Irish Literature, 1800s-Present

4 units
MWF 10-11
243 Dwinelle
Instructor: Dara Hellman

Taught in English with readings in English.

L&S Breadth: Arts & Literature

 From the 17^th century on, Ireland was a land of two primary spoken languages: Irish and English. Latin survived until the early 20^th century as a written (and occasionally spoken) language of scholarly discussion, but it was almost never used during this period for literary or popular poetic texts. Although Irish was the language spoken by most Irish people until the middle of the 19^th century and had a flourishing literary tradition (mainly poetic), there was little published in the language until the end of the 19^th century. How much interpenetration was there between the two traditions? What sort of audiences existed for different kinds of literature? What was the Irish Literary Renaissance? What part did colonialism and nationalism play in the development of both language traditions in Ireland? All these questions will be addressed, if not answered to everyone’s satisfaction, in this course.

Required Reading: to be announced.

Prerequisites: None. Course and readings are in English.