CC BY
80
Section 2. Literature
7. Ortega-i-Gasset H. Vosstanie mass/H. Ortega-i-Gasset; sbornyj perevod s ispanskogo. - M.: Izdatelstvo AST, 2002. - 509 s.
8. Frolova O. Soderzhanie i metodicheskaja interpretatsija kategorii «prostranstvo» pri obuchenii tolkovaniju russkogo prozaicheskogo hudozhestvennogo teksta. Avtoreferat dissertatsii kandidata pedagogicheskikh nauk: 13.00.02/Frolova Olga Evgenievna; MGU imeni M. V. Lomonosova. - Moskva, 1996. - 23 s.
9. Shevchenko T. H. Zibrannia tvoriv: U 6 t./Taras Shevchenko. - Kyiv: Naukova dumka, 2003. - T. 4: Povisti. - 600 s.
10. Jung K. G. Chelovek i ego simvoly/Jung. K. G., fon Franc M.-L., i drugije; redaktor S. N. Sirenko; perevod s anglijskogo. - Moskva: Serebrjanye niti, 1998. - 368 s.
11. Shpengler O. Zakat Evropy. Ocherki morfologii mirovoj istorii/Osvald Shpengler; pererevod s nemetskogo i primechanija I. I. Mahankova. - M.: Mysl, 1998. - T. 2: Vsemirno-istoricheskie perspektivy. - 606 s.
Kaplan Turkan,
Instructor of English in Department of Foreign Languages, University of Turkish Aeronautical Association, MA in English Literature, University of Vienna E-mail: tkaplan@thk.edu.tr
The Big House theme as reflected in the Irish history and literature
Abstract: The Big House is a symbol of great significance in Anglo-Irish ascendancy, played an important role in Irish history and literature. This article studies the function of the Big Houses and their historical and cultural significance within Irish society. The history of the Big Houses as part of the structure of Ireland in the early 20th Century and its reflection to Irish literature as in the selected novels; The Ladies’ Road, The Last September are considered to be the key images of this journal.
Keywords: Big House, Anglo-Irish, 20th century Ireland, The Ladies’ Road, The Last September.
Before examining the function of the Big Houses, which date back to the early 18th to mid 19th century in Ireland, it is necessary to give a definition of “the Big House" and, refer to its owners and to consider they differ from one another as important players in Ireland’s troubled history.
The term “Big House”, named “Country House" in England, shall first be defined as in the Oxford Companion to Irish Literature:
a theme in Anglo- Irish literature referring to the big houses of the ascendancy, reflecting the anxieties and uncertainties of the Protestant landowning class in their decline, from the late 18th cent., through Catholic Emancipation, the Tithe War, the Famine, and the growth of modern militant Irish nationalism, to the founding of new Ireland State [2].
Originating soon after the Acts of Union in 1800, the term “Anglo-Irish” historically referred to the descendants, successors of the upper-class, and Protestant landowners who ruled Ireland in the eighteenth century. They were English by descent and loyal to the crown [3]. Therefore, the Anglo- Irish class is commonly understood to refer to the dwellers of Big Houses, which derived from the Anglo-Norman tower houses and these houses are named
both allegorically and symbolically on the grounds that they are big in size and in a way represent the splendid and elegant life styles of the Ascendancy.
One of the Irish novels selected, The Last September [4] includes harsh criticism and satires on this social group. Though the detailed analysis of this class is far from the scope of this article, it is worth mentioning here that the members of this ruling elite living in these big houses flaunted their wealth and power by building large, stone houses with high ceilings, decorative fireplaces, and papered walls, all of which suited their luxurious tastes; in their free time, they pursued activities of a decidedly English flavor, such as hunting, shooting, fishing, cards, and tennis as well as eating, drinking, and visiting their neighbors, who, of course, belonged to the same social class. Both symbolically and literally as mentioned above, the pursuit of this lifestyle helped to estrange and isolate the elite from the rest of Irish society, which lived quite differently outside the comforts of the Big Houses [5, 24-25]. These houses were “built on wealth, privilege, and the large revolutions of politics and religions” [6, 215]. Therefore, since the dwellers of the Big Houses were of the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy, they had very little in common with the native Catholic Irish
58
The Big House theme as reflected in the Irish history and literature
tenants. Sociologically and physically they lived in houses and perceived as the ruling elite associated with foreign occupation. Sociologically they shared few cultural similarities with the lower classes and physically they built their imposing homes, which served as physical statements of their supremacy.
