Abstract
As Fintan Walsh and Sara Brady have advocated: “in the case of Irish culture, […] orality has played a far greater historical and sociocultural role than ‘text’”; consequently song has been integral to the construction and performance of Irish identities. This in turn, has resulted in a prevalence of song-forms within the Irish play. For this reason, rather than treating the songs as mere embellishments to the dramatic work, I hypothesize that songs constitute accretions, or repositories of ‘social memory,’ with the potential to profoundly affect an audience’s reception. In this essay, I examine Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1964), a play which many observers contend, dramatized Ireland’s transition in the early 1960s, from de Valeran traditionalism to the modernisation espoused by Seán Lemass. Through offering a close reading of the play, and drawing upon a range of sources to contextualise the discourse, the essay analyses Friel’s application of song to argue that the play, in fact, reflected Ireland’s entry into a globalized modern age characterized by systems of cultural exchange, which lay outside the purview of political sanctions. Central to the argument is Friel’s multilayered juxtaposition of traditional Irish song, with American influenced popular music. This connotes a cultural agon embodied within the protagonist, Gar O’Donnell, which in turn commented upon a young generation’s abnegation of Irish traditional song (and its associations with an old order), and their embracement of a fluid and dynamic American culture, epitomised by the success of the Irish Showbands in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
About the author
Works Cited
Primary Literature
Bolger, Dermot. In High Germany. Plays One. London: Methuen Drama, 2000. 69–100.Suche in Google Scholar
Boyd, Pom. Down Onto Blue. Rough Magic: First Plays. Dublin: New Island Books, 1999. 181–256.Suche in Google Scholar
Friel, Brian. Aristocrats. Plays One. London: Faber and Faber, 1996. 247–326.Suche in Google Scholar
—. Dancing at Lughnasa. Plays Two. London: Faber and Faber, 1999. 1–108.Suche in Google Scholar
—. Philadelphia, Here I Come! London: Faber and Faber, 1985.Suche in Google Scholar
Gregory, Lady Augusta. The Boogie Men. New Comedies by Lady Gregory. New York: G. P. Putnam, 1913. 1–24.Suche in Google Scholar
Hughes, Declan. Digging for Fire. Plays One. London: Methuen Drama, 1998. 1–75.Suche in Google Scholar
Murphy, John. The Country Boy. Dublin: Progress House, 1960Suche in Google Scholar
Murphy, Tom. A Crucial Week in the Life of a Grocer’s Assistant. Plays 4. London: Methuen, 1997. 89–164.Suche in Google Scholar
Waterhouse, Keith. Billy Liar. London: Penguin Books, 2010.Suche in Google Scholar
Secondary Literature
Almeida, Linda Dowling. Irish Immigrants in New York City, 1945–1995. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2001.10.2307/j.ctt20060pnSuche in Google Scholar
Bernstein, Leonard, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green. “New York, New York.” On the Town, 1944.Suche in Google Scholar
Boltwood, Scott. Brian Friel, Ireland, and the North. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007.10.1017/CBO9780511486012Suche in Google Scholar
Brown, Terence. Ireland: A Social and Cultural History 1922–79. London: Fontana, 1981.Suche in Google Scholar
Cannon, Freddy. The Explosive! Freddy Cannon. Swan, 1960.Suche in Google Scholar
Casey, Ronan. Joe Dolan: The Official Biography. Dublin: Penguin Ireland, 2008.Suche in Google Scholar
Clark, Rosalind. The Great Queens: Irish Goddesses from the Morrigan to Cathleen Ni´ Houlihan. Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1991.Suche in Google Scholar
Cory, George, and Douglass Cross. “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Columbia, 1954.Suche in Google Scholar
Dean, Maury. Rock N Roll Gold Rush: A Singles Un-Cyclopedia. New York: Algora Publishing, 2003.Suche in Google Scholar
