McGuckian and Politics

As the reader unfolds the complexities of a written piece, clarity of subject, issue, vision, or aesthetic motivation can become revealed. However, at times, the unfolding process leads simply to the exposure of more folds, calling for more action from the reader, more sincere thought, more in-depth study, or more shoulder shrugging. Readings of Medbh McGuckian’s poetry often result in all of these actions, proving that her work is one of complexity and character. But even though complexity can be a determined attribute of a writer’s work, that doesn’t necessarily mean that that writer’s intention was simply to create a befuddling mess or problem. Within McGuckian’s verse, themes of familial female presence, as well as that presence in the world, combined with concrete and symbolic images of domesticity and incidence of color come through to make her work both influential and accessible. Her societal position, being a female writer living in Northern Ireland during the late twentieth century, has caused some to refer to her as a political poet. Yet, it seems that much of her poetry, while reflective of situations and incidences of the state that many women, similar in caste to her, may be in, aren’t distinctly political poems. The political poem should do more than just reflect. In a way, it should act like a speech, rather than a photograph. When an artist creates a portrayal, even if that portrayal in someway transcends the event or object that it is representing, the “politicalness” is often concluded not by the writer before the piece was created, but by the reader who is experiencing it. Does that mean that the work itself is political in nature? Does that mean that the writer himself or herself is politically motivated? Or does that just mean that the interpretation is what carries the societal implications?

McGuckian,