Unsettled Writing: Tracing the Literary Heritage of Irish Travellers
摘要
Storytelling is central to the intangible cultural heritage of the Irish Traveller community. For centuries, tales have been passed down orally within families and shared across generations, serving as a vital means of cultural succession. This chapter charts the development of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of Irish Traveller in literature, focusing primarily on fiction. Irish Traveller culture has only recently become literary, and the chapter first examines early representations in British literature which portray the Traveller as an otherworldly being. Afterwards, the efforts of Irish Cultural Revival to situate Travellers withing Irish cultural heritage are scrutinised. Finally, the work of a contemporary folklorist author, Oein DeBharduin is examined in context of the preceding developments. Through this exploration, the chapter highlights the enduring role of oral traditions in passing down ICH across generations and the challenges associated with documenting these traditions in written form. It also shows how the literary heritage of Irish Traveller includes the perspective of settled writers often writing from a distant point of view, as well as the long-standing Traveller oral tradition which has recently assumed literary form. Both British and Irish texts are examined in this chapter as the cultural heritage of Irish Traveller transcends the border between Ireland and Britain. Members of the community have historically inhabited both islands and their culture and custom have been often comixed with that of other itinerant groups of Britain and Ireland. This confusion is reflected in the representation of Irish Travellers especially during the long nineteenth century. Texts which treated the representation of “travellers and gypsies” freely are also examined in light of their influence on the cultural heritage of Irish Traveller. Finally, the shift within the Traveller Community from orality to writing embodied in the work of Oein DeBharduin is considered in the context the study of Irish Traveller origin and any shared cultural heritage between the settled Irish population and the Irish Traveller.