Dylan, Bob. “The Times They Are A-Changin.” The Times They Are A-Changin.’ Columbia, 1964.Suche in Google Scholar
Fireman, Janet R. “Dear to Me.” California History 84.1 (2006). 2.10.2307/25161853Suche in Google Scholar
Forbes, Bronwen. Make Merry In Step and Song: A Seasonal Treasury of Music, Mummer’s Plays and Celebrations in the English Folk Tradition. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2009.Suche in Google Scholar
Foster, R. F. Modern Ireland: 1600–1972. London: Penguin, 1988.Suche in Google Scholar
Freddy Cannon: The Boom Boom Man. 21 June 2012 <http://www.freddycannon.com/default.htm>.Suche in Google Scholar
French, Percy. “Mountains of Mourne.” Songs of Ireland. Ed. Mel Bay. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 1991. 16.Suche in Google Scholar
Friel, Brian. “In Interview with Des Hickey and Gus Smith (1972).” Brian Friel: Essays, Diaries, Interviews, 1964–1999. Ed. Christopher Murray. London: Faber, 1999. 47–50.Suche in Google Scholar
—. “In Interview with Desmond Rushe.” Brian Friel: Essays, Diaries, Interviews, 1964–1999. Ed. Christopher Murray. London: Faber, 1999. 25–34.Suche in Google Scholar
Hamm, Charles. Yesterdays: Popular Song in America. New York: Norton, 1983.Suche in Google Scholar
Heaney, Seamus. Introduction. A Centenary Selection of Moore’s Melodies. Ed. David Hammond. Skerries: G. Dalton, 1979. 8–9.Suche in Google Scholar
Hilliard, Bob. “From the Candy Store on the Corner to the Chapel on the Hill.” Columbia, 1956.Suche in Google Scholar
Huntington, Gale, ed. Sam Henry’s Songs of the People. Athens, GA: U of Georgia P, 1990.Suche in Google Scholar
Irish Charts. 21 June 2012 <http://www.irishcharts.ie/>.Suche in Google Scholar
Irish Independent. May 30 1960.Suche in Google Scholar
“John B. Keane’s New Play to be Premiered in Cork.” Kerryman 1 July 1961.Suche in Google Scholar
“Killorglin.” Kerryman 7 Jan. 1956.Suche in Google Scholar
Lagan, Peter. “Brought Tears to the Cheeks of Dancers.” Irish Press 7 Jan. 1964.Suche in Google Scholar
Ledbetter, Gordon T. John McCormack: The Great Irish Tenor. Dublin: Town House, 2003.Suche in Google Scholar
Lee, Joseph. Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1989.Suche in Google Scholar
Lennon, Peter. Rev. of Philadelphia, Here I Come! Philadelphia, Here I Come! London: Faber and Faber, 1985.Suche in Google Scholar
Loesberg, John. Folksongs and Ballads Popular in Ireland. Ed. John Loesberg. Vol. 1. Cork: Ossian Publication, 1979.Suche in Google Scholar
McCarthy, Marie. “Music Education in the Emergent Nation State.” Music in Ireland: 1848–1998. Ed. Richard Pine. Cork: Mercier, 1998. 65–75.Suche in Google Scholar
McLoone, Martin. Inventions and Re-imaginings: Some thoughts on Identity and Broadcasting in Ireland. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University Belfast, 1991.Suche in Google Scholar
Miller, Kerby, and Paul Wagner. Out of Ireland: The Story of Irish Emigration to America. London: Arum, 1994.Suche in Google Scholar
Miller, Rebecca S. “Irish Traditional and Popular Music in New York City: Identity and Social Change, 1930–1975.” The New York Irish. Eds. Ronald H. Bayor and Timothy J. Meagher. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP, 1996. 481–507.Suche in Google Scholar
Neary, Peter. “The Failure of Economic Nationalism.” The Crane Bag 8.1 (1984): 68–77.Suche in Google Scholar
O’Connor, Nuala. Bringing It All Back Home: The Influence of Irish Music. London: BBC Books, 1991.Suche in Google Scholar
O’Connor, William Van. “Two Types of ‘Heroes’ in Post-War British Fiction.” PMLA 77.1 (1962): 168–174. JSTOR 30 March 2012 <http://www.jstor.org/>.10.2307/460701Suche in Google Scholar
O’Doherty, E. F. “Society, Identity and Change.” Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review 52.26 (1963): 125–135.Suche in Google Scholar
O’Keefe, Finbar. Goodnight, God Bless, and Safe Home: The Golden Showband Era. Dublin: O’Brien Press, 2002.Suche in Google Scholar
