Abstract: The  problem  of  language  and  literary  tradition  has  always  been  a  central  concern  in Seamus Heaney’s  poetry． Through  investigating  the complex and entangled history of English and Irish  languages，the paper shows  the way  in which Heaney has developed an open and dynamic view of  languages  instead of a parochial one．This new gained  insight broadens and blurs  the boundary of English literary tradition，revealing a possibility for English literary tradition and Irish literary tradition to merge．In the light of this possibility，Heaney  successfully  incorporates old Celtic words  into his  translation of Beowulf as well as detects  in his own poetry an intrinsic Old English poetic  rhythm，which  this paper holds  to be Heaney’s conscious effort  to  reconstruct a more  inclusive Anglo-Irish literary tradition．

Keywords: Anglo-Irish literary tradition; reconstruction; view of language; Old English; Beowulf

摘要： 语言与文学传统问题始终是北爱尔兰英语诗人希尼在诗歌中不断追问、探索的问题。本文通过对英语和爱尔兰语两种语言之间相互渗透的历史的分析，首先考察诗人从最初对英语的抵制态度转向开放、流动的语言观的过程；并认为这种开放的语言观消融了英国文学传统的壁垒，展现了英国文学传统与爱尔兰文学传统相汇流的图景。基于这一观点，希尼在翻译《贝奥武甫》时适当采用爱尔兰语词汇，并在自己的诗歌中挖掘古英语诗歌的韵律，其意在于尝试重构更加包容的英国—爱尔兰文学传统。

关键词: 英国—爱尔兰文学传统, 重构, 语言观, 古英语, 《贝奥武甫》