Papers by Dr Dominic Sheridan
Bliza, nr 4 (5). Gdynia: Wydawca, 2010
Indigenous Australians (Aborigines) believe in two parallel streams of reality – in other words, ... more Indigenous Australians (Aborigines) believe in two parallel streams of reality – in other words, two types of time – one is the every day activity we all experience and the other is an infinite spiritual reality they call the ‘dreamtime’. They believe that whatever happens in the dreamtime establishes the values, symbols, and laws of their society. The Dreaming is a sacred time when ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.
Gnuśność, lenistwo I zła nawyki. Przyjemność w ujęciu historycznym, 2019
Soldiers serving at Gallipoli were subjected to a boring, dangerous and inescapable existence. U... more Soldiers serving at Gallipoli were subjected to a boring, dangerous and inescapable existence. Unlike the Western Front where soldiers could rest behind the lines, well away from the front, Australian and New Zealand soldiers lived on the front line during the campaign unless they were sent to Lemnos or Egypt because of illness or injuries. The boredom of trench conditions and fear of snipers led Anzacs to become inventive and philosophical about life and death. They began looking out of the trench to the sky and seeing sights which helped them escape the dreadful fate in which they found themselves.
The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture New Series
Australian Great War poets were not able to escape their relationship with the dead, turning nigh... more Australian Great War poets were not able to escape their relationship with the dead, turning nightmares into poetry. Images haunted them, and through their poetry it may be seen that they lived in dread which became a central state of their subconscious. Frederic Manning said that the battle fields were the damned circles where Dante trod, recognising that he was in a hell where the dead became the carrion of rats and crows. Leon Gellert said that he strolled to hell where the world rolls wet with blood and the skinny hand of Death gropes at the beating heart. Their horrific visions help explain the shell-shocked realities of postwar years. Manning saw a boy's face coming out of a cloud through a mist of blood, haunting him with its trembling lips, convulsing with terror and hate. He says it was the mask of God, broken by the horrors of war. Some saw hope in happy dreams interrupting nightmares, but Manning and Gellert stand as poetic examples of the soldier's wartime hell. Gellert wrote, 'the scythe of time runs red, while a Foul Voice screams and Fear runs shrieking by the wall'. Manning saw them all as a raucous choir of frogs. These mad images inform the reader of a mind tormented by sights too hideous to reconcile, and show the poet's subconscious dread of the terror he must live with.
Beyond Philology An International Journal of Linguistics, Literary Studies and English Language Teaching, 2018
This paper looks at the demotic tongue of mateship in Australian Great War Literature as a theme ... more This paper looks at the demotic tongue of mateship in Australian Great War Literature as a theme of cognition and understanding in the literary texts and texts of culture. The language, like the Australian, was filled with character and a sense of the larrikin. It seemed irreverent at times, even rude in some circles, but it was much more than its immediate sound or inference; it was the natural verbal essence of the Australian mind – honest, loyal, dutiful and humorous. These characteristics are cornerstones of Australian mateship, a type of friendship that would be there beyond the bitter end, rival the love of a woman and even the protection of one’s own life. For some Australians, poetry was merely an extension of this language, as language was merely an extension of friendship. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the Australian use of humour and language in the setting of Great War poetry. It looks at the demotic tongue of mateship, specifically what is known as the Great A...
Australian Great War Poetry Journal, 2020
Of the 40 Georgian poets who wrote in the five anthologies, there were only English poets, except... more Of the 40 Georgian poets who wrote in the five anthologies, there were only English poets, except for one Australian, and his name was Walter James Redfern Turner. It might be considered as a strange privilege, but of all the other English poets who could have been included, it was an Australia who was chosen. Interestingly, or perhaps, strangely, there aren’t too many Australians who seems to know this.
