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IASIL (IASAIL): the First Fifty Years

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IASIL (IASAIL): the First Fifty Years IASIL (IASAIL): The First Fifty Years Dear IASIL members, dear Irish literature scholars, As IASIL, the largest global network in Irish literary studies celebrates fifty years of its existence, we have compiled a brief chronicle that outlines some of the most important moments of its history. The Association was initiated by A. Norman (“Derry”) Jeffares as the first international network of scholars, the aim of which would be to first map out where Irish literature in English is being taught and researched (to this aim, another founding member, Ann Saddlemyer, compiled a comprehensive list of courses and institutions for the inaugural conference), and to instigate cooperation amongst scholars in the network and with related professional organisations such as the American Committee for Irish Studies. The importance of the International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature (IASAIL) – as it was then called – was presently recognized well beyond academic circles, with numerous prominent writers accepting an invitation to read at its conferences, and the President of the Republic of Ireland, Erskine Hamilton Childers, attending the second conference in 1973. Conferences were initially planned as taking place triannually but as IASAIL grew quickly, they became an annual event from the 1980s. Another important objective of the Association was to both publish and record the most up-to-date research on Irish writing. To this end, founding member Maurice Harmon set up the Irish University Review in 1970, which has swiftly established itself as a leading periodical in the discipline; the original editorial board included Desmond Williams, Patrick Lynch, Roger McHugh, John O’Meara, Alexis Fitzgerald, and Judge Sean Kenny. A regular feature of the IUR has been an annual bibliographical bulletin, listing the publications of IASAIL members; the first instalment appeared in 1972, edited by Trinity College librarian Mary (“Paul”) Pollard, whose successors as Chairs of the Bibliographical Sub-committee have included Colin Smythe, Maureen Murphy, William T. O’Malley, Frank Molloy, Beatriz Kopschitz Bastos, and Christopher Cusack. Publisher Colin Smythe – apart from being a founding member and a bibliographer of the Association – also went on to bring out a number of volumes of conference proceedings, until the amount of material to be included became too large and the practice of publishing the proceedings was abandoned. However, the early years are best described by those who were there, so let me hand over to Professors Carpenter and Jeffares. Their reports on the foundation of the Association are followed by the list of delegates at the inaugural conference and lists of IASAIL/IASIL Chairpersons, Secretaries, and conferences. The next section concerns the Newsletter, which has been an important source of information about current events and publications; this is followed by a section outlining the change of the Association’s name in 1997. An important part of this chronicle is dedicated to the Japanese branch of the Association, the history of which is outlined by its former President, Yoko Sato, and includes a list of its chairs, Secretaries, and photos from several IASIL Japan conferences. The concluding sections of this document feature a smattering of photos from conferences of the 1980s to the 2010s and two snapshots of the current online presence of IASIL. Any researchers inclined to delve deeper into the activities of the Association over the years are advised that an IASAIL/IASIL archive is kept at the UCD library, currently consisting of 23 boxes of materials lodged there by past Chairpersons, chiefly in the pre-digital age. Let me express my sincere gratitude to all who have shared their memories and materials or have helped in the compilation of this document in other vital ways, in particular David Burleigh, Laura Izarra, Michael Kenneally, Youngmin Kim, Christina Hunt Mahony, Akiko Manabe, Ken’ichi Matsumura, Christina Morin, Christopher Murray, Munira Mutran, Margaret Kelleher, Riana O’Dwyer, Clíona Ó Gallchoir, Mitsuko Ohno, Tina O’Toole, Ann Saddlemyer, Tetsuro Sano, Yoko Sato, Colin Smythe, Bruce Stewart, Haruko Takakuwa, Fuyuji Tanigawa, and Kumiko Yamada. I wish you happy reading, and would like to extend a cordial invitation to any for whom this document might be the first introduction to IASIL: do join the ranks of an association that has always been marked by its openness and inclusivity, where ideas are freely shared, research plans are hatched, and life-long friendships are frequently born. Ondřej Pilný 1 July 2019 International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature: Report Andrew Carpenter The International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature (IASAIL) was founded in 1969 to encourage research and study in all aspects of Anglo-Irish literature and to act as a link between the many scholars working in the field in all parts of the world. In practical terms, the association will organize a conference every three