Litreacha Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne (8)

Publication Instance Details #978

Publication Overview

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

Details

Human Rights Issues	War Gender-based violence
War / Genocide Referenced	War: Kosovo War
Irish Context	Specific Irish place or place-name mentioned Other
Languages	Irish
Genre	Lyric Sequence
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	This poem is a numbered section (8) of an extended lyric sequence in which the speaker of the poem describes the relationship of Diarmaid and Gráinne, two well-known figures from Irish mythology through 'letters'. Section 8 of the lyric sequence is based on a news broadcast, and contains references to the violent rape of a girl, perpetrated by religious clergy. It is implied that this is taking place in Ireland. The news report also covers the situation in Kosovo, where a reporter describes a distraught woman whose husband has been hung and mutilated. Protests are also ongoing over the role of NATO in Kosovo, with banners described in the poem as reading 'ThaNATOs', a reference to the Greek God of Death, Thanatos.