Introduction In the aftermath of the 11th September attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001, travellers around the world began to see a massive increase in security measures in airports, ports, train stations, and land borders. These are the visible ports of entry at the limits of a sovereign territory: where desirables are granted […]
Author: Christopher McAteer
The Wasting Sickness of Cu Chulaind
Cu Chulaind, sick as you are, There’s no use to wait. If they were your kin they’d aid you, Those daughters of Aed Abrat. In husky tones Li Ban spoke, With Labraid Luathlam at his right: “The daughter Fand desires one thing: To sleep with Cu Chulaind this night. “’A Joyous day it […]
Heritages
The bloody baptism of the young Which so stained their tongues And bogged their minds Finds no release In the reverence of a god At the expense of man. Christopher Mc Ateer
Postmodernity and Cultural Stagnation
Introduction It is possible to chart a strong historical narrative through the history of Western classical music from the Renaissance through the mid-20th century. To conceive of such a narrative is to indulge in historicism which may not always match historical reality on the more local scale. But the forming of such a historical narrative […]
Among the H’mongs
It’s best leaving Hanoi at night, at least in monsoon season, when the days are heavy and close. The evenings are too, the heat never really leaving much, but the sun isn’t there to burn your neck. I had thought leaving the mundanity of London would provide so many new things to look at and […]
Modernising Mythology: A Historical and Cultural Study of Mozart’s Idomeneo
Idomeneo came from the deepest necessity of Mozart’s creativity; from the need to express the new-found maturity of his work, from the acute pain of his mother’s death and the impossible relations with his father. It is a work of tradition, re-evaluation, recreation, and yet also of innovation and of the Zeitgeist. Mozart shapes the […]