Module Code - Title:
EH4018
-
CONTEMPORARY IRISH LITERATURE
Year Last Offered:
2025/6
Hours Per Week:
Grading Type:
Prerequisite Modules:
Rationale and Purpose of the Module:
This module aims to introduce students to a range of Irish narrative texts written in English since 1980 and in doing so:
Explore the engagement of these texts with contemporary historical, social and political contexts.
Consider the contemporary writing of cultural and social identities in, and about, Ireland.
Evaluate literary responses to the Northern Troubles and consider the ways in which literary/cultural constructions of Northern Ireland are reproduced at home and abroad.
Examine the representation of community and political activism in Irish writing.
Address the construction of gender and sexuality in contemporary Irish writing.
Explore the writing of the Irish diaspora as well as that of its immigrant communities.
Evaluate a range of theoretical approaches which have been, or might be, applied to this literature.
Syllabus:
The period since 1980 has seen profound changes throughout the island of Ireland, particularly in the post-Robinson period. Drawing on the work of writers north and south, as well as those working within both the diaspora and immigrant communities in Ireland, students will consider how these texts have constructed and deconstructed the cultural, social and political landscape of contemporary Ireland.
Learning Outcomes:
Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
Demonstrate an ability to analyse the formal qualities of individual texts, their linguistic diversity and range of meanings.
Analyse the texts under discussion in relation to the cultural, political and social contexts in which they were produced and appraise the diverse reactions of literary and other writers to key ideological questions of the period.
Assess ways in which these texts have contributed to, and disrupted, constructions of the Ireland in the contemporary period.
Critique different theoretical approaches to the study of Irish literature, including postcolonial, Marxist and feminist standpoints.
Select relevant primary and secondary readings to produce well-written and well-documented research papers and essays, appropriate to the final-year degree level.
Affective (Attitudes and Values)
N/A
Psychomotor (Physical Skills)
N/A
How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:
The module will be taught by lecture, seminar discussion and by research-based critical material. Students will learn by listening to and engaging with lectures, reading primary and secondary sources (both assigned and recommended). As this is a final-year module, a significant proportion of the workload involves self-directed research, which is graded by continuous assessment.
Research Findings Incorporated in to the Syllabus (If Relevant):
Prime Texts:
Bateman C (1994)
Cycle of Violence
, London: Harper Collins
Donoghue E (1996)
Hood
, London: Harper Collins
Enright A (2007)
The Gathering
, London: Cape
Keegan Claire (2007)
Walk the Blue Fields
, London: Faber
Ni Dhuibhne E (1999)
The Dancers Dancing
, Belfast: Blackstaff Press
Madden D (1997)
On by One in the Darkness
, London: Faber
Toibin C (2001)
The Blackwater Lightship
, London: Scribner
Other Relevant Texts:
Cairns D and Richards S (1988)
Writing Ireland: Colonialism, Nationalism and Culture
, Manchester: Manchester UP
Cleary J (2007)
Outrageous Fortune: Capitalism and Culture in Modern Ireland
, Dublin: Field Day
Connolly C (2002)
Theorising Ireland
, London: Palgrave
Coughlan P and O Toole T (2008)
Irish Literature: Feminist Perspectives
, Dublin: Carysfort
Hughes E (1991)
Culture and Politics in Northern Ireland
, Open UP
Kiberd D (1996)
Inventing Ireland
, London: Vintage
St Peter Christine (2000)
Changing Ireland: Strategies in Contemporary Womens Fiction
, London: Macmillan
Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:
Semester(s) Module is Offered:
Module Leader:
tina.otoole@ul.ie