Narratives of Nation in Irish Literature in English

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Symbols of Ireland proliferate here at Notre Dame, where we are surrounded by images of leprechauns and shamrocks, teach packed classes in the Irish language and stick Salmon of Knowledge decals on our laptops. Yet Notre Dame's narrative of Ireland is just one of a multitude of competing versions, which have emerged, been contested and synthesized, and debated continually over the centuries, both within Ireland and abroad. This class is designed as an introduction to the major figures in Irish literature in English from the eighteenth century to the present, but central to our class will be the question of the ‘story of Ireland' and how it has changed over the years: What gets included in the story of Ireland and what gets left out? What does that story mean (and for who)? Who counts as being Irish and where do those definitions come from? Finally, we will consider how debates around these questions are influenced by the political, cultural and social context in which they occur. Questions will include why Catholicism is considered synonymous with Irishness, how the Famine has become such a key moment in narratives of Irish history, and why Irish people are so obsessed with land. We will work through writers including Jonathan Swift, Maria Edgeworth, Bram Stoker, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Seamus Heaney and Joseph O'Connor.