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fandomhigh2005-09-23 05:56 pm
godinakilt.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2005-09-23 05:56 pm
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Celtic Literature and Civilisation (CELT 110) Lesson Three
Welcome to class, everyone.
Today's will be a shortened lesson, as it is Friday and I need toget my legs waxed get really, really drunk get down with my funky self take care of some business. It will be a general overview of the themes and patterns you will come to expect in Celtic literature, which reflect, surprise surprise, their culture.
For those of you who have seen any Celtic knotwork (and for those of you who haven't) you will see that it is a pattern of interconnected lines that appear to have no beginning and no end. Some areas are intensely detailed, while others may be a single thread connecting clumps of illustration. To the delight of some and the frustration of others, this is a very accurate description of most Celtic literature. As it was primarily oral until transcribed and edited by Christian monks around the 3-4th centuries CE, often segments of the tale would be embellished in the retelling depending on the audience, patron, and how drunk the bard was at the time. Overimbibing is a very common theme in more or less everything you'll ever read from or about the Celts. In fact, one of the works we will be looking at and one of the most important of the Ulster Cycle is 'The Intoxication of the Ulstermen', and involves attempting to burn down a house made of iron.
Another major characteristic of Celtic literature is the literary trend normally referred to, rather pompusly, as "magic realism", which essentially means a blurring of the line between fantasy and reality. The literature is very idealistic yet very graphic, with descriptions of beheading and maimings and various other acts of violence, like the plucking of the hair in Culhwch and Olwen. Myth collides with reality at every junction; men become gods, gods become men. A very common device is shapeshifting into animals, most commonly a swan or a salmon. The blurring of the line between fantasy and reality can also be seen as a blurring of the line between the "real world" and the "otherworld", which is inhabited by the feyfolk, called the Sid or Sidhe (pronounced 'shee', like in 'banshee' - 'bahn-sidhe') The otherworld should not be confused with the Underworld of classical mythology. The otherworld is at once brighter and more colourful than the real world while still being a shadow of the real world; even its physical location is amorphous, often being located in the south of Ireland, across the oceans to the west, or in the barrows of the Sidhe.
Your homework for tonight - identify a modern example of magic realism and explain why it is magic realism.
[[OOC: Cammie-mun is feeling much better, thank you for your concern and kind words. Cammie will be around all night. Drop by his office for some interaction if y'want.]]
Today's will be a shortened lesson, as it is Friday and I need to
For those of you who have seen any Celtic knotwork (and for those of you who haven't) you will see that it is a pattern of interconnected lines that appear to have no beginning and no end. Some areas are intensely detailed, while others may be a single thread connecting clumps of illustration. To the delight of some and the frustration of others, this is a very accurate description of most Celtic literature. As it was primarily oral until transcribed and edited by Christian monks around the 3-4th centuries CE, often segments of the tale would be embellished in the retelling depending on the audience, patron, and how drunk the bard was at the time. Overimbibing is a very common theme in more or less everything you'll ever read from or about the Celts. In fact, one of the works we will be looking at and one of the most important of the Ulster Cycle is 'The Intoxication of the Ulstermen', and involves attempting to burn down a house made of iron.
![and for those of you who haven't](http://home.hccnet.nl/a.b.berkhout/downloads/celtic_knot07.jpg"){kind=link}
Another major characteristic of Celtic literature is the literary trend normally referred to, rather pompusly, as "magic realism", which essentially means a blurring of the line between fantasy and reality. The literature is very idealistic yet very graphic, with descriptions of beheading and maimings and various other acts of violence, like the plucking of the hair in Culhwch and Olwen. Myth collides with reality at every junction; men become gods, gods become men. A very common device is shapeshifting into animals, most commonly a swan or a salmon. The blurring of the line between fantasy and reality can also be seen as a blurring of the line between the "real world" and the "otherworld", which is inhabited by the feyfolk, called the Sid or Sidhe (pronounced 'shee', like in 'banshee' - 'bahn-sidhe') The otherworld should not be confused with the Underworld of classical mythology. The otherworld is at once brighter and more colourful than the real world while still being a shadow of the real world; even its physical location is amorphous, often being located in the south of Ireland, across the oceans to the west, or in the barrows of the Sidhe.
Your homework for tonight - identify a modern example of magic realism and explain why it is magic realism.
[[OOC: Cammie-mun is feeling much better, thank you for your concern and kind words. Cammie will be around all night. Drop by his office for some interaction if y'want.]]