Irish Literature: 1800s to the Present English 320 Welles 216 MWF 1:30-2:20 Dr. Rob Doggett Office: Welles 217 B Office Hrs: MWF 2:30-3:30 Office Phone: x5221 Email: [email protected] Course Overview It seems history is to blame. What is the relationship between Ireland’s troubled past, its conflicted present, and the vast, influential, and celebrated body of literature that this small island nation has produced during the twentieth century? What does it mean to describe Ireland as a colony and how might postcolonial theory be used to analyze Irish literature? This course aims to examine these and other questions by investigating links between history and literature, politics and art, violence and creativity. Unlike the British character Haines who, in Joyce’s Ulysses, sardonically places the “blame” for Ireland’s vexed present upon an abstract “history,” we will look carefully at the nuances of that history. Key issues will include: the longstanding material, social, and psychological impacts of British imperialism; the attempt to “reclaim” Irish identities; the loss (or eradication) of the Irish language and the problems of translation; the advantages and dangers of creating a “national” literature; gender and its relationship to Irish identities; the impact of the Catholic Church; exile, emigration, and the problems of writing “outside” of Ireland; and, ultimately, the artist’s responsibility in a land that, to this day, remains divided by violence and mistrust. Learning Outcomes: In this course students will: • learn about the major trend, themes, issues, and concerns found in 19 th and 20 th century Irish literature • explore the relationship between Irish literature and Ireland’s anomalous position with the UK • the influence of nationalism (in its multiple forms) on Irish literature • the relationship between sectarian violence and Irish literature Texts The Real Charlotte by Edith Somerville Modern Irish Drama, John P. Harrington (Editor) [Abbreviated on the syllabus as MID ] Yeats's Poetry, Drama, and Prose: Authorative Texts, Contexts, Criticism, James Pethica (Editor) [Abbreviated on the syllabus as Yeats ] Dubliners by James Joyce The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen The Oxford Book of Irish Short Stories by William Trevor [Abbreviated on the syllabus as ISS ] North: Poems by Seamus Heaney The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh Pharaoh's Daughter by Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane Grades You will be graded on a 100 point scale, with the number of possible points available for the course components listed below. A total of 94 points is required for an A, a total of 90 is required for an A-, 87 for a B+, 84 for a B, 80 for a B-, etc. Participation 20 possible points Essay One 10 possible points Midterm Exam 10 possible points Annotated Bibliography 10 possible points Essay Two 25 possible points Final Exam 25 possible points Participation Since this is a course designed for English majors, active participation is assumed. You should come to class having done the readings and having thought in detail about the readings. You should also be prepared to answer questions, to raise your own questions, and to comment on the ideas of others. A note on attendance: Missing class frequently will have a negative impact on your participation grade , and this will in turn have a negative impact on your final grade. If you miss more than 4 classes, you will not receive more than 15 participation points. If you miss more than 6 classes, you will not receive more than 10 participation points. If you miss more than 9 classes, you will not receive more than 5 participation points and may receive 0 points. Extra Credit During the month of February, Professor Cope, from the history department, has organized a series of lecture / film screenings to commemorate the 35 th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” killings. The events are listed on the syllabus. You will receive 1 extra credit point for each event you attend, provide you submit a typed, 250-500 word essay in which you share your reactions to the event / film. Any essay that displays intellectual engagement with the event / film will be accepted, though I reserve the right to not give credit for essays that are poorly prepared, are marred by extensive spelling or grammar mistakes, etc. Essays You will write two essays for the course. I will discuss the particulars of each essay in class, but, as a rule of thumb, the paper should make an argument about a given work and it should prove that argument through detailed close reading. Annotated Bibliography Early in the semester, you should select one of the authors we are reading this semester. You will then complete an annotated bibliography on that author. I will provide a separate handout on this assignment during the semester. Exams There will be a midterm exam and a final exam. The best way to study for the exams is to keep up with the readings throughout the semester and to take notes on readings during our class discussions. Other