- Department: English and Related Literature
- Module co-ordinator: Prof. Matthew Campbell
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: H
- Academic year of delivery: 2019-20
- See module specification for other years: 2018-19
Starting with Yeats, Joyce and the situation of Irish writing in the wake of the Revival, the course will look at the problems and achievements of modern Irish poetry in English and its relation to Irish culture. From Yeats to Heaney, Irish poets have created an extraordinary and diverse body of work, which has had a significant impact on other poetry in English on both sides of the Atlantic. The course will introduce students to a wide range of poets within the culture more generally. It will look at such issues as the role of poets and poetry in defining what might be meant by ‘Irish’ culture before and after Independence, the ‘language problem’, post-colonialism, gender and poetry, cultural nationalism and internationalism, poetry and modernity in Ireland, poetry and politics in the North of Ireland, women poets and the ‘national tradition’, translations from Irish and other languages and the problematic legacies of Joyce and Yeats for later poets. The course will consider prose writing on poetics by Yeats, MacNeice, Heaney, Boland, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill and Kinsella and may consider the influence on writing of small magazines such as The Bell in the 1940s and The Honest Ulsterman in the 1960s and 70s, poetic drama, and the role of criticism, cultural politics, publishers and anthologies in constructing an ‘Irish’ canon.
Occurrence | Teaching cycle |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2019-20 |
The aim of this module is to study the development of Irish poetry from the turn of the twentieth century to the present.
By the end of the module you will be expected to demonstrate:
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework 3500 word essay |
N/A | 100 |
None
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework 3500 word essay |
N/A | 100 |
Poets studied may include Samuel Beckett; the Thirties poets Denis Devlin, Thomas MacGreevy and Brian Coffey; Louis MacNeice; Patrick Kavanagh and Austin Clarke; and contemporary poetry from the North of Ireland and the Republic by poets such as Thomas Kinsella, Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Michael Longley, Eavan Boland, Paul Durcan, Medbh McGuckian, Ciaran Carson, Tom Paulin and Paul Muldoon. The course will be based around a number of anthologies – in particular, The Faber Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Paul Muldoon, Modern Irish Poetry: An Anthology, edited by Patrick Cotty, and The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry edited by Peter Fallon and Derek Mahon.