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Natasha
Sumner

7 publications between 2010 and 2020 indexed

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Works edited

North American Gaels: speech, story, and song in the diaspora

Sumner, Natasha, and Aidan Doyle (eds), North American Gaels: speech, story, and song in the diaspora, Montreal & Kingston, London, Chicago: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2020.  

abstract:

A mere 150 years ago Scottish Gaelic was the third most widely spoken language in Canada, and Irish was spoken by hundreds of thousands of people in the United States. A new awareness of the large North American Gaelic diaspora, long overlooked by historians, folklorists, and literary scholars, has emerged in recent decades.

North American Gaels, representing the first tandem exploration of these related migrant ethnic groups, examines the myriad ways Gaelic-speaking immigrants from marginalized societies have negotiated cultural spaces for themselves in their new homeland. In the macaronic verses of a Newfoundland fisherman, the pointed addresses of an Ontario essayist, the compositions of a Montana miner, and lively exchanges in newspapers from Cape Breton to Boston to New York, these groups proclaim their presence in vibrant traditional modes fluently adapted to suit North American climes. Through careful investigations of this diasporic Gaelic narrative and its context, from the mid-eighteenth century to the twenty-first, the book treats such overarching themes as the sociolinguistics of minority languages, connection with one's former home, and the tension between the desire for modernity and the enduring influence of tradition.

Staking a claim for Gaelic studies on this continent, North American Gaels shines new light on the ways Irish and Scottish Gaels have left an enduring mark through speech, story, and song.

abstract:

A mere 150 years ago Scottish Gaelic was the third most widely spoken language in Canada, and Irish was spoken by hundreds of thousands of people in the United States. A new awareness of the large North American Gaelic diaspora, long overlooked by historians, folklorists, and literary scholars, has emerged in recent decades.

North American Gaels, representing the first tandem exploration of these related migrant ethnic groups, examines the myriad ways Gaelic-speaking immigrants from marginalized societies have negotiated cultural spaces for themselves in their new homeland. In the macaronic verses of a Newfoundland fisherman, the pointed addresses of an Ontario essayist, the compositions of a Montana miner, and lively exchanges in newspapers from Cape Breton to Boston to New York, these groups proclaim their presence in vibrant traditional modes fluently adapted to suit North American climes. Through careful investigations of this diasporic Gaelic narrative and its context, from the mid-eighteenth century to the twenty-first, the book treats such overarching themes as the sociolinguistics of minority languages, connection with one's former home, and the tension between the desire for modernity and the enduring influence of tradition.

Staking a claim for Gaelic studies on this continent, North American Gaels shines new light on the ways Irish and Scottish Gaels have left an enduring mark through speech, story, and song.

Contributions to journals

A version of Diarmaid agus Gráinne attributed to three storytellers

Sumner, Natasha, “A version of Diarmaid agus Gráinne attributed to three storytellers”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 66 (2019): 179–212.  

abstract:

Dieser Aufsatz enthält Erörterung, Text und englische Übersetzung der Version der Geschichte über Diarmaid und Gráinne, die 1930 nach Seán Mac Con Rís Erzählung niedergeschrieben wurde. Die Erörterung stellt zuerst den Erzähler und den Sammler vor. Als Nächstes wird auf den höchst ungewöhnlichen Umstand eingegangen, dass zwei spätere Märchensammler zwei weiteren Erzählern im Wesentlichen dieselbe Geschichte zuschreiben. Im Weiteren wird sowohl dargelegt, dass alle drei Texte als eine einzige Version (erzählt von Mac Con Rí) zu betrachten sind, als auch, dass nicht von einer Unehrlichkeit seitens des zweiten und dritten Sammlers auszugehen ist. Schließlich wird die Beziehung der Erzählung von Mac Con Rí zur breiteren Erzähltradition über Diarmaid und Gráinne betrachtet.

abstract:

Dieser Aufsatz enthält Erörterung, Text und englische Übersetzung der Version der Geschichte über Diarmaid und Gráinne, die 1930 nach Seán Mac Con Rís Erzählung niedergeschrieben wurde. Die Erörterung stellt zuerst den Erzähler und den Sammler vor. Als Nächstes wird auf den höchst ungewöhnlichen Umstand eingegangen, dass zwei spätere Märchensammler zwei weiteren Erzählern im Wesentlichen dieselbe Geschichte zuschreiben. Im Weiteren wird sowohl dargelegt, dass alle drei Texte als eine einzige Version (erzählt von Mac Con Rí) zu betrachten sind, als auch, dass nicht von einer Unehrlichkeit seitens des zweiten und dritten Sammlers auszugehen ist. Schließlich wird die Beziehung der Erzählung von Mac Con Rí zur breiteren Erzähltradition über Diarmaid und Gráinne betrachtet.

