thinking in public || Úrscéalta don phobal?

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Úrscéalta Don Phobal? Scread Mhaidne by Joe Steve Ó. Neachtain; Seachrán Jeaic Sheáin Johnny by Micheál Ó. Conghaíle Review by: Ríóna Ní Fhrighil The Irish Review (1986-), No. 32, Thinking in Public (Autumn - Winter, 2004), pp. 117-119 Published by: Cork University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29736254 . Accessed: 16/06/2014 07:34 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Cork University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Irish Review (1986-). http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 195.78.108.105 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 07:34:11 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Thinking in Public || Úrscéalta Don Phobal?

Úrscéalta Don Phobal?Scread Mhaidne by Joe Steve Ó. Neachtain; Seachrán Jeaic Sheáin Johnny by Micheál Ó.ConghaíleReview by: Ríóna Ní FhrighilThe Irish Review (1986-), No. 32, Thinking in Public (Autumn - Winter, 2004), pp. 117-119Published by: Cork University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29736254 .

Accessed: 16/06/2014 07:34

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Cork University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Irish Review(1986-).

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.105 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 07:34:11 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Thinking in Public || Úrscéalta Don Phobal?

?rsc?alta don Phobal? Joe Steve ? Neachtain, Scread Mhaidne. Indreabh?n, Conamara: Ci? Iar-Chon

nachta, 2003. ISBN 1-902420-53-5. ?12.00 pbk.

Miche?l ? Congha?le, Seachr?n feaic She?in Johnny. Indreabh?n, Conamara: Ci?

Iar-Chonnachta, 2002. ISBN 1-902420-63-2. ?10.00 pbk.

Is ? Scread Mhaidne an ch?ad ursc?al ? pheann Joe Steve U? Neachtain a bhfuil c?il

air mar ghearrsc?ala?, mar dhr?mad?ir agus mar aisteoir i mease

phobal na

Gaeilge.

Is dual don scr?bhneoir seo ?bhair thr?th?la a ionramh?il ina shaothair agus ni haon

eisceacht ? an saothar seo. Tugann ? Neachtain aghaidh ar ?bhar ?ogair na

d?lleachtachta. L?ir?onn t?ra?ocht an phr?omhcharachtair, Sorcha, ar a tuismitheoir?

t?bhacht agus castacht cheist an fh?inaitheantais. L?ir?onn s? fosta, ?fach, nach aon

obair r?idh an t?ra?ocht seo, go gcuirtear f?ach?il chruaidh ar an duine a

fhoscla?onn doras na hiar?ige

ar neamhchead don tsocha?. Sc?al a chluineas t?r agus

a cheileas muintir a bh? i sc?al mh?thair Shorcha. D?antar iarracht an stair seo a

cheilt ar Shorcha nuair a thosa?onn s? ag d?anamh fiosr?ch?n maidir lena m?thair

agus feictear di go bhfuil daoine ?irithe iontach doicheallach roimpi. Baineann cuid

mh?r den leabhar mar sin le fuascailt na geeisteanna, le teacht le ch?ile na m?thar

agus na hin?ne agus le hiarrachta? na m?thar aghaidh a thabhairt ar an stair agus ar

an phobal ar?s.

An t-?bhar eile a nd?antar card?il air san ?rsc?al seo n? riocht an mh?inteora

mheanscoile ata i mbarr a ch?ille ag iarraidh brathladh a chur ar dh?ag?ir? a bhfuil

s?g?n d?anta acu d? dtuismitheoir?. Cuirtear an las?g

sa bharrach nuair a

bhuaileann Sorcha scolaire d? cuid sa seomra ranga toise an scolaire a bheith ag

troma?ocht uirthi agus ag glaoch 'bastard' uirthi. Tugtar l?argas duinn ar aincheist

an phr?omhoide ata b??il le Sorcha ach a chaithfidh aghaidh a thabhairt ar na

h?dar?is, ar na tuismitheoir? agus ar imple?chta? dl?thi?la na heachtra.

Is for-r?il mar sin go bhfuil go leor eachtra?ochta ag baint leis an ?rsc?al seo. Is

geall le sobalchl?r ? sa mh?id is go scuabtar an l?itheoir ar aghaidh ? eachtra go heachtra agus ? shu?omh go su?omh gan aon fhilleadh ar roinnt de na t?ama? ar

deireadh no, i gc?sanna eile, cuirtear cr?och thobann shona le t?ama? mora an

?rsc?il. F?gann seo nach nd?antar c?ram de bhuaicphoint? an sc?il go minie. I

ndiaidh na t?ra?ochta ar fad, mar shampla, buaileann Sorcha lena m?thair agus

laistigh d'aon chomhr? amh?in t? s? s?sta 'Mama' a ghlaoch uirthi agus cuireadh a

thabhairt di teacht abhaile go h?irinn l?i. Baineann an l?iri? simpl? r?m?ns?il seo

de thromch?is an ?bhair. Ar an l?imh eile, c? go mbaineann eachtra an bhuille

agus c?rsa? scoile go dl?th le plota an ?rsc?il, f?gtar an fophlota gan r?iteach s?s?il.

