‘A Stranger to Herself’: The Pedagogical Presence of the Other in Paula Meehan’s Poetry

Abstract

In this age of globalization, interracial and cross-cultural encounters have become common aspects of everyday life. This paper aims to examine how Irish writer Paula Meehan engages in this global discourse of interculturality by articulating aspects of cross-cultural and inter-ethnical exchange. I subsequently link Meehan’s openness to cultural diversity and her alertness to the voices of the marginalised to the context of 21st century Ireland. The first section discusses Meehan’s subversive representations of the ‘internal’ Others of Irish society. Her depictions of otherness challenge the often rigid boundaries which define national and ethnic identities and open a liberating place which successfully accommodates diversity. The second section focuses on Meehan’s attempt to move away from the ethos of individual egotism which marks contemporary life. In particular, she advocates a model to confront the experiences of ‘foreigners’ based on the self-exploration of one’s own subconscious. In line with Kristeva’s argument, Meehan implies that discovering the ‘stranger’ hidden in oneself is an essential prerequisite to accept, in an unconditional and genuine way, the presence of external ‘Others’ in Irish society. While this can easily be dismissed as an abstract utopia, Meehan’s ideal becomes ethically and politically relevant in the contemporary context of a multi-cultural society open to large-scale immigration.