The Irish Novel

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course is an introduction, through English-language translations, to the Irish-language novel. We analyze key developments in the novel through a consideration of its literary-historical and critical contexts. Twentieth-century Ireland experienced a linguistic and cultural revival, and a corresponding literary development, especially as regards the novel. Emerging from cultural and political nationalism, novelists were, nonetheless, to the fore in analyzing and satirizing the official national narrative. We focus on this tension to guide our discussion. How did novelists respond to the revival and the creation of a devout conservation Catholic state built on traditional, rural values? A key question to be considered is how such novelists attend to contemporary issues such as socialism, evil, suicide, modernism, modernity, and postmodernism. Many of these texts are primary examples of different literary genres: the Bildungsroman, the Modernist novel, the parodic/satiric novel, the realist, and the naturalist novel. Throughout the course, we carefully consider thematic and formal questions related to the texts' genres. Authors studied may include, but are not limited to the following: Ó Laoghaire, Ó Conaire, Ó Grianna, Ó Cadhain, Mac Grianna, Standún, Ní Dhuibhne, and Wilmot. All texts are will be read in English translation. No prior knowledge of Irish is required. Extra credit is available to those undertaking research through the medium of Irish.