Back to Nature and Ireland: Morgan Llywelyn’s The Elementals

Abstract

Written by the Irish author Morgan Llywelyn in 1993, The Elementals focuses on the fou powerful elements of nature that are essential to life: namely Water, Fire, Earth and Air. Consisting of four parts divided in accordance to these elements, the novel connects four stories which raise universal ecological awareness and present the danger of a future collapse in nature. Depicting the adventures of Irish-origin characters and the striking realization of their deep connection to nature at the end of each part, the novel awakens the reader to their inner relation to other humans, animals, plants, rocks and all parts of nature. Of Irish origins herself, through her novel Llywelyn displays the agency of nonhuman bodies in relation to human bodies, or in other words, Irish-origin human bodies, and the innate connection of all humans to the natural elements. Hence, this study aims to analyse The Elementals from the perspective of the new materialism theory underlining the interaction of all beings in the universe through the constant recalling of Ireland as a significant part of the natural culture.