A selective study of key themes in modern Irish literature. Texts will include novels, short stories, and poetry and will concentrate on translations of works originally written in Irish. All work will be read in English, but the course will be coordinated with 75 or 115A-115B for those who wish to do some of the reading in Irish.

Translation has become a central topic in literary studies. The importance of translation is nowhere more evident than when we turn to the language and literature of Ireland. The Irish language, whose obituary has remained a fantasy for over a hundred years, continued to produce extraordinary works of literature in the 20th century and on into the 21st. With these facts in mind, this course covers Irish literature with special reference to the practice of translation, especially as it relates to the poetics of Irish verbal and narrative artistry in the modern period. Thus we will not only read Irish literature in English translation, but we will think deeply about the process of translation itself. The theory of translation will be reviewed through readings in Shulte and Biguenet to be supplemented by a reader whose content is designed to bring the class up to current speed with respect to the issues that continue to dog those who take translation seriously. As to Irish literature our texts will include the Blasket Island novels (Sayers, Ó Crohan, and O’Sullivan) all of which are recognized as major achievements--especially outside of Ireland. In addition we will read the latest translations that have impressed English readers, (especially with reference to the work of Martin Ó Cadhain and Flann O’Brien). We will also look closely at the most famous poems from the middle ages; from the modern period we will read poems from the recent anthology by Louis de Paor. Special attention will be paid to the theoretical issues arising from the problems posed by the act of translation in the Irish context as well as the place of Irish literature in a comparative literary canon. This course will ask students for two papers; there will be short quizzes and a final. All texts are to be read in English. Texts: Susan Bassnett. Translation Studies. NY: Routledge, 2013. ISBN: 78-0415506731 Rainer Shulte and John Biguenet. 1992. Theories of Translation: An Anthology of Essays from Dryden to Derrida. The University of Chicago Press, 1992. ISBN-13: 978-0226048710 Peig Sayers. The Autobiography of Peig Sayers. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1974. ISBN-0-8156-0258-8 Flann O’Brien. The Poor Mouth: A Bad Story about the Hard Life. Dalkey Archive Press, 1973. ISBN-13: 978-1564780911 Maurice O’ Sullivan. Twenty Years A-Growing. Tomás Ó Crohan. The Islandman. Course Reader. This text will be available in the first week of classes. Prerequisites: None. All required readings will be in English.

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