However, the prevalent symbolism of the Big House in Irish literature has become an extremely controversial, polarizing historical subject. On the one hand, it has often been represented as the — “be all and end all" — ofAnglo-Irish society and its cultural heritage typical of the work of such writers, while it also became an obnoxious symbol of English imperialism [5, 16]. “The Big House" concept is considered to be the core heritage of Anglo-Irish dynasty by Bowen who indicates.
The idea from which these houses sprang was, before everything, a social one [...] Society — or, more simply, the getting-together ofpeople — was meant to be at once a high pleasure and willing discipline, not just an occasion for self-display. [...] The most ornate, spacious parts of these building were the most functional- the steps, the halls, the living- rooms, the fine staircases- it was these that contributed to society, that raised life above the exigencies of mere living to the plane of art, or at least style [7, 25-29].
According to Genet’s “The Big House in Ireland: Reality and Representation”, these houses were built in this way according to the landlords’ notion of security and were designed in a way that they could be defended. Ironically, the elite proved to be far more vulnerable to hunting accidents and, mental breakdowns. Moreover, many avoided having children or getting married, meaning that their heritage could not be passed on to new generations. However, it was the Land Acts which resulted in the severest damage to these houses and their owners. As a mean to avoid the possibility of Irish land ownership, inherited land needed to be either divided into smaller parcels of land, subject to the division date, or sold for a song to the Land Commission because they were both too few landlords who could afford the large expenditures of such estates and were too large and pricey for existing tenants to maintain, which resulted in the destruction of the original format and decoration of these houses by de-roofing, cutting-down timber, or turning the stables into dwelling places. But the most tragic end
for the Big Houses was being vandalized or burned down by rebels during the Rising and the War of Irish Independence [5, 24-28].
Correspondingly, it is worth referring to Corcoran’s personification of these houses as a reference to «Dan-ielstown [which] “stares” at people and is “executed” by the I^». It is ironically explained that the origin of these houses was suggested and named by the outsiders who destroyed “the narcissism of self-regard” of the inhabitants by destroying these houses [8, 43].
As far as the figures of the destruction of these houses by the Irish Republicans are concerned, the Big Houses were not the real target of the attackers; rather, their aim was the destruction of their residents, who represent the Protestant Ascendancy. These “so-called” privileged inhabitants, who in fact acted in favor of the Free State and Republic, were in a state of continuous fear for their lives and property as many were systematically killed or fled their native land during the turbulent years of the War of Independence and Civil War. Indeed; due to these intense political and financial pressures, including the Ne temere papal decree of 1908, the Protestant population of Ireland declined from 10 to 6 % — a dramatic indication of these turbulent times after the Independence. During and after the turmoil of Irish Independence, these houses lost both their symbolic and physical powers over Irish society and were representative of the fall of the Ascendancy. However, the fall of the Big Houses had the paradoxical effect of elevating their status within Irish literature. We can come to the same point with Genet who noted the Big House only became a significant part of Irish literature when it began to disappear because its connections to the Irish economy, politics, legal issues, and social life “was too overwhelming” to be conveyed to fiction. In reality, the Big House novels do not necessarily reflect the historical facts and contain more fiction than fact. However, Maria Edgeworth, for instance, was the first writer to refer to the Big House in a substantial and objective way in Castle Rackrent (1800) [9] or The Absentee (1812) [10] in which the “Big House” is reflected from a mythological and historical perspective.
