because you were all wondering what I'm writing my dissertation on, here's a brief synopsis of my 'research context': When James Macpherson published his Fragments of Ancient Poetry in 1760, he went to great lengths to make the Fragments appear to be authentic remains of an ancient, heroic oral tradition. His reasons for this were largely political, and as such, influenced the content of the epics themselves. As an attempt to establish a particularly Scottish identity, the poems were quite effective. However, to do so required both a simplification and a manipulation of traditional mythology. Stripped of anagogical significance, the Ossian epics more or less represented an Enlightenment version of history, tradition, and mythic heritage. The stories themselves were changed by their very purpose and in turn changed the manner of representing myth in future narratives. Moreover, the emphasis on the Ossian epics as authentic tales from the past, as ‘fragments,’ served...
Yeah... I think three attainable goals is a good limit for myself. I may end up a wee bit overwhelmed with such a list as that.
ReplyDeleteSo how'd you do with those resolutions years back? Good on all of them? :-)
Agreed. The first three overwhelmed me... and there were so many more! You used to be so much more spiritual! Wherever did you go wrong?
ReplyDeletego wrong?? just 'cause i'm not a puritanical calvinist anymore... :P
ReplyDeleteyou'll see me 2009 resolutions tomorrow. usually it takes me till may or june to write up my resolves, but blogger has inspired me to punctuality. for the sake of my readers.
Are you guilt-ridden, by chance?
ReplyDeleteguilt-ridden... yes. always. but i am also guilty.
ReplyDelete