Michaela Schrage-Früh Livres

This book explores the intersections between dreaming and the literary imagination, in light of the findings of recent neurocognitive and empirical research, with the aim to lay a groundwork for an empirically informed aesthetics of dreaming. Drawing on perspectives from literary theory, philosophy of mind and dream research, this study investigates dreaming in relation to creativity and waking states of imagination such as writing and reading stories. Exploring the similarities and differences between the 'language' of dreams and the language of literature, it analyses the strategies employed by writers to create a sense of dream in literary fiction as well as the genres most conducive to this endeavour. The book closes with three case studies focusing on texts by Kazuo Ishiguro, Clare Boylan and John Banville to illustrate the diverse ways in which writers achieve to 'translate' the experience and 'language' of the dream.

In the construction of Irish identity, myth plays a central role, particularly through the personification of Ireland as a woman in various forms (Cathleen Ní Houlihan, Éire, Erin, etc.). This representation has significantly influenced the Irish poetic tradition, historically dominated by male poets. However, over the past thirty years, women have increasingly challenged and rewritten this canon, subverting gender stereotypes and asserting their own identities. This study examines the emergence of women's poetic identities through a comparative analysis of three contemporary Irish women poets: Eavan Boland, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, and Medbh McGuckian. It begins with a survey of the dominant myth of Ireland as a woman and how this myth has historically silenced Irish women's voices and obscured their identities. Each poet is explored in detail, focusing on their subversive treatment of myth and national gender representations. The study concludes with a comparative assessment of the poets' contributions and reflects on the current status of gender issues in contemporary Irish women's poetry.