WiSe 22/23: PS-Introduction to Cultural Studies: Contemporary Irish Fiction
Kübra Özermis
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The late 20th century was a time of turbulence and transformation for Ireland. With the economic boom in the Celtic Tiger period Ireland transitioned from an economically burdened to a financially prospering nation. In Northern Ireland the sectarian conflict initially escalated into what became known as “the Troubles” and ended after three decades of armed campaigns with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. This eventful period overlapped with the emergence of a remarkable number of fiction writers for such a small island. The Irish novel grasped the transitions and transformations, both North and South of Ireland, while reflecting on the legacy of a traumatic past of a formerly colonised and still partitioned nation. Irish fiction, and here especially the Irish novel, became a cultural artefact testifying and contributing to a new understanding of Irishness and Irish culture. The 21st century proves to be similarly impactful. The massive economic crash, instigated by the financial crisis in 2007, plunged Ireland into a severe recession and challenged the newly found identity of Ireland as a place of wealth and economic security. Simultaneously, Northern Ireland remains under the influence of the post-conflict era with the violence of the previous decades haunting society and culture and the old sectarian divisions still in place. Amidst these new challenges the Irish novel maintains its position as a cultural expression and reflects new constructions of Irishness, nationhood, gender and the diversification of identities.
For this reason, this seminar will have a focus on the Irish novel as a cultural artefact and situate it within cultural trends of the 21st century. Students will engage with contemporary Irish issues in the cultural sphere and dive into their representations in fiction. At the same time, concepts related to cultural studies, such as cultural memory and identity, gender, nationhood, space and postcolonialism will be at the centre of this seminar. Students will learn how to observe, analyse and dissect various cultural phenomena and their manifestations. There will be an all-Ireland focus in this seminar, which means that fiction written by authors both from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will be focused on.
The four novels we will deal with are Anne Enright’s The Green Road (2015), Sally Rooney’s Normal People (2018), Anna Burns’ Milkman (2018) and Michelle Gallen’s Big Girl Small Town (2020). Students are expected to purchase all four of the novels. We will begin with Anne Enright’s The Green Road (you should finish reading this novel by the third session of the seminar). Other reading materials will be provided by the instructor on Blackboard.
The final exam in this module is a 2000-word term paper. In-person attendance and active participation are required.
close16 Class schedule
Regular appointments