Laura Aitken, PhD Student
My research explores the topic of madness from an interdisciplinary perspective, comparing the ways in which mental illness is represented in both medieval Irish and Norse literature and law. To date, very little comparative study involving Irish and Norse literature has been undertaken, particularly where the topic of madness is concerned, and so an interdisciplinary approach to this theme promises significant new insights. I am undertaking to identify, define and analyse all the individual types of madness before considering these categories in the wider context of Irish saga literature as a whole. I intend to ascertain the extent to which similar cultural categories are used to represent madness in Norse sagas, or whether these sagas follow different patterns. The question of the narrative purpose of madness within these two bodies of saga literature will constitute an important aspect of my research. By comparing the laws governing the treatment of the mentally impaired during the periods under study with the ways in which mad individuals are treated in the literature, I aim to shed new light on the function of these narratives, and to discern differences in Irish and Norse social attitudes towards male and female lunatics.
Contact Me
Email:r01lea9@abdn.ac.uk
Address: Room A55, Taylor Building, Celtic & Gaelic
Supervised by
Publications and Conference Papers
‘The Enemy Within: An Examination of Medieval Irish and Norse Attitudes Towards the Mentally Ill’. Paper presented at the 2011 Imbas Postgraduate Conference in Medieval Studies, Galway, Ireland, 11/11/11 - 13/11/11.
Awards
I was awarded an AHRC Doctoral Award in Celtic Studies in 2010.
