James Doan | Nova Southeastern University (original) (raw)

Papers by James Doan

$Research paper thumbnail of Wales of the Princes (Doan on Turvey, \u27The Welsh Princes: The Native Rulers of Wales, 1063-1283\u27)$

Excerpt The period considered here begins with the death in 1063 or 1064 of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn,... more Excerpt The period considered here begins with the death in 1063 or 1064 of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, a prince of Gwynedd (northwest Wales), who had unified much of the country, but was killed by his own troops during a campaign against Earl Harold (later Harold II of England). This was, of course, almost immediately followed by the Norman Conquest of England, which reached into Gwent and Morgannwg (southeast Wales) by 1072. As Roger Turvey points out, though, unlike William\u27s invasion of England in 1066, the \u27invasion\u27 of Wales was neither planned nor coordinated either by a king preoccupied in consolidating his victory over the Saxon-English or by Norman adventurers selfishly engaged in carving out for themselves pockets of Welsh territory (p. 42)

$Research paper thumbnail of The \u27Tinkers\u27 in Irish Literature$

Excerpt Recipient of the 1992 ACIS Donald Murphy Prize for a Distinguished First Book, this monog... more Excerpt Recipient of the 1992 ACIS Donald Murphy Prize for a Distinguished First Book, this monograph represents the fruitful combination of the two fields of sociology and Celtic studies. Based on the author’s Harvard dissertation, the study reflects considerable scholarship and knowledge of not only modern sociological theory, but also the Old Irish law tracts, one of the richest (and most problematic) sources for a reconstruction of early and medieval Irish society. Departing from the evolutionary view of early Ireland as constituting a “survival” of Indo-European, Iron Age or even Bronze Age social systems, Patterson marks the ruptures which occurred during the early Christian period

Irish Literary Supplement, 1986

ABEI Journal, 2006

This paper is a historical account of the Irish immigration and colonization in the 1600s. It als... more This paper is a historical account of the Irish immigration and colonization in the 1600s. It also analyses how the Irish turned from white slaves into an Irish entrepreneurial class in the 18th century. Although legend has it that Christopher Columbus stopped in Galway on a journey to the North Atlantic ca. 1490, there is no evidence that any Irishmen accompanied him on his four journeys to the Caribbean between 1492 and 1504. However, 500 years later, traces of subsequent Irish trade, piracy, and immigration (both voluntary and involuntary) permeate the region. How did this Irish presence come about? For example, the island of Montserrat in the Leeward Islands of the eastern Caribbean was covered by rain forests providing shelter and sustenance to the Arawak Indians when Columbus arrived there in 1493, though they were gradually decimated by disease and slavery. In 1632, British and Irish colonists began to arrive from the neighboring island of St. Kitts, probably accompanied by a few African slaves. Today, the population is more than 90% black, with its parent stock mainly of West African origin but, when asked about his nationality, a Montserratian is likely to say, "Mon, I'm Irish!" The spirit of the early Irish settlers pervades all aspects of island life, and it is known as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean. Many of the place names are Irish, as are some 30% of the surnames of the black residents, e.g., Sweeney, Riley, O'Brien and Kelly. (Fallon 1993, 18) The traditional musical instruments on the island are the fife and drum; one of the folk dances, called "heel and toe," bears a strong similarity to the jig; the national dish, "Goatwater," may derive from the Irish stew; and island residents celebrate St. Patrick's Day with exuberance.(Fallon 1991, 13) During the 1600s Irish Catholics began appearing in every mainland American colony, particularly Virginia and Maryland. Names such as "New Ireland" and "New Munster" designated tracts of land set aside for Irish settlers and their servants. However, the most visible settlement of Irish Catholics in the 17th century was in the West Indies, largely because Irish-born governors of the Caribbean islands encouraged their fellow countrymen to emigrate, and because the predominant southern Irish trade routes brought Catholics to colonies dominated by plantation agriculture. (Miller 139, 144) The British and Irish settled on

$Research paper thumbnail of Wales of the Princes (Doan on Turvey, \u27The Welsh Princes: The Native Rulers of Wales, 1063-1283\u27)$

