Contemporary Irish Studies
2 total works
This book investigates the role of literary criticism in the process of Irish decolonisation since the late eighteenth century, with special emphasis on the 1950s.
Drawing on the work of both Irish and international commentators – including Edward Said, David Lloyd, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Luke Gibbons – Gerry Smyth seeks to reconfigure the established relations between literature and criticism. Smyth then sets his analysis against a modular theory of decolonisation based on a reading of Irish history from the perspective of contemporary postcolonial and post-structural theory.
Engaging with debates in a number of current fields, Decolonisation and Criticism challenges many assumptions and practices of Irish literary history.
Drawing on the work of both Irish and international commentators – including Edward Said, David Lloyd, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Luke Gibbons – Gerry Smyth seeks to reconfigure the established relations between literature and criticism. Smyth then sets his analysis against a modular theory of decolonisation based on a reading of Irish history from the perspective of contemporary postcolonial and post-structural theory.
Engaging with debates in a number of current fields, Decolonisation and Criticism challenges many assumptions and practices of Irish literary history.
Recent developments in Irish literature are largely ignored in existing critical texts on Irish culture. This is the first study to make a detailed examination of the new novelists and themes emerging in the genre, as well as covering the foundations of contemporary Irish fiction.
Gerry Smyth provides a broad overview of the forms and theories that comprise the traditional Irish novel and explores the ways in which modern writers challenge established notions of Irish fiction. Focusing on the work of leading contemporary Irish writers – including Roddy Doyle, Glenn Patterson, Emma Donoghue and Patrick McCabe – Smyth employs innovative techniques in his analysis, such as the relevance of post-colonial theory to Irish literature, and the links between literature and wider cultural and political developments. Also included is a previously unpublished interview with Roddy Doyle.
Gerry Smyth provides a broad overview of the forms and theories that comprise the traditional Irish novel and explores the ways in which modern writers challenge established notions of Irish fiction. Focusing on the work of leading contemporary Irish writers – including Roddy Doyle, Glenn Patterson, Emma Donoghue and Patrick McCabe – Smyth employs innovative techniques in his analysis, such as the relevance of post-colonial theory to Irish literature, and the links between literature and wider cultural and political developments. Also included is a previously unpublished interview with Roddy Doyle.