SEAMUS HEANEY’S BIRTHPLACE TOPONYMY Cover Image

ЗАВИЧАЈНА ТОПОНИМИЈА У ПОЕЗИЈИ ШЕЈМУСА ХИНИЈА
SEAMUS HEANEY’S BIRTHPLACE TOPONYMY

Author(s): Stefan Pajović
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Other Language Literature, Philology
Published by: Универзитет у Крагујевцу
Keywords: toponym; Seamus Heaney; birthplace; poetry; Northern Ireland; language

Summary/Abstract: The paper focuses on Seamus Heaney’s birthplace toponymy found not only in poetry, but his essays as well. The relevant toponyms in county Derry in Northern Ireland are: the villages of Mossbawn and Anahorish, the townships of Toome, Belaghy, Castledawson, and Magherafelt, the lakes of Loch Beg and Loch Neagh, and rivers Moyola and Bann. Alongside the symbolism of listed geographical terms present in the poetry of the Irish Nobel laureate, his relationship toward language and potential mythological meanings of his birthplace toponymy is studied, i.e. the bond between language and culture as depicted by poetry. Using respective examples of toponyms in various poetry collections, we are able to attain the superordinate meaning of each place name mentioned in the paper. With the aid of this meaning, the poet composes the image not only the poem in question, but give rise to the metaphor of the entire poetry collection the toponym is mentioned in. The paper concludes that the bond between poetry and the complex experience of a birthplace is extremely important in the poetic output of Seamus Heaney.

  • Issue Year: XVI/2015
  • Issue No: 58
  • Page Range: 133-144
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Serbian