"God's special men": Missionaries in Brian Friel's Early Work

Brian Friel's unpublished play The Blind Mice (1963) and his short story "Foundry House" (1961) demonstrate his fascination with the unique type of exile represented by the Irish missionary. In each text it is the missionary's return—not, as might be expected, their departure—tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Boeninger, Stephanie Pocock (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Johns Hopkins University Press 2023
In: Christianity & literature
Year: 2023, Volume: 72, Issue: 2, Pages: 268-289
IxTheo Classification:CD Christianity and Culture
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KBF British Isles
KDB Roman Catholic Church
RJ Mission; missiology
Further subjects:B Technology
B Priests
B Catholicism
B Exile
B Communication
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Summary:Brian Friel's unpublished play The Blind Mice (1963) and his short story "Foundry House" (1961) demonstrate his fascination with the unique type of exile represented by the Irish missionary. In each text it is the missionary's return—not, as might be expected, their departure—that disrupts the community that had sent them. Sent to carry spiritual truth to places seen as benighted, the missionary's return to Ireland paradoxically reveals the deprivation of the place left behind. Ultimately, these early texts pave the way for the less orthodox spiritual figures in Friel's more successful later work.
ISSN:2056-5666
Contains:Enthalten in: Christianity & literature
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1353/chy.2023.a904920