concerns If you have a disability that might impact your classroom performance, please see me. I will assume that all of the work you turn in for this class is your own. Taking language or ideas from any outside source without proper attribution constitutes plagiarism. If you engage in plagiarism, you will fail the assignment, may very well fail the course, and will be referred to the college for disciplinary actions. A Note on the Readings The readings below can be sorted into three groups (and appear in this order on the syllabus for each class): primary literary works, primary historical works, and secondary criticism. Primary literary works include the poems, plays, short stories, and novels that will be the main focus of our class discussion. Primary historical works consistent of documents written at about the same time as the literary work we are studying for a given class. Secondary criticism consists of essays in contemporary critics analyze a given literary work, usually from a postcolonial vantage. Since the historical works are designed to provide a context, it is useful to read them first. However, when doing the readings for class, be sure to devote enough time to the primary literary works, as they will be the focal point of our discussion. For works listed on E-Reserve, the password is “IRISH.” It will likely be helpful to you if you print out the works on e-reserve for class discussion. Syllabus January 17 W Introduction: What is Postcolonial theory? Was / Is Ireland a colony? Inventing Ireland: From Spenser to Goldsmith 19 F Folktales Collected by Sean O’Sullivan: “The Hour of Death,” “Fionn in Search of his Youth,” “Cromwell and the Friar,” “The Girl and the Sailor,” “The Four-leafed Shamrock and the Cock,” “The Cow that ate the Piper,” “Conal and Donal and Taig” (ISS) Oliver Goldsmith: “Adventures of a Strolling Player” (ISS) Edmund Spenser: “A Veue of the Present State of Ireland” (E-Reserve) Penal Laws: “Laws in Ireland for the Suppression of Popery” (E-Reserve) Jonathan Swift: “A Proposal for giving Badges to the Beggars in all the Parishes of Dublin”; “The Present Miserable State of Ireland”: “An Examination of certain Abuses, Corruptions, and Enormities in the City of Dublin” (E-Reserve) Declan Kiberd: “A New England Called Ireland” (E-Reserve) Images of the Irish: the 19 th Century 22 M Maria Edgeworth: “The Limerick Gloves” (ISS) William Carleton: “The Death of a Devotee” (ISS) Gerald Griffin: “The Brown Man” (ISS) Newspaper articles and illustrations on the famine (E-Reserve) L.P. Curtis: “Simianizing the Irish Celt” (E-Reserve) Matthew Arnold: Excerpts from “On the Study of Celtic Literature” (E-Reserve) Seamus Deane: “Arnold, Burke, and the Celts” (E-Reserve) The Big House 24 W Sommerville and Ross: The Real Charlotte (1-111) 26 F Sommerville and Ross: The Real Charlotte (115-202) 29 M Sommerville and Ross: The Real Charlotte (203-301) 31 W Sommerville and Ross: The Real Charlotte (302-end) February 2 F James Clarence Mangan: “Dark Rosaleen” (E-reserve) Samuel Ferguson: “Cashel of Munster” (E-reserve) Seamus O’Kelly: “The Weaver’s Grave” (ISS) W.B. Yeats: From The Celtic Twilight (Yeats) Thomas Davis: “Ireland’s People” and “The History of Ireland” (E-Reserve) Douglas Hyde: “The Necessity for De-Anglicising Ireland” (E-reserve) Declan Kiberd: “Deanglicanization” (E-reserve) Extra Credit Session: An Introduction Northern Ireland and the Troubles (Newton 201 at 3:15) Cultural Nationalism 5 M W.B. Yeats: “The Song of the Happy Shepherd,” “The Sad Shepherd,” “The Stolen Child,” “Down by the Salley Gardens,” “To the Rose upon the Rood of Time,” “Fergus and the Druid,” “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” “When you are Old,” “Who goes with Fergus,” “To Ireland in the Coming Times” (Yeats) W.B. Yeats: from Memoirs, “The De-Anglicising of Ireland,” from “The Celtic Element in Literature,” from “Irish Language and Irish Literature,” from “The Symbolism of Poetry,” from “Magic” (Yeats) 7 W W.B. Yeats: “The Hosting of the Sidhe,” “The Lover Tells of the Rose in his Heart,” “The Song of Wandering Aengus,” “He remembers Forgotten Beauty,” “The Cap and the Bells,” “He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven,” “The Folly of Being Comforted,” “Never Give all the Heart” (Yeats) W.B. Yeats: Cathleen ni Houlihan (Yeats) W.B. Yeats: “The Irish Literary Theatre” (Yeats) David Krause: “The Hagiography of Cathleen ni Houlihan” (Yeats) Elizabeth Cullingford: “Thinking of Her as Ireland” (E-reserve) 9 F W.B. Yeats: “Adam’s Curse,” “Red Hanrahan’s Song about Ireland” (Yeats) Augusta Gregory: Spreading the News and The Rising of the Moon (MID) Augusta Gregory: “Our Irish Theatre” (MID) John Eglinton: “What Should Be the Subjects of National Drama?” (MID) Extra Credit Session: Film Screening of Bloody Sunday (Newton 201 at 3:15) 12 M John Synge: Riders to the Sea, The Playboy of the Western World (Act I); “Preface to The Playboy of the Western World” (MID) 14 W John Synge: The Playboy of the Western World (Acts II-III) (MID) Joseph Holloway: “Journal: 1907” (MID) W.B.