$Research paper thumbnail of The \u27Tinkers\u27 in Irish Literature$

Irish Literary Supplement, 1986

ABEI Journal, 2006

While working on the first volume in the project, The Universal Vampire: Origins and Evolution of... more While working on the first volume in the project, The Universal Vampire: Origins and Evolution of a Legend (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013) I decided to try my hand at adapting the novel Dracula to a more literal Irish context. Set in London and Co. Sligo in 1888, it constitutes a prequel to the novel. The play, entitled The Irish Dracula: A Melodrama in Five Acts, received two initial readings: the first with the Irish Theatre of Florida in August 2012 and the second at the American Conference for Irish Studies (ACIS) West meeting in Park City, Utah, in October 2012. Both Barbara Brodman and I were involved in the readings, along with actors, theatre professors and graduate students. I later received a mini-grant to do workshops and a staged dramatic reading of the play with Nova Southeastern University students in March and April 2013.

The play fills a niche in the overall discourse on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel. Though many scholars have noted the Irish origins of themes and authorship of the novel, no one has yet successfully adapted the novel to an Irish (or Anglo-Irish) context. I also decided that melodrama (literally “music + drama”) was the appropriate genre to use for an adaptation of Dracula to a theatrical form, insofar as it involves an exaggerated plot and characters to appeal to the audience's emotions. I hit upon the idea of a prequel which would introduce the real-life author of the novel, Bram Stoker and the legendary English actor/director, Henry Irving, for whom Stoker worked as a business manager for 27 years, and whom many consider a prototype for the title character in the novel. I then added characters based on those found in the novel, though translated into their respective Irish, English and Anglo-Irish counterparts, highlighting the hybrid nature of the political and cultural reality of late 19th-century Britain and Ireland. One of the main purposes for the workshops and for a fuller-scale production of the play in 2014, to be accompanied by Arthur Sullivan's instrumental music for the 1888 production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at the Lyceum Theatre in London, which starred Henry Irving and which figures in The Irish Dracula, is to test the validity of this “translation,” to see how successful it is with a contemporary audience.

Several religious traditions use allegory and numerology in their respective eschatologies. For ... more Several religious traditions use allegory and numerology in their respective eschatologies. For example, various events described in the Book of Revelation have been interpreted as reflecting the evils of the contemporary Roman Empire. According to gematria, or numerology, the “number of the beast” (usually identified as 666) in Revelation is seen as referring to the Emperor Nero. Megiddo, southwest of the Sea of Galilee (origin of the name Armageddon), was the site of various historical battles in ancient times, which may explain its use as the locale of the final battle between the forces of good and evil in Judeo-Christian and later Muslim, Ahmadiyya and Bahá’i traditions. Furthermore, Dabiq, Syria, site of a decisive battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Mamluk Sultanate in 1516, has become identified as one of two possible locations for an epic battle between invading Christians and defending Muslims which will help usher in the end of the world. Numerology is being used once again, this time to predict the date for the Day of Judgment. This paper examines the relationship among these various traditions, also revealing what they say about contemporary geopolitics in the Middle East and the West.

Editors Brodman and Doan are seeking original essays for the sixth of a series of books on vision... more Editors Brodman and Doan are seeking original essays for the sixth of a series of books on visions of the supernatural and the apocalyptic in literature and the arts.* They encourage submissions from peoples and cultures around the world and from scholars of the Sciences as well as the Arts. Each of section of this collection will focus on one of the following categories: 1. Visions of pandemics past in literature and the arts, with emphasis on critical analysis of the lessons learned and lost during and after each event and the causes and consequences of each; 2. Visions of modern pandemics in literature and the arts, with emphasis on critical analysis of lessons learned and lost during and after each event and the causes and possible consequences of each; 3. Futuristic visions of pandemics in literature and the arts, with emphasis on a critical analysis of the proposed outcomes of those events and their effect on the planet and the human species. Abstract Due Dates Abstracts are due before February 1, 2021. They should be no longer than 300 words. Final manuscripts of 5,000-7,000 words should be submitted in Chicago Style (most recent edition: notes and bibliography system) by September 15, 2021.