The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series 10, 2020
Australian Great War poets were not able to escape their relationship with the dead, turning nigh... more Australian Great War poets were not able to escape their relationship with the dead, turning nightmares into poetry. Images haunted them, and through their poetry it may be seen that they lived in dread which became a central state of their subconscious. Frederic Manning said that the battle fields were the damned circles where Dante trod, recog-nising that he was in a hell where the dead became the carrion of rats and crows. Leon Gellert said that he strolled to hell where the world rolls wet with blood and the skinny hand of Death gropes at the beating heart. Their horrific visions help explain the shell-shocked realities of postwar years. Manning saw a boy's face coming out of a cloud through a mist of blood, haunting him with its trembling lips, convulsing with terror and hate. He says it was the mask of God, broken by the horrors of war. Some saw hope in happy dreams interrupting nightmares, but Manning and Gellert stand as poetic examples of the soldier's wartime hell. Gellert wrote, 'the scythe of time runs red, while a Foul Voice screams and Fear runs shrieking by the wall'. Manning saw them all as a raucous choir of frogs. These mad images inform the reader of a mind tormented by sights too hideous to reconcile, and show the poet's subconscious dread of the terror he must live with.
THE AUSTRALIAN GREAT WAR POETRY JOURNAL Volume 1 – November, 2018
At the beginning of World War One, Australia was a mere teenager of just 14 years when it hit the... more At the beginning of World War One, Australia was a mere teenager of just 14 years when it hit the international stage. It had a lot to prove if it wanted to join the other nations of the wider world. However, all that, and Australia’s future good name, stood to be lost before it was even able to prove its international worth. Before Australians were to prove themselves in all theatres of war, an incident in Egypt’s Cairo was to threaten everything. What followed was a war of words which was fuelled by article and poem – correspondent and soldier.
Studia Elblaskie, 2017
Throughout the ages poets have spoken about God and to God in all manner of ways. They cried out ... more Throughout the ages poets have spoken about God and to God in all manner of ways. They cried out for help and sung out in praise, and the tones of their verse have been anything from base familiarity to exultant praise. But all poets have recognised God as a standard for mankind’s sense of morality and ethics, as well as the locus of the true self. However, poets who found themselves living in times of war often spoke of God in a more earnest and even urgent way. They saw God as a means of protection and succour. As someone to be with in good times and to turn to in the worst moments. This is of course most normal, however, the Australian Great War poets, who also saw God in these ways, saw God in their fellow man and the world around them. They saw the destruction caused by war as a desecration of God and a sacrilege against Him. Australian poets, men and women, servicemen, nurses and civilians, saw God as the first and last refuge of sane men. Not in any pantheistic way, God was seen in the soldier’s fellow man and the landscape of Australia. In the case of man, who was made in God’s image, Australian poets saw God’s image in the reflection of innocence and good deeds, while in the case of the Australian landscape, poets saw God’s hand of creation. For the Australian Great War poet, God was the binding factor of human existence.
Forum Teologiczne XVII 2016. Olsztyn: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warminsko-Mazurskiego w Olsztynie, 2016
This article is about why and how the soul and mind do not age or change in the same way as the b... more This article is about why and how the soul and mind do not age or change in the same way as the body and brain. Because the soul and body are distinct and separate substances, they must ultimately belong to different realities, and because of this, the soul cannot adhere to the rules of a reality of which does not control it. The reality of the body is temporal, and therefore, it will age and die, whereas the reality of the soul is eternal and will not age and die. Further to this, because the mind is a faculty of the soul, it necessarily will not age and die like the brain, but it will be effected both positively and negatively by the brain during the reality of the temporal life, unlike the soul. Because the mind needs the brain in order to think and understand in the temporal reality, then it stands to reason that the mind will appear to degenerate like the brain, but in the non-temporal reality, the mind remains unaffected. Because of these things, there must also be a realisation that reason is the domain of temporality, whereas revelation is the domain of eternity. Because of this, we will conclude that reason will ultimately fail and revelation will not. The body also needs nourishment, as does the soul, but this is different for each. The body and the soul need nourishment from their own kind; ashes and dust for the body, and God for the soul. The body made from ashes and dust; the soul made in God’s image. The changing of the created function of something is what determines its continued existence, and while the body changes, the soul does not. The use of tense-laden grammar is characteristic of the temporal reality, but tense cannot exist in eternity where there is a constant ‘now’. It is demonstrated that these grammar concepts do not even exist in temporality, as there is no past or future ‘existing’. The present, being the only true existing tense, is also the only truth we can assert about the soul whose created function is to live. It exists through the eternal now, while the body ages and dies in temporality.
