine and Irish cultural loss is understood to be implicit in this sequence of poems.