Cuirtear deireadh dochreidte le c?irt?ireacht Shorcha agus Bheairtle nuair a

fh?gra?onn s? d? ar fhaire a huncal gur leasdearthair di ?.

Cialla?onn an easpa c?rdala ar phr?omhth?ama? an ?rsc?il go bhfuil roinnt

carachtar gan f?d fosta. Is st?ir?it?opa Buffalo nach bhfuil aon oidhre ar

leasmh?thair ghr?nna na s?sc?alta ach ?. Maidir le m?thair Shorcha, t? buailte

againn cupla babhta cheana f?in i litr?ocht na Gaeilge leis an striapach mn? ata

imithe ar bh?thar a haimhleasa i Londain agus a tharraing?onn aghaidh an phobail

N? FHRIGHIL, 'Ursc?alta don Phobal?', Irish Review 32 (2004) 117

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Page 3: Thinking in Public || Úrscéalta Don Phobal?

uirthi f?in nuair a leanann si den iompar m?mh?r?lta seo sa bhaile. Is den mh?nla

c?anna ? m?thair Shorcha. ?or?nta go leor, tugtar an laige

seo sa charachtracht faoi

deara toisc go bhfuil carachtair eile, dala Bheairtle, chomh hinchreidte sin.

I gcead don ?dar, ?fach, ni mha?onn s? gurb ini?chadh domhan ar aon chuid de

na h?bhair ata sa saothar seo. Is '?rsc?al don phobal' ata anseo, lip?ad a thabharfadh

le fios, m? dh?anann a leith?id de lip?ad ciall ar bith, gur m? ag an ?dar sc?al maith a insint seachas ?bhar domhanmhachnaimh a shol?thar d? l?itheoir?. Is cinnte go n-aithneodh l?itheoir? an su?omh ?iti?il agus na carachtair a bh?onn ar f?il i ngach baile beag in Eirinn. Nil aon cheist ach go mbainfidh l?itheoir?, go h?irithe

l?itheoir? a phobail f?in, an-s?samh as an saibhreas teanga ata san ?rsc?al seo agus a

bh?onn ag si?l le saothar U? Neachtain tr? ch?ile.

Fi? m? aithn?onn pobal ?irithe tr?ithe d? gcuid san ?rsc?al Seachr?n Jeaic She?in

Johnny le Miche?l ? Conghaile, is cinnte go mbeadh leisce orthu ? seo a admh?il

tharla go bhfuil ?bhar an ?rsc?il chomh coigilteach consp?ideach sin. Ni lease le

? Conghaile mianta daonna, d? phr?obh?id? agus d? cheilte iad, a phl? agus a

thabhairt chun sol?is. Sc?al ? seo faoi sheanfhear, ar amhr?na? gradamach sean-n?is

?, ata i ngr? le cail?n ata i bhfad ni os ?ige n? ?. Tugtar an-l?argas d?inn ar aigne an

tseanfhir, Jeaic She?in Johnny, a fhanann sa ghaird?n l? i ndiaidh lae chun radharc a

fh?il ar an ghirseach seo agus ? ag filleadh ?n scoil. Is teist ? ar chumas an ?dair go n-?ir?onn leis b? a choth? idir an l?itheoir agus an pr?omhcharachtar a bhfuil na

mianta seo aige a th?ann glan i gcoinne mhor?ltacht fhr?imh?ochta an l?itheora

chomhaimseartha. Tharla nach l?ir don l?itheoir riamh, ?fach, an amhlaidh go bhfuil eachtra? an sc?il ag titim amach no an bhfuil speabhra?d? ar an

phr?omhcharactar, maola?tear ar an d?istin a mhoth?dh duine de ghn?th agus m?scla?tear fiosracht an l?itheora.