Ó Madagáin, Breandán. “Functions of Irish Song in the Nineteenth Century.” Béaloideas Iml. 53 (1985): 130–216. JSTOR 11 January 2011 <http://www.jstor.org/>.10.2307/20522261Suche in Google Scholar
O’Toole, Fintan. “Island of Saints and Silicon: Literature and Social Change in Contemporary Ireland.” Cultural Contexts and Literary Idioms in Contemporary Irish Literature. Ed. Michael Kenneally. Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1988. 11–35.Suche in Google Scholar
—. Tom Murphy: The Politics of Magic. Dublin: New Island Books, 1994.Suche in Google Scholar
Palmer, Roy. Everyman’s Book of British Ballads. London: Dent, 1980.Suche in Google Scholar
Partridge, Eric. A Dictionary of Catch Phrases from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day. London: Taylor & Francis, 2005.Suche in Google Scholar
Peel, Tom, and John Stratton. Seventy Years of Issues: Historical Vocal 78rpm Pressings from Original Masters, 1931–2001. Toronto: Dundurn P, 2001.Suche in Google Scholar
Pine, Richard. Brian Friel and Ireland’s Drama. London: Routledge, 1990.Suche in Google Scholar
“The Poor Little Fisher Boy.” Everyman’s Book of British Ballads. Ed. Roy Palmer. London: Dent, 1980. 99–100.Suche in Google Scholar
Rich, Frank. “A Family As Symbol of Ireland’s Troubles.” Rev. of Aristocrats. New York Times 26 April 1989.Suche in Google Scholar
Richards, Shaun. “Brian Friel: Seizing the Moment of Flux.” Irish University Review 30.2 (2000): 254–271.Suche in Google Scholar
—. “Polemics on the Irish Past: The ‘Return to the Source’ in Irish Literary Revivals.” History Workshop 31 (1991): 120–135.10.1093/hwj/31.1.120Suche in Google Scholar
Roach, Joseph. “Barnumizing Diaspora: The ‘Irish Skylark’ Does New Orleans.” Theatre Journal 50.1 (1998): 39–51.10.1353/tj.1998.0030Suche in Google Scholar
Roche, Anthony. “Family Affairs: Friel’s Plays of the Late 1970s.” The Cambridge Companion to Brian Friel. Ed. Anthony Roche. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. 41–52.Suche in Google Scholar
Rock, Dickie, and Tony McCullagh. Always Me. Dublin: Merlin Publishing, 2007.Suche in Google Scholar
Smith, Gus, and Des Hickey. John B., the Real Keane: A Biography. Dublin: Mercier P, 1992.Suche in Google Scholar
Smyth, Gerry. Noisy Island. Cork: Cork UP, 2005.Suche in Google Scholar
“TE Image Projection Criticised.” Irish Press 8 September 1964.Suche in Google Scholar
“Television and Radio.” Irish Press 8 December 1964.Suche in Google Scholar
Tracy, Robert. “The Russian Connection: Friel and Chekhov.” Brian Friel. Spec. issue of Irish University Review 29.1 (1999): 64–77.Suche in Google Scholar
White, Harry. Music and the Irish Literary Imagination. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008.Suche in Google Scholar
—. The Keeper’s Recital. Cork: Cork UP in association with Field Day, 1998.Suche in Google Scholar
“Window on Youth.” The Meath Chronicle 22 February 1964.Suche in Google Scholar
Wright, Robert L., ed. Irish Emigrant Ballads and Songs. Bowling Green: Bowling Green UP, 1975.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2013 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- What Narrative? What Dissent?: Refractive Visions of India in M. Duras’s India Song and M. Padmanabhan’s Harvest
- The Political with a Small p: A Re-evaluation of Brian Friel’s The Freedom of the City
- ‘Gar O’Donnell and the Philadelphia’: Traditional Song and ‘The Irish Showband’ in Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1964)
- Non-Productive Expenditure and Sam Shepard’s States of Shock: A Performance of Waste
- Sarah Kane’s Blasted – Genesis of the Subject
- “Theatre Matters”: Discovering the True Self in Terrence McNally’s Dedication
- Asyntactic Contact with Fleshless Words: Con/tactile Aesth/Ethics in The Castle
- Wendy Aarons & Theresa J. May(eds.).Readings in Performance and Ecology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, 256 pp., $59.49.
