ENG 268—Irish Literature

This course introduces students to twentieth-century Irish literature. Beginning with the Literary Revival, we will track how changes in Irish society were both complicated and simplified by literary figures. As a unified and unitary sense of the Irish people was argued about and, at times, fought over in the political sphere, how did writers add their voices to these debates? How did they respond to the challenges posed by women’s suffrage and feminism; the dwindling and impoverished population of Irish speakers on the island; differentiating the Irish from their British neighbors; migrations to urban centers in a predominantly agricultural and rural society; high rates of emigration; an island partitioned into a twenty-six county south and a six-county north; and the bitter legacy of Ireland’s struggles for self-determination? We will examine the public transmission of information, whether as representations of rumor, gossip, or chatter; the production of literary texts as politically-motivated and even propagandistic statements meant to spur debate and change public opinion; and the reception of such works in troubled and frequently violent contexts.