Memory and Loss in Friel’s “Self-Portrait” and Dancing at Lughnasa

This article strives to bring critical attention to the relationships between memory, memory loss, and imminent adversity in Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa (1990) through examinations of often-overlooked scenes and “Self-Portrait” (1972). This work of prose that predates the play by eighteen years portrays memory as a contradictory “fact” and “fiction” and conveys a disinclination to write “a play ‘about the trouble[s] in the North’” (39, 46). By examining Maggie’s demonstration of sensory experiences that are “all in your mind” and Chris’s collaborative and subjective recollections, this essay departs from existing studies that generally focus on Michael’s recollections or Father Jack’s memory loss (15). What Michael, Father Jack, Chris, and Maggie remembers or forgets highlights their anguish and isolation. The retroactive interference account of forgetting provides insight into whether learning the language and culture of Africa prevents the former missionary priest from recalling information related to his old life in Ireland; his memory loss, in turn, presents novel interpretations on the role of memory and its relationship with revelations on imminent losses caused by poverty, unemployment, and mechanization.