years and will disseminate information to its members twice a year through the medium of the Irish University Review. This information will include news of publications (in prospect and completed), of courses offered in universities around the world, of work in progress, of travel and exchange facilities and of the nature and location of source materials. The association now has more than two hundred members drawn from twenty-two countries. The inaugural IASAIL conference was held in Dublin during the last week in August 1970 under the chairmanship of Professor A. N. Jeffares; it was attended by 115 delegates from forty-four countries in four continents. The week’s activities were arranged on an informal basis so that members should have as much time as possible for personal contact, and several of the sessions were designed as discussions rather than as lectures. Among these discussions were an attempt to define the term “Anglo-Irish literature”, a series of meetings with panels of Irish novelists, poets and editors and a symposium with Irish publishers. In the evenings, those attending the conference were most generously entertained by a number of organizations including the Department of External Affairs, Arthur Guinness & Co., Hodges Figgis & Co., the Irish University Press and the Yeats Association. It is hoped that the next conference will take place in Cork during the last full week in August 1973. – from Irish University Review 1.2 (Spring 1971): 289. International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature: Chairman’s Address A. Norman Jeffares The basic aim of this association is to provide a form of organization which will promote “study and research in Anglo-Irish literature”. […] There has been a very large increase of interest in Anglo-Irish literature throughout the world – let us instance the Yeats Society of Japan, the American Committee for Irish Studies, or the Anglo Irish seminars in the University of Toronto. Many literary scholars throughout the world introduce their pupils to Anglo-Irish literature, and increasingly they do this with a realization that these authors cannot have justice done to them within the context of a course of English literature – even less of American literature. In fact, what is happening to Anglo-Irish literature is what has happened to American literature: originally included in courses of English literature, it needed to be seen in the context of its own growth, its own literary relationships, its own social and political history, its own cultural pattern. And after the establishment of a serious view of American literature has come the growth of studies in Commonwealth literature. And so courses in Anglo-Irish literature are established, increasingly, throughout the world. Literature is a living force. Scholarship and criticism, however meticulous, however stimulatingly interpretive, lack the immediacy given by the living writer. So we think an association, to possess genuinely lively life, ought to include writers as well as scholars, critics and, most important, readers. Each needs the stimulus and support of the others. This means that the association must provide occasions such as the present one for members to meet and talk of their common yet diverse interests in Anglo-Irish literature. In this conference we have kept papers to a minimum and left the afternoon periods free so that we may get to know each other personally and to discuss our common interests and problems informally. Later conferences may well be organized on a slightly more formal basis. We have, however, included discussion of reports on the matters which justify our association beyond the pleasant purpose of arranging meetings of writers and scholars. We can, however, provide a service in several areas where information and co-ordination is very necessary. […] One of the first needs is for information about both teaching and research as it is carried out in universities, schools of advanced study, colleges and other homes of learning. Here Professor Saddlemyer has already amassed a great deal of very interesting information […]. It is also obvious to anyone teaching Anglo-Irish literature or undertaking serious research work in the subject that one of the outstanding problems is that of obtaining texts. These are needed at all levels and it is a measure, I believe, of our realism that we have asked a number of publishers to attend the conference and that they have responded so readily. This age can be at its best when collaborative, and the links between author, publisher, critic and reader can afford to be closer. There is the further extension into audio-visual realms, into radio and television, and here more could be done not only to avoid some superficial work but to create material useful not only in its own aesthetic right, but for students in universities, colleges and, especially in Ireland, in schools. […] Of course, in the early, heady days of a new association one can draw up a grandiose list of desirable projects; but there is not much point in doing so without securing the necessary financial support or without having a reasonable hope of achieving one’s aims.
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