学位论文详细信息
Scottish Gaelic women's poetry up to 1750
PN Literature (General)
Frater, Anne Catherine ; MacDoanld, Kenneth D.
University:University of Glasgow
Department:School of Humanities
关键词: PN Literature (General);   
Others  :  http://theses.gla.ac.uk/701/1/1994fraterphd.pdf
来源: University of Glasgow
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【 摘 要 】

The intention of this work was not to provide a detailed study of allthe poems composed by women up to 1750, but rather to find thethreads which linked them to each other. These threads are mainlythematic, although others, such as the songs connected with a story,cross a thematic range while sharing a common link. The spectrumof topics dealt with in the women's poetry is broad, and the aim wasto show the similarities and differences in the treatment of recurringthemes by the composers.Songs were collected on the basis of ascription to a womanauthor, clues in the text which indicated a woman author, and, insome cases, nothing in the text which excluded possible femaleauthorship. The songs were collected from printed and manuscriptsources, and one version of each has been included in the appendix.The ascription of some of the songs in printed collections seemsdoubtful, and in such cases the song has been included in theanonymous section of the appendix. Likewise, the 'anonymous' songsfor which an author can be identified with a fair degree of certaintyhave been included under the name of the relevant poetess. Thedating of some of the songs is problematic, and textual evidence,where it is present, has been relied on in order to place theanonymous poems in as near to chronological order as possible in theappendix. The compositions of named poetesses are placed inalphabetical order, by surname; those for whom a name, but nosurname, is known being placed between these and the anonymoussongs.The basic criterion for discussion of each song thus collectedwas that its theme was not confined to one song or one author. Asong from the Thirty Years War, although included in the appendix,is not discussed, as the conflicts dealt with by the other poetesses ofthe period are those which directly concerned themselves and theirclans. Likewise, the religious poems of SIleas na Ceapaich have beenomitted, as she is the only poetess of the time who produced suchcompositions.Comment on the metrical structures used takes a widerviewpoint rather than overly concentrating on specific songs. As individual metrical analysis of such a large number of songs was notpossible in the context of this study, the aim was to identify the mainmetres used, and the periods in which each was most popular, alongwith a discussion of the origins and forms of these metres.Where there is a doubt over the ascription of a song to aparticular author, as much evidence as possible was collected andcollated in order to verify or discount the ascription. Likewise,where there is conflicting information as to the identity or backgroundof a poetess, the arguments have been studied in order to come towhat is hopefully a satisfactory conclusion, based on the availableinformation.While collecting the songs, it became evident that a largenumber of them had a story attached which either explained the songor the circumstances which brought about its composition. A numberof these have been grouped together in one chapter, although otherswere more relevant in the chapters dealing with specific topics. Onemust admit that some of the stories are not always directly related tothe composition of the song, but where these have been included it isin order to illustrate a particular aspect of the subject being dealtwith, or the character of the person addressed.Comparison of the women's songs with those of theircontemporary male counterparts would perhaps have been desirable,but was not possible, given the time period and the number of topicsdealt with. In any case, the aim of this study was not to discover anidentifying trait which distinguished female poetry from that of men,but to discuss the works of the women poets in relation to theirsocial situation, their lives, and each other.

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