ABSTRACT

Colonial domination has been exercised by many means, exhibiting varied forms and expressions, one of the most prominent ones being language. Postcolonial countries and writers usually have to contend with the dilemma of which language to use, whether to employ their own native tongues, thus fostering national invigoration and a demise of colonial past, or whether the language of the coloniser is a valid tool for national, postcolonial expression. The Irish case is paradoxical: while Ireland possesses a language different to the tongue of the colonisers, by the time literacy was widespread, it had lost its vantage point among the majority of the population, especially the educated elites. In Ireland the question was how to best adapt the language to employ it as a decolonising tool. While many critics place such abrogation movement in the early twentieth century, in the context of the Irish Revival, this paper demonstrates that such language deployments had its origins in the nineteenth century, invigorated by Celticism and Protrestant Cultural Nationalism. By examining two narratives by Dublin-born writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, the present study unveils how language was employed to break the well-established paradigms associated to Catholic classes and the Irish national identity.

摘要

殖民统治已通过多种方式行使，表现出多种形式和表现形式，其中最突出的形式之一就是语言。后殖民国家和作家通常必须应对使用哪种语言的困境，无论是使用自己的母语，从而促进民族振兴和殖民历史的消亡，还是殖民者的语言是否是有效的民族工具，后殖民表达。爱尔兰的情况是自相矛盾的：爱尔兰虽然使用的语言与殖民者的语言不同，但在扫盲普及之时，它已丧失了其在大多数人口中的优势，尤其是受过教育的精英阶层。在爱尔兰，问题是如何最好地适应该语言，以将其用作非殖民化工具。尽管许多批评家将这种废除运动置于20世纪初，但在爱尔兰复兴的背景下，本文却表明，这种语言部署起源于19世纪，受到凯尔特主义和尖锐的文化民族主义的鼓舞。通过研究都柏林出生的作家约瑟夫·谢里丹·勒·法努（Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu）的两种叙述，本研究揭示了如何利用语言来打破与天主教阶级和爱尔兰民族身份相关的公认范例。