The pangs of the Ulstermen : an exchangist perspective

Carney, James (2008) The pangs of the Ulstermen : an exchangist perspective. Journal of Indo-European Studies, 36 (1). pp. 52-66.

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Abstract

Why is Cú Chulainn exempt from the curse of Macha in Táin Bó Cuailgne? In the present article, I attempt to resolve the issue of Cú Chulainn’s exceptional status by nominating the curse of Macha and the naming of Cú Chulainn pre-narratives to the Táin as semantic inverses of each other. Specifically, I argue that the former narrative depicts the breaking of a contract between the third functional group and the combined forces of the first and second functions in Georges Dumézil’s Indo-European social taxonomy; while the latter narrative, I suggest, charts the restoration of this same contract. On this basis, I then identify Macha’s curse with the spiritual animation that, according to Marcel Mauss, accompanies all violations of social reciprocity.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Indo-European Studies
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3310
Subjects:
?? linguistics and languagearchaeologylanguage and linguisticshistoryliterature and literary theoryarchaeologyanthropology ??
ID Code:
79526
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
16 May 2016 07:56
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
15 Jul 2024 16:01