Fionn mac Cumhaill in twenty-first-century Ireland

Sumner, Natasha, “Fionn mac Cumhaill in twenty-first-century Ireland”, North American Journal of Celtic Studies 1:1 (May, 2017): 82–106.  

abstract:

This article surveys the corpus of Fenian narrative available in twenty-first-century Ireland. The socio-political situation during the Celtic Revival era that enabled the continued production of Fenian texts into the present moment is first examined. Revivalist engagements with Fenian narrative, including publishing, folklore collection, and educational activities, are briefly traced. The connection between cultural and political nationalism in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Ireland emerges as a key factor in the establishment of the Fianna as cultural symbols for the modern Irish nation—a position which they continue to hold. The remainder of the article explores the twenty-first-century Fenian narrative corpus and traces areas of continuity and development with relation to the revival-era corpus. Areas of consideration include Fenian material in school textbooks, in children's literature and media, and in literature and media for older audiences, including books of heritage and tourist interest. Consideration is given to both English- and Irish-language sources.

abstract:

This article surveys the corpus of Fenian narrative available in twenty-first-century Ireland. The socio-political situation during the Celtic Revival era that enabled the continued production of Fenian texts into the present moment is first examined. Revivalist engagements with Fenian narrative, including publishing, folklore collection, and educational activities, are briefly traced. The connection between cultural and political nationalism in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Ireland emerges as a key factor in the establishment of the Fianna as cultural symbols for the modern Irish nation—a position which they continue to hold. The remainder of the article explores the twenty-first-century Fenian narrative corpus and traces areas of continuity and development with relation to the revival-era corpus. Areas of consideration include Fenian material in school textbooks, in children's literature and media, and in literature and media for older audiences, including books of heritage and tourist interest. Consideration is given to both English- and Irish-language sources.

A night of storytelling and years in the ‘Z-Closet’: the re-discovery and restoration of Oidhche sheanchais, Robert Flaherty's ‘lost’ Irish folklore film

Sumner, Natasha, Barbara Hillers, and Catherine McKenna, “A night of storytelling and years in the ‘Z-Closet’: the re-discovery and restoration of Oidhche sheanchais, Robert Flaherty's ‘lost’ Irish folklore film”, Folklore: The Journal of the Folklore Society 126:1 (March, 2015): 1–19.  

abstract:

This article describes the acquisition by Harvard University's library of a print of Robert Flaherty's short 1934 film in the Irish language, Oidhche Sheanchais (A night of storytelling), the apparent disappearance of all copies of the film after 1943, the rediscovery of Harvard's copy in 2012, and the restoration process that has ensued. The authors discuss the song and the maritime legend at the heart of the film, as well as the film's significance as an early ethnodocumentary. The Appendix provides, for the first time, the text of the film's soundtrack, with full English translation.

abstract:

This article describes the acquisition by Harvard University's library of a print of Robert Flaherty's short 1934 film in the Irish language, Oidhche Sheanchais (A night of storytelling), the apparent disappearance of all copies of the film after 1943, the rediscovery of Harvard's copy in 2012, and the restoration process that has ensued. The authors discuss the song and the maritime legend at the heart of the film, as well as the film's significance as an early ethnodocumentary. The Appendix provides, for the first time, the text of the film's soundtrack, with full English translation.

Contributions to edited collections or authored works

Laoidh an tàilleir ‘The ballad of the tailor’: sartorial satire and social change in eighteenth-century Scotland

Sumner, Natasha, “Laoidh an tàilleir ‘The ballad of the tailor’: sartorial satire and social change in eighteenth-century Scotland”, in: Anders Ahlqvist, and Pamela OʼNeill (eds), Celts and their cultures at home and abroad: a Festschrift for Malcolm Broun, 15, Sydney: Celtic Studies Foundation, University of Sydney, 2013. 327–347.