À la claire Fontaine : un poète gaélique au Maghreb

Byrne, M. (2017) À la claire Fontaine : un poète gaélique au Maghreb. Bretagne Linguistique, 21, pp. 209-238.

Abstract

This article introduces the work of the multilingual Scottish poet George Campbell Hay (1915–1984) to a Francophone readership. After providing the necessary biographical and cultural background and outlining the main characteristics of Hay’s published work, the article focuses on Hay’s reading of French Resistance literary journals during his period of wartime service in North Africa, in particular Fontaine (founded 1939, Algiers), and identifies traces of their influence on Hay’s poetic discourse of heroic duty and his poetry of war, including his most celebrated poem ‘Bisearta’. It is suggested that the intellectual vigour of this Resistance writing played a significant part in the maturing of Hay’s philosophical thought and poetic discourse, and the development of his transcultural/translinguistic literary experiments. The article offers polished translations into French of two of Hay’s major Gaelic poems (‘Atman’ and ‘Bisearta’) as well as of shorter quotes from a variety of other poems.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Byrne, Dr Michel
• Authors: Byrne, M.
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > DC France; P Language and Literature > PB Modern European Languages
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Celtic and Gaelic
• Journal Name: Bretagne Linguistique
• Publisher: Centre de Recherche Bretonne et Celtique
• ISSN: 1270-2412
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 Centre de recherche bretonne et celtique
• First Published: First published in La Bretagne Linguistique 21: 209-238
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced with the permission of the Editor