Swieciw Wierze, Tradycji, Literaturze I Sztuce: Inspiracje do Badan Hagiologicznych Olsztyn, 2017
In 1842 Adelaide, Australia, a baby girl was born who would go on to become the most important re... more In 1842 Adelaide, Australia, a baby girl was born who would go on to become the most important religious figure in Australian history. She was born into a great poverty that she would come to embrace as a way of being close to God. She co-found the Josephite Order of nuns and set up schools and hostels all over the country. She was afflicted with crippling pains and also persecuted by many within the Church. She was unjustly excommunicated and then exonerated by the same Bishop on his death bed. She trusted in God’s Providence and ended as a saint.
Beyond Philology No. 15/4, 2018
This paper looks at the demotic tongue of mateship in Australian Great War Literatur... more This paper looks at the demotic tongue of mateship in Australian Great War Literature as a theme of cognition and understanding in the literary texts and texts of culture. The language, like the Australian, was filled with character and a sense of the larrikin. It seemed irreverent at times, even rude in some circles, but it was much more than its immediate sound or inference; it was the natural verbal essence of the Australian mind – honest, loyal, dutiful and humorous. These characteristics are cornerstones of Australian mateship, a type of friendship that would be there beyond the bitter end, rival the love of a woman and even the protection of one’s own life. For some Australians, poetry was merely an extension of this language, as language was merely an extension of friendship. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the Australian use of humour and language in the setting of Great War poetry. It looks at the demotic tongue of mateship, specifically what is known as the Great Australian Adjective (bloody), along with several other examples of vernacular language, in Australian Great War Literature, and considers this by referring to the common language of the Australian poet from the time. It will consider the notion that Australian writers of the Great War era may have been misunderstood as a result of their language, leading to critical mistakes about a poem’s literary worth, a poet’s seriousness as a poet and a nation’s literary value.
Essays by Dr Dominic Sheridan
E. M. Forster's novel, 'Howard's End', is described as a 'tragicomedy of manners and class', yet,... more E. M. Forster's novel, 'Howard's End', is described as a 'tragicomedy of manners and class', yet, one is compelled to see far more than that, for Howard's End as a place, that is, the house itself, comes to symbolise something very important. It symbolises on one hand, England's agrarian past, while on the other, the true essence of England. With
Burma, there is given a striking metaphor of Britain's reign in the times of the British Raj. It ... more Burma, there is given a striking metaphor of Britain's reign in the times of the British Raj. It is a quite simple story, yet it tells of the dramatic effects of Britain's imperialist conquests and how the 'dirty work of the Empire' was far more destructive than it was progressive to not only a culture, but also to the individual. Orwell takes the reader through a short walk in a place called Moulmein, where a sub-divisional police officer, and the narrator of the story, both lives and works.
Articles by Dr Dominic Sheridan
The Australian Great War Poetry Journal, 2019
Frank Westbrook wrote a most wonderful collection of poems called, “Anzac and After”, and of the ... more Frank Westbrook wrote a most wonderful collection of poems called, “Anzac and After”, and of the 34 poems which fill the book, which he affectionately dedicated to his father, Alfred Edmund Westbrook, who he says is his “councellor [sic], comrade, and dearest companion”, his last poem is one in which we will find two of the most amazing poetic stanzas written during the war. The poem speaks volumes about how Australians loved and missed their homeland, but also the knowledge of what was about to befall them. They knew that the realities of war were literally life or death, and Westbrook captures this reality very well indeed.
