The second session in the second installment of the Kylemore Book Club featured Declan Kiberd, the Emeritus Donald and Marilyn Keough Professor of Irish Studies and a Professor of English and Irish Language and Literature at the University of Notre Dame. Lisa Caulfield, the Director of the Notre Dame Global Center at Kylemore Abbey, moderated the event. This session focused on the topic of blindness, using examples from literature written by both Joyce and Yeats, as well as the example of various other Irish writers to explore the effects of blindness on the work of artists. The panelists also discussed the beliefs of Irish culture surrounding mental illness and the differences between blind and sighted artists.
Kiberd began by presenting on the topic of blindness and insight, invoking the use of texts by Yeats and Joyce featuring blind characters. In the passage highlighted by Joyce, the protagonist helps his young, blind neighbor while trying to understand what it would be like to be him. In the passage from Yeats, a blind man is carried by a fool character to whom he gives instructions. Kiberd expressed his fascination with the fact that both authors explore the possibility of blindness giving an individual a deeper vision and a richer awareness of the world around them. Invoking a metaphor from Gulliverās Travels, Kiberd questioned the possibility of artists with their sight seeing too much of the world and seeing it too closely, not being able to see the bigger picture. This question also arose from the example of the play āThe Well of the Saintsā written by John Millington Synge. This play features a blind couple that is enthralled with the beauty of themselves and the world around them until a saint cures their blindness and, ultimately, ruins their lives by revealing their lack of beauty and the chaos of the world.
Guided by questions from Caulfield, Kiberd addressed the similarities and differences between artists with their sight and those without. Because his inspiration for the topic of blindness and insight came from his college roommate who suffered the transition from sight to blindness, Kiberd used him as an example by saying that he likely knew the space of their houses better than he did. This highlighted a realization for the participants that becoming too comfortable with a space and not having to concentrate to understand may in fact be the disability rather than not being able to physically see it. Seeing a space, whether physical or hypothetical, through the eyes of one who has never experienced it before allows one to see its full beauty. Kiberd and Caulfield also discussed examples of artists who close their eyes while playing music or turn their backs to an audience when performing, such as Emma OāSullivan, almost imitating one who is blind to improve their concentration and artistic output.
Kiberd then moved to discuss the beliefs of Irish culture about the mentally ill and disabled. Frequently using the phrase āduine le Diaā, which means āa person with Godā, Kiberd said that the Irish see the mentally ill not as such, but as further along on the journey that all humans are on back to God and the divine world. The mentally ill in Ireland are allowed to remain in their communities, seeing communal living as the best treatment for them. Caulfield concluded the session with a participant comment highlighting the need for American culture to become more accepting of those with mental illnesses and disabilities, the need to become a more welcoming culture to those who likely have a more insightful view of the world than those currently thought to be more intelligent.
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