Dr Vanessa Iacocca
Ossianic Medievalisms: Dialogic Nation-Building and a Tradition of Invention in the British Isles, 1760-1921
- School: School of English, Drama and Film
- Mentor: Prof. Porscha Fermanis
My current book project explicates what I call “Ossianic medievalisms,” or deliberately reinvented medieval pasts attached to national identity formation, that were precipitated by Scottish author James Macpherson’s Ossian Poems (1760-1765). Though Macpherson claimed to provide translations of third-century Highland epics, in reality, he heavily re-invented medieval and contemporary bardic materials to advance his own politically interested constructions of race, culture, history, and nation in the British Isles. He catalysed a lasting cultural trend in the process. Examining publications between Macpherson’s first Ossian poems in 1760 and the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1921, I argue that English, Scottish, and Irish writers of “Ossianic medievalisms,” such as Felicia Hemans, Sir Walter Scott, Sydney Owenson, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and W. B. Yeats, adapted one another’s rhetoric across national and political lines to offer seemingly essentialist notions of culture, race, and nation. By analysing both the transnational and intranational exchange of such writers, I undermine the idea that a singular process of Romantic nationalism developed in each nation at this time and show that even competing nation-building efforts were co-constructed. My project, therefore, questions the validity of essentialist conceptions of national identities by demonstrating their multiplicity and mutual dependence.
Any additional information (RMS profile link, Social Media sites linked to your work): (opens in a new window)https://ucd.academia.edu/VanessaIacocca; (opens in a new window)https://vanessaiacocca.wordpress.com/
Contact details:
Tel: +353-1-716 4695
Email: (opens in a new window)vanessa.iacocca@ucd.ie