Exhumation and Ethnic Conflict: From St. Erkenwald to Spenser in Ireland

ABSTRACT This essay explores a range of medieval and early modern English texts, including the alliterative poemSt. Erkenwaldand Edmund Spenser'sFaerie Queene and View of the Present State of Ireland, inwhich the remains of subjugated peoples are exhumed and subsequently made to disappear. Thes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRepresentations (Berkeley, Calif.) Vol. 95; no. 1; pp. 1 - 26
Main Author SCHWYZER, PHILIP
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berkeley University of California Press 01.08.2006
University of California Press Books Division
Subjects
Antiquarianism
Archaeological paradigms
Archaeology
Christianity
Early Modern English
England
Ethnic Conflict
Excavations
Exhumation
Historical text analysis
Holy relics
Human remains
Ireland
Irish English
Irish poetry
Language history
Literature
Memory
Middle Ages
Native peoples
Poetry
Spenser, Edmund (1552?-1599)
England
Ireland
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Summary:ABSTRACT This essay explores a range of medieval and early modern English texts, including the alliterative poemSt. Erkenwaldand Edmund Spenser'sFaerie Queene and View of the Present State of Ireland, inwhich the remains of subjugated peoples are exhumed and subsequently made to disappear. These texts, it is argued, participate in a tradition of colonial archaeology in which the cleansing of the earth is a step toward the creation of an English homeland.
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ISSN:0734-6018
1533-855X
DOI:10.1525/rep.2006.95.1.1