In conclusion, the recession of a society has been explored differently by many writers so the concept of the Big House has always been as controversial as its dwellers in Ireland.
References:
1. Kaplan Turkan. Traumatized Women in Eire: As reflected in Elizabeth Bowen’s The Last September and Pamela Hinkson’s The Ladies’ Road. - Ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Franz Wohrer. - Vienna, 2012 (Main Source).
59
Section 2. Literature
2. «Big house». The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. - Oxford University Press, 1996, 2000, 2003.// [Electronic resource]. - Available from: http://www.answers.com/topic/big-house (06 Sep. 2011).
3. [Electronic resource]. - Available from: http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/The_Anglo-Irish
4. Bowen Elizabeth. The Last September with an Introduction by Victoria Glendinning. - London: Vintage P, 1998.
5. Genet Jacqueline. The Big House in Ireland: Reality and Representation. - Ireland: Barnes & Noble, 1991.
6. Henn Thomas R. Five arches: A sketch for an autobiography, and “Philoctetes” and other poems. - Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1980.
7. Bowen Elizabeth. The Mulberry Tree: Writings of Elizabeth Bowen. 1986. Ed. Hermione Lee. - London: Vintage, 1999.
8. Corcoran Neil. After Yeats and Joyce: Reading Modern Irish Literature. - Oxford: Oxford UP, 1997.
9. Edgeworth Maria. Castle Rackrent. - Oxford Paperbacks; New edition, 2009.
10. Edgeworth Maria. The Absentee. - Penguin Classics, 2000.
Kornienko Alina Vladimirovna, Universite Paris-VIII-Vincennes-Saint-Denis, PhD student/doctorante E-mail: a.v.kornienko@icloud.com
Literary traditions of A. Chekhov and M. Maeterlinck in drama of Jean-Luc Lagarce
Abstract: This article offers a comparative review of two significant French-speaking drama authors Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) and Jean-Luc Lagarce (1957-1995). This article also presents their interconnection with the construction principles of the «new play» of Anton Chekhov, as far as their conception and adaptation of the so called drama concept «The Tragic in Everyday Life». The author of this very article educes an extremely close connection between the symbolist drama of the late XIX - early XX centuries and of one of the most significant sects of French contemporary drama called «word drama».
Keywords: The Tragic in Everyday Life, French contemporary drama, “word drama”, Maurice Maeterlinck, Anton Chekhov, Jean-Luc Lagarce.
Корниенко Алина Владимировна, Университет Париж-VIII, докторант E-mail: a.v.kornienko@icloud.com
Традиции А. Чехова и М. Метерлинка в драматургии Ж.-Л. Лагарса
Аннотация: Данная статья посвящена сравнительному обзору двух значимых франкоязычных драматургов Мориса Метерлинка (1862-1949) и Жан-Люка Лагарса (1957-1995), их взаимосвязи с принципами построения «новой пьесы» поэта «повседневной трагедии» А. П. Чехова. Рассматриваются вопросы понимания и применения в их творчестве концепта «трагического в повседневности». Особое внимание в представленной статье уделяется тесной связи между символистским театром конца XIX - начала XX веков и современной французской драматургии, одним из важнейших течений которой является так называемый «театр слова».
Ключевые слова: трагическое в повседневности, современная французская драматургия, «театр слова», Морис Метерлинк, А. П. Чехов, Жан-Люк Лагарс.
Вторая половина XIX - первая половина XX веков является наиболее ярким и знаковым «революционным» периодом в истории французской драматургии. Первым «крутым поворотом» в ее развитии стала постановка романтической драмы в стихах Виктора Гюго «Эрнани» 25 февраля 1830 года на сцене «Комеди
Франсез», ознаменовавшая появление нового, романтического театра. Именно романтическая драма и водевиль, завоевавшие внимание зрителей в XIX веке, стали основными предпосылками к либерализации классического театра, а также к полному его освобождению от классических канонов, свершившемуся
60
