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Modern Irish Drama. Ed. John P. Harrington. Norton Critical Edition, 1991 |
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James Joyce. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Penguin |
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Patrick McCabe. The Butcher Boy. Dell/Cutting Edge |
COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course will attempt provide a general introduction to "Irish Studies" and to explore more specifically the complex relationships between political nationalism and culture in modern Ireland. We will focus on some central questions about the relationship between politics and language, the varieties of "revolution" in Irish culture, the question of what it means to be an "Irish" writer in the 20th century, the relation between the Irish present and the Irish past, and what kinds of "narrative" modern Ireland needs and wishes to construct about itself.
CLASS FORMAT: Although at times I will lecture in order to present background information, I do expect class participation in discussion and in other in-class activities. I will occasionally ask you to do in-class writing, some of which I will collect. I expect you to keep up with the reading and to prepare for class.
This is a provisional syllabus; changes will be discussed and announced in class. We may decide we need to spend more time on some things and less on others. You are responsible for learning of and responding to syllabus changes during the summer.
Tuesday, June 14
Introduction to course--Irish history, mythology, and cultural nationalism
Handout on Early Irish Poetry
FILM (Suggested): The Secret of Roan Inish
Thursday, June 16
The Irish National Theatre Movement
READ: Lady Gregory, The Rising of the Moon, MID 54-63; Synge, Riders to the Sea, MID 63-73 and 447-451; Yeats, Cathleen ni Houlihan, MID 3-12 and MID 406-420; and drama manifestos in MID 377-398
BACKGROUND READING: Selections from Lady Gregory's myths (Online): Read Yeats's Preface, "The Boy Deeds of Cuchulain," "The Only Son of Aoife," "The Death of Cuchulain," "Note by W. B. Yeats," "Notes by Lady Gregory," and any others you care to look at (Suggested: "The War for the Bull of Cuailgne" and "Fate of the Sons of Usnach")
Tuesday, June 21
John Synge and W. B. Yeats
READ: Playboy of the Western World, MID 73-119 and 451-459; and WBY, 1-27 (especially "The Stolen Child," "To Ireland in the Coming Times," and "The Song of Wandering Aengus")
FILM (Suggested): Man of Aran
Response paper on Playboy of the Western World
Thursday, June 23
William Butler Yeats
READ: WBY, 28-92 (especially "Adam's Curse," "No Second Troy," "The Fascination of What's Difficult," "Upon a House Shaken by the Land Agitation," "September 1913," "A Coat," "The Wild Swans at Coole," "In Memory of Major Robert Gregory," "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death," "Easter 1916," and "The Second Coming")
Response paper on early Yeats
Tuesday, June 28
William Butler Yeats
READ: WBY, 102-213 (especially "Sailing to Byzantium," "Leda and the Swan," "The Mother of God," "Among School Children," "Crazy Jane Talks with the Bishop," "Beautiful Lofty Things," "Under Ben Bulben," "The Circus Animals' Desertion," and "Politics"; also Purgatory, in WBY 225-232)
FILM (Required): Michael Collins
Response paper on late Yeats
Thursday, June 30
James Joyce
READ: "Araby" (Handout) and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Chapters I and II
Response paper on Joyce
Tuesday, July 5
James Joyce
READ: Finish A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Response paper on Joyce
FILM: Waiting for Godot (Required)
Thursday, July 7
Sean O'Casey and Samuel Beckett
READ: Juno and the Paycock, MID 204-255 and 509-512; and Krapp's Last Tape, MID 311-318 and 532-550
Response paper on O'Casey and/or Beckett
Tuesday, July 12
Patrick Kavanagh and Brian Friel
READ: Kavanagh handout, including excerpts from "The Great Hunger," and Friel, Translations, MID, 319-374 and 551-570
FILM: In the Name of the Father (Suggested)
Response paper on Friel or Kavanagh
Due: First draft of Final Paper, in class
Thursday, July 14
Northern Ireland and "The Troubles"
READ: Northern Irish Poetry Handouts (Seamus Heaney, Ciaran Carson, Paul Muldoon); and Bernard MacLaverty, "Walking the Dog"; Fiona Barr, "The Wall Reader"; and Brenda Murphy, "A Social Call"Response paper on Northern Irish writing
Tuesday, July 19
Contemporary
Poetry: Eavan Boland and Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill
READ:
Poetry handouts and essays
FILMS: Mother Ireland (in class) and The Magdalene Sisters (Suggested)
Response paper on Boland and Ni Dhomhnaill
Thursday, July 21
