Spring 2008 Schedule

ENGLISH 366: Introduction to Irish Literature
TIME: T/F, 3:05-4:20 PM
INSTRUCTOR: Jeff Cassvan

This course will provide a thorough introduction to the most interesting and important works of Irish literature from the Middle Ages to the present, with a special focus on the continuity and transformation of tradition as well as on the shifting aesthetic, political and social contexts in which Irish literature has been produced.  Readings will include Old and Middle Irish saga and poetry, satire from the 18th century, and selections from the work of W. B. Yeats, J. M. Synge, James Joyce, Seamus Heaney and Paul Muldoon.  We will also focus on the ways a number of the major trends in literary theory and criticism have been applied to the interpretation of this diverse material.  This will include an exploration of the question of the relationship between the study of literature, mythology  and history and of the concept of tradition itself.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 340: Literature and History 20th Century Ireland
TIME: TH, 1:40-4:30
INSTRUCTOR: Clare Carroll
Co-listed with ENGLISH 367: Modern Irish Literature
co-listed with IRISH STUDIES 390

This course follows the literature and history of Ireland from its waging the first
great anti-colonial war of the 20th century to its establishing the most globalized
economy in Western Europe. We will examine political speeches, plays, poems,
short stories, paintings, and films to study the nation's achievements and losses.
The extent to which the Irish Republic either challenged or repeated the structures of British rule will be a major focus. Readings include chapters from histories by Lee, Keogh, and Coogan, as well as poetry, narrative fiction, and shorter historical and critical articles. Films to be viewed include: Michael Collins, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Some Mother's Son, and Bloody Sunday.