Irish Literature I

August 26, 2024 - December 20, 2024
Monday, Wednesday
11:30AM - 12:45PM
Arts & Sciences Hall 392

Story of Ireland Part 1 (notes for part 1)
Story of Ireland Part 2 (notes for part 2)
Story of Ireland Part 3 (notes for part 3)
Story of Ireland Part 4

August 26: Pre-Christian and Early Medieval Ireland (c. 300 BC-1200 AD)
Read for 8/28: Aided Lugach ocus Debforgaille (Deaths of Lugaid and Derbforgaill); selected early monastic poetry (TEXTS ON CANVAS)

August 28: Class discussion.
Read for 9/4: Scela Muicce Meic Da Tho (Tale of Meic Datho's Pig) (TEXT ON CANVAS)

September 2: Labor Day

September 4: Class discussion. Anglo-Norman Ireland (c. 1200-1500)
Read for 9/9: Thomas Kinsella, trans. Tain Bo Cuailgne (Cattle Raid of Cooley): (Intro; pp. 1-50)

September 9: Story of Ireland-Part 1 QUIZ ON CANVAS.
Class discussion.
Read for 9/11: Kinsella, The Tain (pp. 52-114 to section VII)

September 11: Class discussion.
Read for 9/16: Kinsella, The Tain (pp. 114-167)

September 16: Class discussion.
Read for 9/18: Echtra mac N-Ecach (Adventures of the Sons of Eochaid Mugmedon) (ON CANVAS)

September 18: Story of Ireland-Part 2 QUIZ ON CANVAS.
Class discussion. Early Modern Ireland I (1500-1600)
Read for 9/23: Selections from An Duanaire: Daibhi O Bruadair, Mairg Nach Fuil 'na Dhubhthuata (It's Best Be a Total Boor), D'Aithle na Bhfileadh (The High Poets Are Gone), excerpt from Cuirfead Cluain (I'll Cast My Spell); Aogan O Rathaille, Gile na Gile (Brightness Most Bright), An Aisling (The Vision), Mac an Cheannai (Son of the Redeemer) (ON CANVAS)

September 23: READING JOURNAL #1 DUE (Readings in Units 1 AND 2).
Class discussion. Early Modern Ireland I (1500-1600)
Read for 9/25: Granuaile material (c. 1530-c. 1603); Spenser-"View of the present state of Ireland" (1633); Boate's bog material (written 1645-46; published 1652-two years after his death) Chapts 13 (p. 105-111), 14 (pp. 112-117) on bogs (EEBO-link via our CANVAS site)

September 25: Class discussion. Early Modern Ireland II (1600-1800)
Read for 9/30: Cuirt an Mhean-Oiche (The Midnight Court) Parts 1 & 2 (O Conchubhair, pp. 3-29)

September 30: Class discussion.
Read for 10/2: Cuirt an Mhean-Oiche (The Midnight Court) Parts 3 & 4 (O Conchubhair, pp. 29-43)

October 2: Class discussion. Towards a New Identity I (1800-1900)
Read for 10/7: Sydney Owenson, The Wild Irish Girl, Introductory Letters-Letter IV

October 7: Story of Ireland-Part 3 QUIZ ON CANVAS. READING JOURNAL #2 DUE. OPEN MIDTERM.
Class discussion.
Read for 10/9: WIG, Letters V-VIII

October 9: MIDTERM ESSAY EXAM DUE (ON CANVAS)
Towards a New Identity (1800-1900)
Read for 10/14: WIG, Letters XII; XV; XIX-XX

October 14: Indigenous Peoples Day
Class discussion.
Read for 10/16: Letters XXIV-XXV; XXVII; XXIX-CONCLUSION

October 16: Class discussion. An Gorta Mor (The Great Hunger)
Read for 10/23: Peadar O Laoghaire, from Mo Sgeal Fein (My Own Story); Asenath Nicholson, from Lights and Shades of Irish Life (ON CANVAS)

Fall Break: 10/20-10/22

October 23: Story of Ireland-Part 4 QUIZ ON CANVAS.
Class discussion. Anglo-Irish Gothic.
Read for 10/28: Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmilla (Costello-Sullivan, pp. 3-58; chpts. 1-8)

October 28: Class discussion.
Read for 10/30: Carmilla (pp. 59-96; chpts. 9-16)

October 30: Class discussion. Cultural Nationalism.
Read for 11/4: Thomas Davis, excerpt from "Our National Language" (ON CANVAS); Douglas Hyde, "The Necessity for De-Anglicizing Ireland" (ON CANVAS)

November 4: Class discussion.
Read for 11/6: Bram Stoker, The Snake's Pass (Buchelt, chpts 1-5)

November 6: Class discussion.
Read for 11/11: Bram Stoker, The Snake's Pass (Buchelt, chpts 6-10)

November 11: Class discussion.
Read for 11/13: The Snake's Pass (Buchelt, chpts 11-15)

November 13: Class discussion.
Read for 11/18: The Snake's Pass (Buchelt, chpts 15-18)

November 18: Class discussion.
Read for 11/20: Patricia Kelly, "The Tain as Literature" in Aspects of the Tain. J.P. Mallory, ed. (ON CANVAS); Briona Nic Dhiarmada, "Approaching Cuirt an Mhean Oiche/The Midnight Court" (in O Conchubhair, pp. 78-89).

November 20: Class discussion.
Read for 11/25: Ina Ferris, "Narrating Cultural Encounter: Lady Morgan and the Irish National Tale" (ON CANVAS: the PDF has two articles; Ferris' is the second one.)

November 25: Class discussion.
Read for 12/2: Margaret Kelleher, "'Appalling Spectacles': Nineteenth-Century Irish Famine Narratives," from The Feminization of the Famine (ON CANVAS); Jarlath Killeen, "An Irish Carmilla?" (in Costello-Sullivan, pp. 99-109); critical article of your choice from the essays in the back of The Snake's Pass

Thanksgiving Break: 11/27-12/1

December 2: READING JOURNAL #3 DUE. TAKE HOME FINAL OPENED.
Class discussion integrating primary texts from units 1 - 3 and WIG from unit 4 with Kelly, Nic Dhiarmada, and Ferris essays

December 4: Class discussion integrating Famine narratives, Carmilla, and The Snake's Pass from unit 4 with Kelleher, Killeen, and SP essay of your choice

Prep Week/Study Days: 12/9-12/14

December 18: Take-Home Final Essay Due