Word: heaneys
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...Seamus Heaney...
When translating the poem's "pre-chivalric diction," then, Heaney tried to leave his "Ulster fingerprints" on it, to reintroduce Beowulf in the formal, but simple, idiom of his father's relatives. "Scullions," according to Heaney, had just as much right to Beowulf as the Early English Text Society. After all, the geographically-defined "England" does not exclusively own what is called the English language. Though he is considered an Irish poet, Heaney's medium is exactly that language which is not contained by national boundaries...
Though the Irish and the English have historically fought bloody battles over every sort of territory, Heaney's move is not one that furthers that conflict. His reclamation of Beowulf does not violently uproot the epic poem from its English context and encourage ethnic possessiveness. In fact, it bridges at least one gap between the two parties...
...Heaney, in declaring that "we're all together in this language," extends the Good Friday Agreement-the political end of hostilities between the Irish and English peoples--into a literary and cultural realm. This new translation of Beowulf, then, is more of a gesture of commonality than an aggressive assertion of distinction or superiority. As much as their violent history has pulled them apart, the English and the Irish do at least speak the same language. This helps explain why Heaney did not necessarily resent his inclusion is an anthology of "English" literature compiled by Faber and Faber, Co. Though...
Indeed, if Beowulf belongs to all English speakers, Heaney's writing also belongs to all English-speakers. Heaney's cultural reclamation has done more than recycle the same problem of exclusive ownership. Foregrounding the Irish perspective in English literature was not an aggressive repossession, but an invitation for others to try to crack the monopoly. Thankfully, Heaney keeps from falling into the same old trap: His cultural reclamation stakes out land for more than just one ethnic group, marking it off emphatically as a public space...