Irish Literature

Catalog description

The course focuses on the rich literary tradition of Ireland. For such a small country, Ireland boasts some of the biggest names in literary history, including four Nobel Prize winners: George Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. This class focuses on introducing students to the rich literary tradition of Ireland beginning with an examination of Irish myths and legends as well as examining texts from the Irish Literary Renaissance through the twenty-first century. Irish literature is haunted by its political, linguistic and cultural history as well as the geography of Ireland itself, and therefore, this course explores the shaping influences of politics, language, culture and geography alongside the exploration of examples of Irish literature. Readings include early Irish legends and myths as well as texts from the nineteenth through the twenty-first century. Some of the authors explored in this course include W.B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, Edna O’Brien and Seamus Heaney.