The Australian Great War Poetry Journal, 2019
Like most Australians, the tendency to skite and show off in front of others was all too common d... more Like most Australians, the tendency to skite and show off in front of others was all too common during the Great War. In fact, Australians were telling pretty young nurses in Egypt that their wealth was such that they owned treacle farms, or bunyip farms, or even walking stick farms. They kept the young nurses hypnotised as they told them, having never seen a kangaroo in their life, that the emu feather on the Australian Light Horse hat was in fact a kangaroo feather. Australia was so big, that you could fit all Europe in it, and that there were shearing sheds in Queensland that were so big, you could get sacked in the morning at one end, and then in the afternoon, after walking a ways, you could get a job at the other end of the same shed. Even the word “Australia” itself had three different sounding “a” sounds in it. There were no end of stories, but one of the stories getting round the traps, especially told to other soldiers in the back areas, was that they had been up at the front line since the war began. Harmless enough
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The Australian Great War Poetry Journal, 2019
One of the main issues, if not the main issue of my thesis work, is the notion that Australia had... more One of the main issues, if not the main issue of my thesis work, is the notion that Australia had emerged out of the darkness and obscurity of the early convict days, when Australia was little known by anyone outside an immediate association with the dark continent. Prior to Australia’s landing at Gallipoli, on the 25th of April, 1915, Australia was basically known as “Terra incognita”, and its sons and daughters were of no consequence for the rest of the world. Australian history was insignificant on a world scale, and not even known by those at the international tables of consequence.
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AGWP Journal – April, 2019 – Vol. 2 35
bereaved family members would turn to poetry as a means by which to outpour their grief. These types of poems we might call ‘memorial poetry’. Some Australian women writers wrote wonderful poetic lines, such as; ‘Their grave turf is not wet with tears’, which was hugely poignant, as they were in many cases never able to cry at their son’s grave.
Their visions were horrific, and in many ways, they explain the supressed shell-shock realities of the post-war years many soldiers suffered. Manning notably saw in his nightmares a boy’s face, delicate and blond, coming to him out of a cloud through a mist of blood, and in this boy’s face, symbolic of innocence, he saw it as a wraith of sleep, haunting and troubling him with its trembling lips, convulsing with terror and hate. Shockingly, Manning says that it was the very mask of God, broken by the horrors of war.
Manning’s and Gellert’s nightmares stand as poetic examples of the soldier’s wartime hell. Gellert writes that ‘the scythe of time runs red, while a Foul Voice screams and Fear runs shrieking by the wall’. These mad images inform the reader of a mind tormented by sights too hideous to reconcile, and show the poet’s sub-conscious dread of the terror he must live with, day and night, possibly for the rest of his life. Manning also gives graphic images of the dead in the field of war. He says, “Dead are the lips where love laughed or sang”, and here we come to understand why so many war veterans didn’t want to talk about the war.
However, another Australian poet, Frank Westbrook, gives a glimpse of hope in his poem, “Brown Eyes”, where we can see that there were some dreams that kept safe the sanity of the soldier in war. Yet, he asks the question; “How can such two brown lustrous eyes disturb my dreams with dreams of warmer skies?” How, indeed, can a nightmare be interrupted by a dream? However, for many, the terrors of war were too strong to be disturbed by happy dreams. The nightmare of war was, for some, far too dark to shed any light of hope so that the soldier could escape the dread, horror and terror of hell’s fury.
This paper looks at the relationship between demons and soldiers, and how the nightmares of war translated into incredibly sensitive poetry. Australian Great War poets such as Manning and Gellert, to name but two of the many, were able to give witness to the nightmares many soldiers had, but they were not able to escape their relationship with the dead of war; a relationship that they lived with throughout the years of the war and beyond.