Department of English

This course focuses on literature written in the context to twentieth-century Ireland's ongoing struggle for political and cultural autonomy. The course examines authors, both male and female, who wrote during the period beginning with the Irish Renaissance and ending with the present. We shall furthermore study important events in Ireland's history so that we can better understand the sorts of social and political issues to which Irish writers have responded throughout the century. Texts to be studied may include: plays by Synge and O'Casey; Maud Gonne's autobiography, Servant to the Queen; poetry and autobiographical writings by Yeats; Joyce's Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; short stories by Mary Lavin; drama and fiction by Beckett; and other. We may also screen some relevant films. Requirements for the course include at least some participation in class discussions; two shorter papers, five to seven pages in length, and one longer paper, ten to twelve pages in length; and a final exam.