'Making Strange': Defamiliarising Perspectives on the Troubles
Stephanie Schwerter
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris
Abstract
In Irish literature a substantial number of writers turn to different cultures and histories in order to contemplate on their own environment through the lens of otherness. In particular, poets from Northern Ireland draw upon contrasting literary traditions to articulate their personal experience of political violence through an international framework. In the poetry of Seamus Heaney, Tom Paulin and Medbh McGuckian a noticeably strong link between Northern Ireland and pre- and post-revolutionary Russia can be discerned. Through allusions to Russian literary figures, politicians and social conflicts, the three poets attempt to reconsider established power structures ingrained in Northern Irish society and challenge conventional interpretations of the Troubles. Employing Victor Shklovsky’s technique of defamiliarisation, Heaney, Paulin and McGuckian take Russia as a point of comparison and contrast. In so doing, they attempt to generate a new vision of the Northern Irish situation and work against the traditionally one-sided discourse of the conflict. In the following article I analyse the different ways in which the three writers establish links to Russian literature, history and culture in order to give voice to their individual perceptions of contemporary Northern Ireland. In this context, I shall shed light on the reasons why they feel compelled to look outside their own culture in order to come to terms with the Northern Irish Troubles.