Seamus Heaney`s Postcolonial Epistemology and Political Aesthetic

• Published in: 영미문학연구 Vol. 5; pp. 153 - 176
• Main Author: Yoo Hyeok Lee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 영미문학연구회 15.12.2003
• Subjects: cultural hybridity; Ireland of the Mind; Irish Studies; political aesthetic; postcolonial epistemology; Seamus Heaney
• ISSN: 1976-197X

This paper examines the early writings of Seamus Heaney from a postcolonial perspective, particularly appropriating Homi Bhabha`s concept of cultural hybridity. Heaney`s poetic quest is characterized as "being in between." In the divided world of Northern Ireland whose root cause traces back to the long-lasting British colonial history, Heaney witnesses extreme antagonism, incessant terrorism, and unutterable violence. Heaney feels strong pressure between the demands of politics and of aesthetics. However, instead of taking sides, Heaney tries to embrace both of them in his poetic world. Thus, Heaney`s postcolonial epistemology is characterized not as the logic of "either/or" but as that of "both/and." Grappling with this argument, I examine how Heaney`s postcolonial paradigm is represented in his poetry. In particular, Heaney`s Ireland-an Ireland of the Mind-is depicted as an "opened" ground, open to outer influences and worlds. Heaney`s political aesthetic also embodies his postcolonial epistemology. That is, Heaney`s political aesthetic is shaped through tensions between the demands of the political (social reality) and of the artistic (aesthetic representation). I elaborate Heaney`s political aesthetic by offering critical readings of his Crediting Poetry and "The Government of the Tongue."