On National Identity In Paul Muldoon's Poetry

In contemporary English poetic circle, Paul Muldoon is no doubt a spectacular one. As a poet who holds the post of both the president of Poetry Society (U.K.) and Oxford Professor of Poetry, Muldoon created more than thirty poetry anthologies which reaped its author a series of prestigious awards including Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T.S. Eliot Prize. Due to his excellent achievements, Muldoon is regarded as the second-most-eminent living poet in Northern Ireland after Seamus Heaney. Born In Northern Ireland, national identity becomes the focus o his works. From his early collections which reflected his identity perplexity to his later works in which he acquired diasporic identification, identity is always the main subject of his poetry.National and cultural identity is a hot topic in postcolonial criticism which occupies an important place in contemporary literary and cultural studies. It attaches much importance to the essence of nation and culture with national marks which not only reflects individual free will but also indicates the collective sense of belongings generated from tradition, religion, history, culture and society. The hybrid theory from Homi Bhabha emphasized the uncertain identity brought about by multi-cultural identity which led to identity perplexity; while the diaspora criticism under the global context shifted its focus to the constructive significance of multi-culture for the inclusive national identity which works as a way to transcend identity crisis.This thesis takes national identity as the research perspective and the Hybrid Theory of Homi Bhabha and the emerging Diaspora Criticism are applied to discuss Muldoon's concern of identity issue in different period so as to reflect the influence of particular historical-cultural context in Northern Ireland on Muldoon and his efforts to get rid of identity crisis and its significance. The thesis can be divided into six parts, including the Introduction, the Conclusion and four chapters that make up the Body.The Introduction briefly mentions the motivation, subject, range, research background as well as the theoretical method and basic thesis structure of this thesis.Chapter One discusses the close relationship between Irish literature and its political topic. It investigates in detail cause and aftermath of political and religious issues in Northern Ireland and the reflections of"The Troubles"in Muldoon's poetry.Chapter Two studies Muldoon's identity perplexity in his early works. The postcolonial terms"dislocation","escape"by Fanon,"exile"by Said and"hybrid"and"liminal space"by Bhabha are adopted to research poems as"Blemish","Mules","The Boundary Commission","Clonfeacle","Quoof"and"The Mixed Marriage"so as to reflect Muldoon's identity perplexity in three aspects: political ownership, religious minority and mixed cultural background.Chapter Three mainly analyzes Muldoon's contemplation on national identity and transcendence of identity crisis since his emigration to the United States. Diaspora Criticism is taken as the angle of view to investigate"Briefcase","Yarrow","Rainer Maria Rilke: The Unicorn","The Train","Hard Drive"and"Moy Sand and Gravel"from the perspectives of nature's inspiration and thought of life to study Muldoon's transcendence of identity crisis.Chapter Four mainly talks about the tradition and important significance of Irish diasporic writing in the 20th century. By investigating Irish diasporic writings since James Joyce in the 20th century to Samuel Becktt, Louis MacNeice, Derek Mahon and Paul Muldoon, the thesis signifies that Ireland is a nation that has the tradition of diasporic writing in the 20th century and the diasporic experience of Muldoon and his predecessors showed their thorough poetic reflection on Irish national and cultural identity.The conclusion comes as Muldoon gradually transcended his crisis of Irish national identity and gained and enjoyed the diasporic vision who not only got rid of his awkward identity perplexity but also provided a better suggestion to the Irish national reconciliation as well as the multicultural construction in the world.