- Department: English and Related Literature
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: H
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
From pastoral to postmodernism, via world war, insurrection and Troubles, in writing by women and men, in the country or in the city, in love or in grief, the last century of Irish poetry writes about a great deal of subject matter in a variety of forms.
This module will move across the contexts and history of modern Irish literature, looking at its poetry under four intertwined thematic headings: land; love; elegy; history. Poems in English and translated from Irish will be studied as they relate to these preoccupations, and students taking the course will accrue a picture of the traditions, continuities, fragmentations and innovations of the Irish poem.
Every year we will end the module by reading a newly-published volume of poetry, and when possible the author of the book will visit to offer a reading and participate in a Q&A with students.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Autumn Term 2022-23 |
To introduce students to a range of poems by Irish authors and to enable in-depth seminar discussion of poetry in its historical and theoretical contexts. The module will also give students the opportunity to write a critical essay on a variety of Irish poets.
On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:
Demonstrate an advanced understanding of and engagement with a range of modern Irish poetry
Demonstrate an advanced understanding of and engagement with sophisticated approaches to the reading of modern poetry.
Evaluate key debates within the relevant critical fields dealing with the Irish literature, history and culture
Produce independent arguments and ideas which demonstrate an advanced proficiency in critical thinking, research, and writing skills.
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
None
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
Poets studied may include Samuel Beckett; the Thirties poets Denis Devlin, Thomas MacGreevy and Brian Coffey; Louis MacNeice; Patrick Kavanagh and Austin Clarke; and contemporary poetry from the North of Ireland and the Republic by poets such as Thomas Kinsella, Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Michael Longley, Eavan Boland, Paul Durcan, Medbh McGuckian, Ciaran Carson, Tom Paulin and Paul Muldoon. The course will be based around a number of anthologies – in particular, The Faber Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Paul Muldoon, Modern Irish Poetry: An Anthology, edited by Patrick Cotty, and The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry edited by Peter Fallon and Derek Mahon.