T? greann d?ite sa d?igh a bpl?ann ? Conghaile le ceann de na h?oc?in is m?

gradam i saol na Gaeilge

sa l? ata inniu ann mar ata an t-amhr?na? sean-n?is. Ni

lease leis cur s?os neamhbhalbh a dh?anamh ar chaidreamh fisici?il Jeaic She?in

Johnny agus an ghirseach i ndiaidh d?ibh am a chaitheamh i dteannta a ch?ile ag ceol. M? dh?antar ?bhar an leabhair a iomard? ar ? Conghaile ni cali do ach

amhr?in leith?id? 'An P?ist?n Fionn' n? 'An Seanduine D?ite' a l?a mar ?bhar

inspior?ide. D?reach nuair a thuigtear d?inn go bhfuil Jeaic She?in Johnny sa smeach

deireanach ag saothr? a bh?is agus gurb amhlaidh go bhfuil mearbhall air agus nach bhfuil sa sc?al ar fad ach briongl?id, athra?tear an insint ?n tr?? pearsa fireann

go dt? an tr?? pearsa baineann agus labhra?onn an ghirseach. Is for-r?il go raibh

cuid inteacht den ghaol seo r?ala?och ach ni l?ir don l?itheoir an line idir an

tsamhla?ocht agus an saol iarbh?r. Cuireann an t-?dar cr?och chliste leis an sc?al

mar a gcuireann s? s?os ar an chail?n ag tabhairt p?ige don chorp marbh agus ag

smaoineamh ar an d?igh ar bhris a seanmh?thair cro? Jeaic She?in Johnny. Ni

scaoiltear an r?n, ?fach. Ni l?ir d?inn ?na cuid smaoint? an gaol a bh? aici leis.

Is leabhar fileata l?n de cheol ata scr?ofa ag Miche?l ? Conghaile. Cuireann na

l?ar?id? ag tus gach caibidle leis an insint. C? go dt?ann s? i muin?n an traidisi?in le

h?bhar a aimsi?, t? ?ire agus d?nacht as cuimse ag baint leis an ionramh?il a

118 N? FHRIGHIL, 'Ursc?atta don Phobal?', Irish Review 32 (2004)

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Page 4: Thinking in Public || Úrscéalta Don Phobal?

dh?anann s? air. Mholfainn go mbronnfa? c?ip den leabhar seo maraon leis an

chorn f?in ar bhuaiteoir? Chorn U? Riada feasta!

R??NA N? FHRIGHIL

Neither Humanist nor Modernist

Thomas Keymer, Sterne, the Moderns, and the Novel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-19 924592-4. ?47.00 hbk.

In describing Work in Progress (later Finnegans Wake), James Joyce wrote that the

elements of his new book were 'exactly what every novelist might use: man and

woman, birth, childhood, sleep, marriage, prayer, death . . . Only I am trying to

bring many planes of narrative within a single aesthetic purpose. Did you ever read

Laurence Sterne?' So overt an endorsement of Sterne's perceived modernity -

and

there are many others by writers from Virginia Woolf to Milan Kundera - might

seem to justify the widespread tendency among contemporary readers and critics

to treat Sterne as an honorary modern and Tristram Shandy, in the words of one

recent writer, as a 'modernist or postmodernist text avant la lettre'. Alternatively,

students who come to Sterne's masterpiece via the established criticism of the

second half of the twentieth century may see it as emerging from the Renaissance

Humanist tradition, most influentially described by D. W. Jefferson in his essay 'Tristram Shandy and the Tradition of Learned Wit', and emphasize Sterne's

allegiances to the writings of Erasmus, Montaigne, Robert Burton and the

Scriblerian project embodied in the writings of Swift and Pope. However

approached, though, Sterne himself appears in these readings as an anachronism,

linked to the past or future but, in some sense, detached from his own time.

In this incisive new study, Thomas Keymer sets out to situate, or re-situate,

Sterne within the literary and cultural contexts of his own day. To this end, he

divides his book into three principal sections -

'Narrative Discourse and Print

Culture from Pamela to Tristram Shandy , 'The Serialization of Tristram Shandy and

'Sterne in the Literary Culture of the 1760s'? that permit him to develop his ideas

in a manner at once focused and wide-ranging. Arguing for the contemporary

awareness of Tristram Shandy as the 'defining work of its immediate day, tied

intimately into the writing of a culture it both reflects and influences', Keymer insists on how rarely such a view is registered by modern criticism. Intent on

redressing this perceived omission, Keymer foregrounds Sterne's

close engagement 'with the novel genre in the crucial period of its forma?

tion (which is to say in the two decades immediately prior to Tristram

Shandy s launch); an ongoing responsiveness, through the mechanisms of

serialization, to key texts, trends, and events as they developed in the

ensuing decade; the subtextual presence ... of specific contemporaneous

intertexts . . .[and] an element of topical, and indeed political, satirical

innuendo that is not incidental but systematic and central.

ROSS, 'Neither Humanist nor Modernisf, Irish Review 32 (2004) 119

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