En busca de la diversidad: La poesía de Irlanda y Escocia en el siglo XX

Abstract

Since the last three decades of the past century, the contributions of poststructuralism, postmodernism, postcolonialism, feminism, as well as those of cultural studies and the new studies in translation, have brought into question and radically transformed such concepts as nation, culture and identity, long considered monolithic and universal, thus giving rise to multiculturalism and the affirmation of specific identities—national, sexual, ethnic, regional—based on the notions of otherness and difference. Likewise, the phenomenon of globalization, in spite of its hegemonic effects, has drastically transformed the old metropolitan/colony, center/periphery, north/south dichotomies. As a result of these transformations, the colonized, marginal or minority groups set out to construct an identity or cultural representation of their own which had been silenced or distorted by the dominant culture. Such is the case of Ireland and Scotland, nations which for centuries have been subject, in different modalities, to English domination. The struggles for autonomy or independence, as well as their attempts at constructing AnuarioLetrasModernas vol 17_3as FINAL.indd 203 16/10/2013 17:14:28 204 ? En busca de la diversidad: la poesía de Irlanda y Escocia en el siglo xx a political and cultural identity distinct from the English, have been constant throughout their history, particularly from the end of the xix century to the present. In this article I intend to examine the poetic work of some Irish and Scottish poets, both men and women, born in the last century, who reflect these concerns in their writing.