Reading Contemporary Ireland

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Since the turn of the millennium, Ireland has undergone economic, societal, and political changes that have fundamentally altered the fabric of life on the island. Focusing on literary works published since 2000, this course will investigate how these changes are addressed in contemporary Irish writing. Through the close reading of texts by a selection of Ireland's contemporary writers—John Banville, Sebastian Barry, Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, Clair Kilroy, Colm McCann, Patrick McCabe, Paula Meehan, and Colm Tóibín--we will examine how established themes and tropes of Irish literature are being reconfigured or replaced to reflect the Ireland of today. The course will extend beyond the canon of ‘literary fiction' to include works from the popular genres of ‘chick lit' and crime fiction. We will supplement our study of literary texts by examining representations of Ireland in contemporary film, specifically, John Michael McDonagh's 2011 hit movie, The Guard, and Lenny Abrahamson's, What Richard Did (2012). By the end of this course, students will have developed a foundation in contemporary Irish literature and the skills necessary to interrogate representations of Ireland as they appear across genres.