Overview

"There is a long history in Ireland of performing, studying and responding to Shakespeare's plays. Transposed to an Irish context, Shakespeare has continued to be a source of creative engagement and discussion for Irish writers. This new collection of essays explores the dynamic responses to Shakespeare by Irish writers, in both English and in Irish, since the early twentieth century. Written by leading Irish and international scholars in the fields of Shakespeare and Irish studies ""Shakespeare and the Irish Writer"" addresses the engagement with Shakespeare and his plays in the works of Yeats, Wilde, Joyce, Bowen, Shaw, Beckett and McGuinness as well as Irish language writers. It surveys Shakespeare's reception in Ireland and suggests new ways of interpreting his work and his cultural associations in and from Ireland. Indeed, the collection reveals how the category 'Shakespeare and the Irish Writer' discloses a level of cultural continuity across the contours of the history of Ireland and Britain. What emerges is an interaction with Shakespeare's plays that, whether emulative or parodic, iconoclastic or subtly allusive, or a combination of these, is complex and creative.These essays provide new insight into Shakespeare's reception in Ireland, illustrating how his plays have initiated a dialogue in Irish writing, and continue to do so.They show how Irish responses to his work constitute a legitimate form of criticism, enlarging understanding of Shakespeare in a broader than national context. ""Shakespeare and the Irish Writer"" will appeal to scholars of modern Irish writing and to Shakespeare scholars, particularly those interested in the appropriation of the many plays and their cultural afterlife."

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9781906359393

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Reviews

'As in other English-speaking countries, Shakespeare is a major influence on Irish writers and literature - However, there is a different attitude to Shakespeare and a different way of interpreting him in Ireland which takes into account our indigenous literary tradition, the colonial experience and relations with England. Here scholars from both sides of the Atlantic explore the influence of Shakespeare on Irish writers from W. B. Yeats to Frank McGuinness. They look at the performing of Shakespeare and the translation of his plays into Irish, taking on wider issues like Irish attitudes to bardolatry. The limited focus enables the contributors to concentrate on the most important Irish writers of the last century, who are shown in a new light by considering how Shakespeare influenced them. The papers also show how Irish writers have seen elements in his plays that the British have missed.' Books Ireland May 2010 Irish Theatre Magazine Link: http://www.irishtheatremagazine.ie/Reviews/Books/Shakespeare-and-the-Irish-Writer Patrick Lonergan NUI Galway Irish Theatre Magazine 12 May 2010

Author Information

Janet Clare is Professor of Renaissance Literature at the University of Hull; Stephen O'Neill is a Lecturer in English at NUI Maynooth.

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