"Away with the fairies": the motif of fairy abduction and of the changeling, from Irish mythology to the Irish diaspora

Studying these motifs as they appear in the folk accounts allows a better understanding of their traditional characteristics, to then be able to compare them with the way the contemporary writers reinterpret them. It seems that the changeling motif has been taken up as an Irish metaphor for emigration and exile, whether it be geographical, psychological or linguistic.

This thesis thus explores issues of identity and memory through the theme of the <br>changeling which, although it is not of Irish origin since it is absent from the early mythological sources, has paradoxically become an Irish literary symbol.<br><br><i>Thesis embargoed until 31st December 2029 </i>