Unidade Curricular | Course Unit
Literatura e Cultura Irlandesa | Irish Literature and Culture
|
Código da Unidade Curricular | Course ID
12422 |
ECTS | Credits
6 |
Ciclo de Estudos | Level
1 - Licenciatura | B.A. |
Semestre | Semester
1 |
Docente(s) | Instructor(s)
Teresa Casal |
Língua de ensino | Language of instruction
English |
Course description
This curricular unit aims to: 1) offer an introduction to Irish history, culture, and literature, both in terms of its links with Britain’s history and with the Irish diaspora; 2) introduce the ongoing identity debates within Irish Studies, as they reflect the close interaction between political developments and cultural manifestations in Irish history; and 3) foster students’ informed ability to think critically about literary texts and films within their respective historical framework, while providing an insight into Ireland’s rich cultural and literary heritage, and to the ethical and aesthetic dialogues that shape it. Literary works under study include: · Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”, 1729 · W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, Cathleen ni Houlihan, 1902 · W.B. Yeats: Selected Poems · James Joyce, “Eveline” and “The Dead”, Dubliners, 1914 · Seamus Heaney: Selected Poems · Eavan Boland: Selected Poems and Essays · Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These, 2021 · Emilie Pine, “Speaking / Not Speaking”, Notes to Self, 2018 · Lyra McKee, “The Lost Boys”, Lost, Found, Remembered, 2021 |
Grading and Assessment
The methodologies used aim to facilitate students’ knowledge acquisition while fostering the development of critical competences that may contribute to an informed citizenship. The teaching of historical and cultural contents is accompanied by the analysis of texts and other materials (e.g. documentaries, films); the approach to literary texts and films, and to how they address their respective contexts, seeks to develop students’ ability to engage imaginatively with them, to appreciate how they aesthetically affect readers / viewers, and to think critically about the issues they raise. Continuous assessment consists in: written test 1: 40%; written test 2: 40%; class participation (including oral presentation on a given topic): 20%. |
Readings (selection)
Cleary, Joe and Claire Connolly, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Modern Irish Culture, Cambridge: CUP, 2005. Gleeson, Sinéad, ed. The Art of the Glimpse: 100 Irish Short Stories, London: Head of Zeus, 2020. Kelleher, Margaret, and Philip O’Leary, eds. The Cambridge History of Irish Literature, 2 vols. Cambridge: CUP, 2006. Mulholland, Marc, Northern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction, OUP, 2003. Paseta, Senia, Modern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction, OUP, 2003. Regan, Stephen, ed. Irish Writing: An Anthology of Irish Literature in English 1789-1939. Oxford: OUP, 2004. |