Irish Literature

Catalog description

This course will introduce students to major periods of Irish Literature with a strong focus on concepts of artistic identity and the experiences of writers struggling to produce work outside of official culture. We will begin with an examination of Stone Age archaeology and pre-Christian poets and apply this deep historical context to our examination of the writing being produced around the time of the conversion to Christianity and colonialization in the 16th Century. We will then focus on Anglo-Irish writers such as Yeats, Joyce, Synge, and the lesser-known Maria Edgeworth and then examine contemporary responses to Irish identities and literary cultures by reading the works of more recent poets and playwrights such as Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, Brian Friel, Paula Meehan, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, and Mary Dorsey. Course outcomes include learning about major Irish literary traditions, the connection of communal identities to literature, colonial Irish contexts, and the construction of literary tradition within post-colonial contexts. Counts as a Communication Intensive course. Prereq: Academic Inquiry Seminar (AIQS) or SAGES First Seminar.