Undergraduate Course: The Contemporary Irish Novel 1960 to the Present (ENLI10325)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will explore representations of Ireland and Irishness in contemporary Irish novels. Famous for its literary tradition, since 1960 Ireland has gone through radical social and political transformation and writers have challenged established notions of Irish identity and questioned the limits and possibilities of what it means to be Irish. We will investigate how the contemporary Irish novel represents this change side by side with a concern for continuity with the traditions that have formed Irish identity, that is, the tension between innovation and tradition which characterises this writing. Starting with Edna O'Brien's The Country Girls which was banned in Ireland for its representation of young female experience, the course will examine literary strategies in fiction from the North and South, focusing on questions of identity regarding nationality, gender, faith, class and sexuality. |
| Course description |
SEMINAR SCHEDULE
Week 1 Introduction; Edna O'Brien, The Country Girls (1960)
Week 2 Jennifer Johnston, Shadows on Our Skin (1977)
Week 3 Patrick McCabe, The Butcher Boy (1992)
Week 4 Roddy Doyle, The Commitments (1987); Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (1993)
Week 5 Robert McLiam Wilson, Ripley Bogle (1989)
Week 6 Seamus Deane, Reading in the Dark (1996)
Week 7 John McGahern, Amongst Women (1990)
Week 8 Essay Completion Week
Week 9 Emma Donoghue, Hood (1995)
Week 10 Deirdre Madden, One By One in the Darkness (1996)
Week 11 Anne Enright, The Gathering (2007)
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of 4 college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as cross disciplinary, "Freshman Seminars", civilisation or creative writing classes are not considered for admission to this course.
Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course
having four or more literature classes at grade A.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
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Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
| This course will provide students with knowledge of contemporary Irish fiction, of trends and issues in and theorisation of Irish writing. It will enable students to analyse the relation between literature and social and historical context, particularly regarding nationalism and the construction of identity. It will provide opportunities for comparative cultural analysis. It will provide students with analytical tools and perspectives and promote key interpretive and investigational skills which will be of crucial use beyond the immediate concerns of the course.
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Reading List
PRIMARY TEXTS
Edna O'Brien, The Country Girls (1960)
Jennifer Johnston, Shadows on Our Skin (1977)
Roddy Doyle, The Commitments (1987)
Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (1993)
Robert McLiam Wilson, Ripley Bogle (1989)
Patrick McCabe, The Butcher Boy (1992)
John McGahern, Amongst Women (1990)
Seamus Deane, Reading in the Dark (1996)
Deirdre Madden, One By One in the Darkness (1996)
Emma Donoghue, Hood (1995)
Anne Enright, The Gathering (2007)
SELECTED GENERAL SECONDARY READING
Gerry Smyth, The Novel and the Nation: Studies in the New Irish Fiction (London: Pluto Press, 1997)
Linden Peach, The Contemporary Irish Novel: Critical Readings (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2004)
Rüdiger Imhof, The Modern Irish Novel (Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 2002)
Margaret Kelleher and Philip O'Leary (eds), The Cambridge History of Irish Literature Vol. II: 1890-2000 (Cambridge University Press, 2006)
Julia Carlson, Banned in Ireland: Censorship and the Irish Writer (Article 19: 1990)
Jennifer M. Jeffers, The Irish Novel at the end of the 20th Century: Gender,Bodies, and Power (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002)
Elmer Kennedy-Andrews, (de-)constructing the North: Fiction and the
Northern Ireland Troubles since 1969 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2003)
Elmer Kennedy-Andrews (ed.), Irish Fiction Since the 1960s, Ulster Editions and Monographs (Colin Smythe Ltd, 2003)
Richard Kearney, Transitions: Narratives of Modern Irish Culture (Dublin: Wolfhound, 1988)
Bill Lazenblatt, Northern Narratives (Newtonabbey: University of Ulster Press, 1999)
David Lloyd, Anomolous States: Irish Writing and the Post-Colonial Moment (Dublin: Liliput Press,1993)
Edna Longley, 'The Living Stream: Literature and Revisionism in Ireland' (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Bloodaxe Books, 1994)
Liam Harte and Michael Parker (eds), Contemporary Irish Fiction: Themes, Tropes, Theories (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000)
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Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Carole Jones
Tel: (0131 6)50 3068
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms June Haigh
Tel: (0131 6)50 3620
Email: |
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