Haunted Ireland: Ghosts, Specters, & Spirits in Irish Lit from the Early Modern to the Post

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Ghosts, vampires, and things that go bump in the night have been a mainstay of popular cinema since the dawn of the moving picture, but this popularity has relegated the discussion of the otherworldly to the arena of pop-culture--draining it of any perceived political power. Still, major works of literature have always been haunted by the horrific, terrifying, and grotesque. Through online posts, short presentations, a research paper, and regular class discussions, this course will reconsider what we can learn about the material world of history and politics from the immaterial world of ghosts and spirits as depicted in literature. By progressing from early Victorian to post-Celtic Tiger Ireland, we will consider the influence of history on genre and form and how authors use the ghostly to grapple with the very material problems faced by themselves and their nation. We will be reading short stories, plays, and novels from both major and minor Irish authors (in English) while supplementing the literature with short critical works to help illuminate the context of the author and the theories needed to unpack the primary texts.