First published in Irish by An Gum in 1965, Seosamh Mac Grianna's magnificent
autobiographical novel Mo Bhealach Fein is translated here for the first time
into English by Micheal O hAodha. With notes of Dead as Doornails and The
Ginger Man in its absurd comedy, Mac Grianna pens his reaction to an
anglicised, urbanised, post-revolution Ireland.
In an Irish graveyard, the corpses are distracted by local jealousies and petty disputes assuming global importance. Their banter is full of news of above-ground happenings, received from the recently arrived. As we listen in on the gossip, rumors, backbiting, complaining, and obsessing of the local community, we learn that in the afterlife the same old life goes on beneath the sod.--
The Year 1798 in Twentieth-Century Irish Fiction and Drama
240 pages
9 hours of reading
The 1798 Rebellion, a watershed event in Irish history, has been a source of both inspiration and controversy over the last two centuries and continues to provoke debate up to the present day. The ongoing discussion about the meaning of the Rebellion has not been limited to history books, but has also found vivid expression in Irish fiction and theatre. The product of extensive research, this study provides a comprehensive survey of historical novels and plays published on the topic throughout the twentieth century, comparing them with relevant historiography. It draws attention to a number of outstanding but often neglected literary works, bringing together materials written in both English and Irish. Employing important theoretical concepts such as Derrida’s ‘spectre’ and Hayden White’s tropological view of history, the book probes the relationship between historiography and fiction to shed light on their interplay in the Irish context, including the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. This investigation illuminates a number of broader questions, including the most pressing of all: in what way should we deal with the ‘spectres’ of the past and their complex legacies?
Publikace doplněná unikátními snímky zasvěceně vypráví životní příběh autora dnes proslaveného Pána Prstenů, někdejšího univerzitního profesora středověké angličtiny Johna Ronalda Reuela Tolkiena.