“Dydw i erioed wedi cwrdd â mam (a minnau’n eu plith) nad yw hi’n llawer mwy cymhleth, beirniadol, gwahanol i’r ystrydebau y mae hi i fod i’w hymgorffori, na’r hyn yr anogir hi – y cyfarwyddir hi – i feddwl” dywed Jacqueline Rose yn ei llyfr Mothers: An Essay on Love and Cruelty (2018). Yn y symposiwm hwn, rydym yn canolbwyntio ar y fam, i holi pwy a beth yw mam, er mwyn caniatáu iddynt adrodd eu hanes, archwilio’u profiadau a dathlu naratif amrywiol mamau y tu hwnt i’r ystrydebau a’r stereoteipiau. Mae adrodd ein storïau ein hunain fel mamau ac am famau neu bobl sy’n rhoi gofal, yn ein galluogi i roi siâp newydd ar ein hunaniaeth, a gwneud synnwyr o naratifau personol a diwylliannol rydyn ni’n gallu cael ein gosod ynddynt gan eraill. Mewn storïau, mae mamau’n aml yn cael eu portreadu ddim ond yng nghyd-destun eu perthynas â gweithredoedd y prif gymeriad. Rydyn ni’n cael ein cyflwyno i ffigurau mamol sydd naill ai’n llys-famau mileinig, yn bobl sy’n rhoi gofal mewn ffordd hynaws ond anobeithiol, yn dylwyth teg o famau bedydd neu’n ffigur “arall” distadl ond diddorol, ac mae’n rhaid i ni i gyd ein datod ein hunain o’r portreadau hyn. Yn y symposiwm hwn, ar y llaw arall, byddwn yn ystyried y profiad o fod yn fam drwy amrywiaeth helaeth o storïau gwahanol am famau a lle mae’r fam yn brif gymeriad. Rydyn ni’n croesawu cyflwyniadau sy’n ystyried ffigur y fam a chrefft bod yn fam a chrefft rhoi gofal (heb fod yn gyfyngedig i fod yn fam fiolegol ac y gellir ei gyflawni gan unrhyw un, waeth beth yw ei statws rhianta, rhyw neu rywedd). Rydym hefyd yn awyddus i archwilio storïau am golled, galar, anffrwythlondeb ac am ddewis bod heb blant.
Bydd y prif gyflwyniad yn cael ei roi gan Helen Simpson (awdur Four Bare Legs in a Bed (1990); Dear George (1995); Hey Yeah Right Get a Life (2000); Constitutional (2005); In-Flight Entertainment (2010); a Cockfosters (2015). Mae siaradwyr eraill sydd wedi eu cadarnhau yn cynnwys Laura Godfrey-Isaacs (Artist, bydwraig ac actifydd geni) Christine Watkins (adroddwraig storïau), Dr Roiyah Saltus (Prifysgol De Cymru), Tracy Breathnach Evans (Artist perfformio ac ymchwilydd), a Dr Steve Killick (Seicolegydd Clinigol, Hyfforddwr ac Adroddwr Storïau). Bydd noson o storïau yn cael ei pherfformio gan Chwedl, rhwydwaith adrodd storïau Menywod Cymru.
Mae’r symposiwm yn rhan o’r project Perfformio a Mamolaeth, project ymchwil 18 mis dan arweiniad Dr Emily Underwood-Lee (Prifysgol De Cymru) a Dr Lena Šimić (Prifysgol Edge Hill) gyda chefnogaeth Cyngor Ymchwil y Celfyddydau a’r Dyniaethau. Mae rhagor o wybodaeth ynghylch y project Perfformio a Mamolaeth yma: https://storytelling.research.southwales.ac.uk/research/performancematernal/
“I have never met a single mother (myself included) who is not far more complex, critical, at odds with the set of clichés she is meant to effortlessly embody, than she is being encouraged – or rather instructed – to think.” Jacqueline Rose writes in her book Mothers: An Essay on Love and Cruelty (2018). In this symposium we seek to place the mother centre stage, to question who and what a mother is, to allow them to tell their story, to explore their experience and to celebrate diverse maternal narratives beyond the clichés and stereotypes. Telling our own stories as and about mothers, or people who care, allows us to reconfigure our identity and to make sense of the personal and cultural narratives we find ourselves thrust into. Within the realm of stories, mothers are too often only deemed relevant insofar as they propel the main character into action. We are presented with mother figures as either wicked step-mother, benign but desperate caregiver, fairy godmother or abject and compelling ‘other’ from whom we have to psychically disentangle ourselves. In this symposium we instead consider both maternal experience as articulated through a multiplicity of different mother stories and the mother as protagonist. We welcome presentations that explore both the mother figure and the act of mothering and giving care (which is not limited to biological motherhood and can be undertaken regardless of sex, gender or parental status). We are also keen to explore stories of maternal loss, grief, infertility and selective childlessness.
The keynote will be given by Helen Simpson (author of Four Bare Legs in a Bed (1990); Dear George (1995); Hey Yeah Right Get a Life (2000); Constitutional (2005); In-Flight Entertainment (2010); and Cockfosters (2015). Other confirmed speakers include Laura Godfrey-Isaacs (Artist, midwife and birth activist) Christine Watkins (storyteller), Dr Roiyah Saltus (University of South Wales), Tracy Breathnach Evans (performance artist and researcher), and Dr Steve Killick (Clinical Psychologist, Trainer and Storyteller). An evening of stories will be performed by Chwedl, the Women's storytelling network for Wales.
This symposium is taking place as part of the Performance and the Maternal project, an 18 month research project led by Dr Emily Underwood-Lee (University of South Wales) and Dr Lena Šimić (Edge Hill University) supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. For more information on Performance and the Maternal visit https://storytelling.research.southwales.ac.uk/research/performancematernal/.