- Chris Megson. Modern British Playwriting: The 1970s. London: Methuen Drama, 2012, xii + 299 pp., $90.00 (hardback), $27.95 (paperback), $26.99 (PDF ebook). Jane Milling. Modern British Playwriting: The 1980s. London: Methuen Drama, 2012, xii + 313 pp., $90.00 (hardback), $27.95 (paperback), $26.99 (PDF ebook). Aleks Sierz. Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s. London: Methuen Drama, 2012. X + 277 pp., $90.00 (hardback), $27.95 (paperback), $26.99 (PDF ebook).
- Elaine Aston and Geraldine Harris.A Good Night Out for the Girls: Popular Feminisms in Contemporary Theatre and Performance. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 218 pp.
- Ulrike Behlau-Dengler. Zakhor! Remembering the British-Jewish Experience in British-Jewish Drama after 1945, CDE Studies 21, Trier: WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2011, 492 pp., € 48.50.
- Lilian Chambers & Eamonn Jordan (eds.). The Theatre of Conor McPherson. ‘Right beside the Beyond’. Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2012, 309 pp., € 44.99
- Frances Babbage. Re-visioning Myth: Modern and Contemporary Drama by Women. New York: Manchester UP, 2011, x + 261 pp., $85.50.
- Victor Merriman. ‘Because we are poor’: Irish Theatre in the 1990s. Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2011, 250 pp., € 20.00.
- Wiegmink, Pia. Protest EnACTed: Activist Performance in the Contemporary United States. Heidelberg: Winter, 2011, 434 pp., € 54.00.
- Stephen Greer. Contemporary British Queer Performance. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan 2012, 245 pp., £ 47.38.
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- What Narrative? What Dissent?: Refractive Visions of India in M. Duras’s India Song and M. Padmanabhan’s Harvest
- The Political with a Small p: A Re-evaluation of Brian Friel’s The Freedom of the City
- ‘Gar O’Donnell and the Philadelphia’: Traditional Song and ‘The Irish Showband’ in Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1964)
- Non-Productive Expenditure and Sam Shepard’s States of Shock: A Performance of Waste
- Sarah Kane’s Blasted – Genesis of the Subject
- “Theatre Matters”: Discovering the True Self in Terrence McNally’s Dedication
- Asyntactic Contact with Fleshless Words: Con/tactile Aesth/Ethics in The Castle
- Wendy Aarons & Theresa J. May(eds.).Readings in Performance and Ecology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, 256 pp., $59.49.
- Chris Megson. Modern British Playwriting: The 1970s. London: Methuen Drama, 2012, xii + 299 pp., $90.00 (hardback), $27.95 (paperback), $26.99 (PDF ebook). Jane Milling. Modern British Playwriting: The 1980s. London: Methuen Drama, 2012, xii + 313 pp., $90.00 (hardback), $27.95 (paperback), $26.99 (PDF ebook). Aleks Sierz. Modern British Playwriting: The 1990s. London: Methuen Drama, 2012. X + 277 pp., $90.00 (hardback), $27.95 (paperback), $26.99 (PDF ebook).
- Elaine Aston and Geraldine Harris.A Good Night Out for the Girls: Popular Feminisms in Contemporary Theatre and Performance. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 218 pp.
- Ulrike Behlau-Dengler. Zakhor! Remembering the British-Jewish Experience in British-Jewish Drama after 1945, CDE Studies 21, Trier: WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2011, 492 pp., € 48.50.
- Lilian Chambers & Eamonn Jordan (eds.). The Theatre of Conor McPherson. ‘Right beside the Beyond’. Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2012, 309 pp., € 44.99
- Frances Babbage. Re-visioning Myth: Modern and Contemporary Drama by Women. New York: Manchester UP, 2011, x + 261 pp., $85.50.
- Victor Merriman. ‘Because we are poor’: Irish Theatre in the 1990s. Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2011, 250 pp., € 20.00.
- Wiegmink, Pia. Protest EnACTed: Activist Performance in the Contemporary United States. Heidelberg: Winter, 2011, 434 pp., € 54.00.
- Stephen Greer. Contemporary British Queer Performance. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan 2012, 245 pp., £ 47.38.