From Foreign Policy · Surekha Davies · · 2m
How to Make a Monster
A novel about Ireland's Great Famine reveals how xenophobia and dehumanization persist through history.
In brief
A novel about Ireland's Great Famine reveals how xenophobia and dehumanization persist through history. Field Notes from an Extinction shows how scientific language and colonial narratives dehumanized Irish people during the Great Famine, mirroring modern xenophobic attitudes. Originally reported by Foreign Policy.
Great Auk Extinction
The last great auks vanished by 1852, with the last known sighting off Newfoundland.
“The last known sighting of a living great auk was off the coast of Newfoundland in 1852.”
Charles Byrne's Skeleton
Charles Byrne, the Irish Giant, displayed in the Royal College of Surgeons until 2023.
“Charles Byrne, known as the Irish Giant, was displayed in the Royal College of Surgeons of England until 2023.”
Field Notes from an Extinction
Eoghan Walls' novel follows English ornithologist Ignatius Green studying great auks during Ireland's Great Famine.
“Field Notes from an Extinction: A Novel by Eoghan Walls, set in 1847 during the Great Famine.”
Monstrification in History
Western travelers described atypical individuals and distant peoples as monsters since classical antiquity.
“Since classical antiquity, Western travelers, geographers, and naturalists have often described atypical individuals, and distant peoples, real and imagined, as monsters.”
The Irish Famine
The Great Famine killed roughly 1 million people and caused nearly 3 million emigrations by 1852.
“By its end in 1852, the famine would kill roughly 1 million people; nearly 3 million would emigrate.”
Green's Field Notes
Green describes Irish people as 'freakish, grotesque, and animal-like' in his field notebook.
“The novel unfolds through Green’s field notebook, in which he depicts Irish people as freakish, grotesque, and animal-like.”
Bridget's Arrival
Green receives a feral child from Inishtrahull, the offspring of a cannibalistic Irishwoman.
“The residents of Inishtrahull upend Green’s plans to study the auks. Instead of delivering Green’s provisions to Tor Mor as agreed, the villagers requisition some for themselves and deposit in their place a feral child, the offspring of an allegedly murderous, cannibalistic Irishwoman.”
Green's Stereotypes
Green labels Irish people as 'scrawny, muttering in their guttural tongue' and 'skinny monkey youths'.
“He describes some of McGonigle’s relatives and various islanders as 'scrawny, muttering in their guttural tongue'; and as 'skinny monkey youths' resembling 'sea-otters in their hirsuteness, weak shoulders & sloped brows.'”
The Auk Extinction
Green accuses McGonigle and accomplices of 'a deliberate act of extinction' for hunting auks.
“In his notes, he accuses McGonigle and four accomplices who hunt and kill auks for the stuffed bird trade of 'a deliberate act of extinction.'”
Bridget's Dehumanization
Green describes Bridget as 'flaccid as shot game' and 'naked as a piglet' with 'skin like roast pork'.
“He describes Bridget as 'flaccid as shot game'; 'naked as a piglet'; with 'skin [like] roast pork.'”
The Famine's Impact
The Irish killed auks to afford grain, preventing starvation during the Great Famine.
“Killing the last great auks (those aforementioned 'deliberate act[s] of extinction') meant affording grain, which could be the difference between life and death by starvation.”
Modern Xenophobia
Far-right groups in Ireland use language similar to 19th-century dehumanization of Irish people.
“In interviews, Walls has observed how the far right in Ireland describes immigrants with the same language that the English used to dehumanize Irish people in the 19th century.”
Historical Context
Ireland was invaded by Norman descendants in the 12th century, leading to dehumanization narratives.
“Such stereotypes date back at least as far the 12th century, when Ireland was invaded by descendants of England’s Norman conquerors.”
The Auk's Death
After Canute's death, Green preserves the bird but Bridget eats its heart.
“After Canute’s death, Green dissects and begins to preserve the bird, but when he turns his back on the body, which is potentially infused with arsenic from the embalming soap, Bridget grabs the heart and begins to eat it.”
The Turning Point
Green realizes the Irish killed auks to survive, not for scientific purposes.
“The reason the Irish chose to kill and sell the auks, whose international market value rose in part because of the extinction it hastened, was a matter of survival.”
The key point
Field Notes from an Extinction shows how scientific language and colonial narratives dehumanized Irish people during the Great Famine, mirroring modern xenophobic attitudes.
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