Seachtain na Gaeilge 2024: Dr Chris McCann

An Ceol i Scríbhneoireacht Mháirtín Uí Chadhain

Tá úsáid an cheoil mar chiúta siombalach nó insinte ar cheann de shaintréithe an nua-aoiseachais liteartha, agus áirítear Máirtín Ó Cadhain (1906-1970) i measc líon na scríbhneoirí Éireannacha a bhain an-tairbhe as. Ceannródaí na nualitríochta Gaeilge ab ea é a raibh suim ar leith aige sa mbéaloideas agus san amhránaíocht thraidisiúnta.

Tá curtha síos ag Micheál Ó Conghaile ar an gCadhnach mar ‘an tríú cos ar an stól in éineacht le Beckett agus Joyce’ (Nic Eoin 2017) i gcanóin na hÉireann. Is fíor a rá, áfach, gurb é an forlámhas atá ag an mBéarla i réimsí na foilsitheoireachta agus na critice is cúis leis gur mó i bhfad an aird chriticiúil atá faighte ag an mbeirt scríbhneoirí Béarla siúd as ceolmhaireacht a gcuid saothair.

Ach le blianta beaga anuas, tá taighde ar an gceol i scríbhneoireacht Uí Chadhain ag bailiú nirt. Tá scoláirí ar nós Aingeal Ní Chualáin, Máirín Nic Eoin, agus Radvan Markus tar éis díriú ar an ábhar seo, cé gur cás-staidéir iad ar théamaí nó scéalta ar leith den chuid is mó.

Cuireann mo thionscadal féin cloch mhór ar an gcarn úr taighde seo. Tarraingeofar le chéile gach snáth den cheol, den damhsa, agus den amhránaíocht dá bhfuil i saothar Uí Chadhain mar chuid de mhórstaidéar acadúil, arb é an t-iniúchadh is leithne go dtí seo é. Tá sé i gceist agam cothrom na Féinne a thabhairt don Chadhnach agus don Ghaeilge i measc an léinn dhomhanda ar an gceol sa nualitríocht.

Idir athchlónna agus aistriúcháin i líon mór teangacha sna blianta anuas, tá glúin nua léitheoirí ag teacht ar shaothar Uí Chadhain. Táthar ag cruthú naisc nuálacha lena shaothar inár ré dhigiteach, ar sampla é an dráma Máirtín agus Jenny From the Block le hEoin P. Ó Murchú, Emma Ní Chearúil, agus Cúán de Búrca a léiríodh le déanaí (tá léirmheas anseo).

Is mian liom tógáil air seo trí bhéim a leagan ar thaibhléiriú an cheoil agus na n-amhrán. Áitíonn Therese Vilmar (2020) go gcothaíonn an ceol sa litríocht ‘braistint éisteachta’ in intinn an léitheora. Táim ag iarraidh an bhraistint seo a thabhairt chun beochta, ag cruthú ‘spásanna éisteachta’ idirghníomhacha trí cheardlanna agus imeachtaí poiblí a reáchtáil, agus cartlann físe agus fuaime ar líne a bhunú ina mbaileofar taifeadtaí de na hamhráin atá luaite i saothar Uí Chadhain le go mbeifear in ann éisteacht leo agus na scéalta á léamh. Agus mé i mo cheoltóir féin, aithním go mór an chaoi ar féidir leis an gceol, i bhfocail an Chadhnaigh féin, a bheith ina ‘shreang bheo’ don léitheoir.

Táim buíoch as tacaíocht na Comhairle a ligfidh dom m’fhís a thabhairt chun críche trí  theagmhálacha a chothú le pobail léitheoireachta agus critice, agus a chabhróidh leis na próisis chruthaitheachta agus theicniúla a chinnteoidh go gcuirfear an chartlann ar líne ar bun.

Nóta beathaisnéise

Comhalta Iardhochtúireachta de chuid na Comhairle um Thaighde in Éirinn is ea an Dr Chris McCann. Tá sé lonnaithe i Roinn na Gaeilge agus Institiúid de Móra in Ollscoil na Gaillimhe. Is de bhunadh Perth na hAstráile é Chris, agus tá suim aige sa gceangal idir an ceol agus an litríocht. Is é an t-ainm atá ar a thionscadal ná “Ag seinm a rúnphort: an ceol, an damhsa agus an amhránaíocht i saothar Mháirtín Uí Chadhain”.

Music in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Fiction

The presence of music as a symbolic or narrative device is a hallmark of literary modernism and is a technique used often by Irish writers. One such author is Máirtín Ó Cadhain (1906-1970), a pioneer of Irish-language modernist fiction with a great appreciation for folklore and traditional song.

Although Micheál Ó Conghaile has described Ó Cadhain as the ‘third leg on the stool’ (Nic Eoin 2017) in the Irish modernist literary canon alongside the English-language writers James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, it would be fair to say that the latter authors have gained far more widespread critical recognition for their musicality because of the historical dominance of English within publishing and criticism.

In recent years, though, research on music in Ó Cadhain’s writing is gathering momentum. Scholars such as Aingeal Ní Chualáin, Máirín Nic Eoin, and Radvan Markus have directed their attention to the subject, but for the most part these represent case studies on particular themes or stories.

My own project draws together all threads of music, dance, and song from Ó Cadhain’s fiction in a large-scale academic analysis, and is the widest-reaching inquiry on Ó Cadhain’s use of music to date. This represents a vital contribution to this area of Ó Cadhain studies, and its size and breadth gives deserved recognition to Ó Cadhain’s work, and to the Irish language, within the broader field of Word and Music Studies.

Recent reprints and translations into a wide variety of languages have brought a new generation of readers to Máirtín Ó Cadhain. Innovative connections with his work are being created in the digital age, such as the recently-staged new drama Máirtín agus Jenny from the Block by Eoin P. Ó Murchu, Emma Ní Chearúil, and Cúán de Búrca.

Building on this, I am looking at fresh ways to connect with the communities of readers of Ó Cadhain’s work, primarily by emphasising music and song as performance. As Therese Vilmar argues, the presence of music in literature instigates a ‘feeling of hearing’ (2020) in the reader’s mind. My project aims to make this feeling live, creating an interactive ‘listening space’ through public events and workshops as well as an online audiovisual archive, gathering together recordings of the songs that are featured in Ó Cadhain’s work so they can be listened to alongside the written fiction. As a musician myself, I am hugely aware of how music can function, to borrow a phrase of Ó Cadhain’s, as a ‘live wire’ in the reading process.

I am grateful for the Irish Research Council’s support that will allow me to bring my vision to fruition, through fostering connections with critical and reading communities, as well as assisting the creative and technical processes that will ensure the establishment of the online archive.

Researcher biography

Dr Chris McCann is an Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow in Irish and the Moore Institute at the University of Galway. Originally from Perth, Australia, he is especially interested in the connections between music and literature. His research project is entitled “Singing his secret tunes: music, dance, and song in Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s fiction”.