Migrating myths: From Greece to Nicaragua, Mexico and Ireland
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2018Author
Shaughnessy, Lorna
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Shaughnessy, Lorna. (2018). Migrating Myths: From Greece to Nicaragua, Mexico and Ireland. Irish Migration Studies in Latin America, 9(1).
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Abstract
Michèle Najlis is a Nicaraguan poet associated with the
Sandinista Revolution; her 1991 collection of poems Cantos de Ifigenia
(Songs of Iphigenia) has had a deep and lasting impact on my academic
and creative work. This article analyses the political context in which
Najlis’ poems were written, and examines how she deploys the
mythical narrative of Iphigenia’s sacrifice to communicate the mood of
disillusionment and despair that followed the defeat of the Sandinistas
in the 1990 elections, particularly for women activists. It explores the
ways in which this mythical narrative has served as a vehicle to explore
themes such as war and betrayal, comparing Euripides’ plays, Iphigenia
in Aulis and Iphigenia among the Taurians, Najlis’ Cantos de Ifigenia, and
some of my own poetry and 2017 theatre piece, The Sacrificial Wind.