在二十世紀戲劇史中，辛約翰(John Millington Synge)以獨特的蓋爾式英語刻劃愛爾蘭西部地景而聞名。《艾蘭島》(The Aran Islands)一書便是他多次親身體驗西部生活的紀實。其實，愛爾蘭西部一直是國族主義者魂牽夢繫的想像淨土，就因為該地保存最完整的蓋爾文化、語言與生活方式，故最能彰顯國族主義者所堅持的本土意識與文化認同。除了國族認同外，辛約翰對愛爾蘭女性身份亦多所著墨，頗能反映當代愛爾蘭女性身陷的多重困境。本文探討辛約翰《海上騎士》(Riders to the Sea)與《幽谷暗影》(The Shadow of the Glen)兩個獨幕劇，重心放在思考愛爾蘭西部地景與其再現的國族、女性面貌，思考愛爾蘭地景與國族和女性認同的關聯及變化。
In the history of 20th-century drama, J. M. Synge is celebrated for his depiction of the west of Ireland in Gaelic English. The Aran Islands, for example, records his personal encounter with this far-away land. The pure Irish culture, language, and lifestyle typical of the west of Ireland had combined, by the beginning of the century, to create an imaginary homeland for Irish nationalists, who craved a native cultural identity tied to the primitive life of the soil and to the past. Synge's plays are characterized by their discussion, not just of national but of female identity; the plays depict the many problems, dilemmas and sufferings of Irish women. This paper looks at how the Irish "landscape" is represented in Synge's one-act plays, Riders to the Sea and The Shadow of the Glen, and in his travel accounts in The Aran Islands. More specifically, it looks at the ways in which certain aspects or features of this landscape are entangled with Irish national and female identities, and with their metamorphoses.
