• myGriffith
    • Staff portal
    • Contact Us⌄
      • Future student enquiries 1800 677 728
      • Current student enquiries 1800 154 055
      • International enquiries +61 7 3735 6425
      • General enquiries 07 3735 7111
      • Online enquiries
      • Staff phonebook
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Griffith Research Online
    • Journal articles
    • View Item
    • Home
    • Griffith Research Online
    • Journal articles
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

  • All of Griffith Research Online
    • Communities & Collections
    • Authors
    • By Issue Date
    • Titles
  • This Collection
    • Authors
    • By Issue Date
    • Titles
  • Statistics

  • Most Popular Items
  • Statistics by Country
  • Most Popular Authors
  • Support

  • Contact us
  • FAQs
  • Admin login

  • Login
  • The quick and the dead: Sexuality and the Irish merry wake

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    80993_1.pdf (90.24Kb)
    File version
    Accepted Manuscript (AM)
    Author(s)
    McCoy, Narelle
    Griffith University Author(s)
    McCoy, Narelle P.
    Year published
    2012
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    In the traditional Irish ritual of the merry wake, death and sexuality were tied closely together. The mourning for the deceased was accompanied by excessive feasting and drinking while wake games of an overtly sexual nature were performed in the presence of the corpse. This voluptuous, uninhibited behaviour exhibited during the death ritual echoes the state of the mnᠣaointe or keening women who inhabited a liminal realm between the living and the world of the dead for the duration of the mourning period. This 'divine madness' allowed keeners to express the collective outpouring of grief through their voices and bodies, and ...
    View more >
    In the traditional Irish ritual of the merry wake, death and sexuality were tied closely together. The mourning for the deceased was accompanied by excessive feasting and drinking while wake games of an overtly sexual nature were performed in the presence of the corpse. This voluptuous, uninhibited behaviour exhibited during the death ritual echoes the state of the mnᠣaointe or keening women who inhabited a liminal realm between the living and the world of the dead for the duration of the mourning period. This 'divine madness' allowed keeners to express the collective outpouring of grief through their voices and bodies, and lead the community in a public expression of sorrow and lament. This article will examine the significance of the mnᠣaointe in the wake ritual, in particular the power of the female voice in transcending the strictures of the world of the living and the brief period of licence which then ensued. As well, it will explore the connection between the role of the keener and the anarchic nature of the merry wake amusements, where the embodied voice leads the community to a place where the social order is suspended, and the chaotic nature of death is confronted.
    View less >
    Journal Title
    Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies
    Volume
    26
    Issue
    4
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2012.698040
    Copyright Statement
    © 2012 Taylor & Francis (Routledge). This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies on 27 Jul 2012, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10304312.2012.698040
    Subject
    Screen and digital media
    Musicology and ethnomusicology
    Communication and media studies
    Cultural studies
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/49309
    Collection
    • Journal articles

    Footer

    Disclaimer

    • Privacy policy
    • Copyright matters
    • CRICOS Provider - 00233E
    • TEQSA: PRV12076

    Tagline

    • Gold Coast
    • Logan
    • Brisbane - Queensland, Australia
    First Peoples of Australia
    • Aboriginal
    • Torres Strait Islander