ENG41590 The Tradition and the Contemporary

Academic Year 2021/2022

This core MA course examines the relationship of the traditional and the contemporary in a range of Irish writing. A central aim of the course is to examine the significance of tradition as a force in Irish literature, and to explore Irish writers’ diverse engagement, interrogation and rewriting of the work of their literary predecessors. A related theme is the significance of history as subject and theme, and its contested status as both an enabling and disabling influence in Irish writing. These questions will be examined through a selection of representative writings, including a range of novels and short fiction, drawn from the long chronology of Irish literature. The course will conclude with the study of a selection of contemporary fiction and will feature a short series of guest seminars and author interviews.

Show/hide contentOpenClose All

Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

At the conclusion of this module students will be able to demonstrate1. critical awareness of the complex interrelationship between the traditional and the contemporary in Irish, as demonstrated in a range of writings2. understanding of the force of tradition in Irish writing, and of the diverse strategies of engagement with the tradition which are employed by Irish writers 3. knowledge of key chronological trends and periods in Irish literary history4. advanced skills in textual and critical analysis 5. the ability to complete an extended essay of their choice on a topic related to the course

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

20
Specified Learning Activities

50
Autonomous Student Learning

150
Total

220
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module is taught through seminar format. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: 5,000 word Unspecified n/a Graded No

100

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Remediation Type Remediation Timing
In-Module Resit Prior to relevant Programme Exam Board
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Texts include:

Maria Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent 1801 (any edition; downloadable from
Project Gutenberg or Oxford Books)
Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea (Vintage, 2004)
Somerville and Ross, The Real Charlotte 1894 (available in electronic format
from Internet Archive; print edition Capuchin Books, 2011, foreword by Colm
Tóibín)
Mary Lavin, The Becker Wives (1946; New Island, 2018)
Samuel Beckett, Molloy, ed. Shane Weller (1951; Faber, 2009).
Anne Enright, The Green Road (Jonathan Cape, 2015)
Anna Burns, Milkman (Faber and Faber, 2018)
Melatu Uche Okorie, This Hostel Life (Skein, 2018)
Niamh Campbell, This Happy (W & N, 2020)
Oein DeBhairduin, Why the Moon Travels (Skein, 2020)

Name Role
Assoc Professor Lucy Collins Lecturer / Co-Lecturer