Handbook of the Irish Revival: An Anthology of Irish Cultural and Political Writings 1891-1922

by Declan Kiberd (Editor), P. J. Mathews (Editor)

Overview

The Irish Revival of 1891 to 1922 was an extraordinary era that generated not only a remarkable crop of poets and writers but also a range of innovative political thinkers and activists. The contributors to this period exchanged ideas and opinions about what Ireland was and could become, yet much of this discourse remains out of print, some of these voices almost forgotten. Handbook of the Irish Revival: An Anthology of Irish Cultural and Political Writings 1891–1922 collects for the first time many of the essays, articles, and letters by renowned figures such as James Joyce, Maud Gonne, W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Sean O'Casey, and J. M. Synge, among others. The anthology also contains pieces by lesser-known individuals such as Stopford A. Brooke, Mary Colum, and Helena Molony. Many of the lesser-known texts contextualize the social, political, and cultural lives, values, and aspirations of those involved in and on the periphery of the Revivalist movement. The introduction and commentary by Declan Kiberd and P. J. Mathews convey the ideas of a brilliant generation that, in spite of difficulty and demoralization, audaciously shaped a modern Ireland. Divided into sixteen sections covering issues as diverse as literature, religion, drama, education, women’s rights, and the 1916 Rising, this is the ultimate reference book for anyone with an interest in Irish literature and history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780268101312
Publisher:	University of Notre Dame Press
Publication date:	08/30/2016
Edition description:	1
Pages:	506
Sales rank:	948,535
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Declan Kiberd is the Donald and Marilyn Keough Professor of Irish Studies and professor of English and Irish language and literature at the University of Notre Dame.

P. J. Mathews is associate professor in the School of English, Drama and Film at University College Dublin.

Read an Excerpt

Excerpt:
"Most of the significant figures of the time made ample use of the newspapers and literary journals to promote their views and various causes, and to take part in contemporary cultural debates. Even high literary figures like W.B. Yeats and James Joyce embraced popular journalism as a means of engaging with the political ideas of the time and influencing opinion. Meanwhile, anti-establishment figures such as
Alice Milligan and James Connolly, who did not have access to the mainstream press, set up their own newspapers. Yet despite the wealth and importance of this material to the shaping of modern Irish culture, many of these formative essays remain out-of-print, uncollected and unavailable to all but a select readership. At a time of national introspection during the Decade of Commemorations, and in response to a welcome trend of greater public familiarity with recently-available archival sources—such as the 1911 census and Bureau of Military History files—this volume, it is hoped, will facilitate a deeper engagement with the many and varied voices of the period." —From the introduction, Handbook of the Irish Revival: An Anthology of Irish Cultural and Political Writings 1891–1922 edited by Declan Kiberd and P. J. Mathews

Editorial Reviews

For the generous range of material the Handbook gathers and for the fresh eye it brings to the period, Declan Kiberd and PJ Matthews are to be congratulated.” —Dublin Review of Books

Dublin Review of Books

It is a rare anthology that offers no surprising blooms in its gathering, and this commodious handbook to the Irish Revival by two distinguished scholars, with extracts from creative, critical and political writings, is no exception.

James Joyce Quarterly

"My hope is that in reading these pieces readers will be encouraged to go on to engage with the writers involved in more depth. What the editors have done is to have saved for us the evidence of some of the most sensitive, idealistic, often combative people of an extraordinary set of decades that ended a century of devastation and began a new century that presented both a promise and a set of conflicts whose consequences would endure into our own times." —Michael D. Higgins, The President of Ireland, from the book

"This book is indispensable for an understanding of the cultural revolution that preceded and in key ways helped shape the political revolution in twentieth-century Ireland. For anyone interested in Irish culture, history, literature, and art, I can think of no better place to start than here. Highly recommended." —Christopher B. Fox, professor of English and director of the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies, University of Notre Dame

“It is a rare anthology that offers no surprising blooms in its gathering, and this commodious handbook to the Irish Revival by two distinguished scholars, with extracts from creative, critical and political writings, is no exception.” —James Joyce Quarterly

From the Publisher

"This book is indispensable for an understanding of the cultural revolution that preceded and in key ways helped shape the political revolution in twentieth-century Ireland. For anyone interested in Irish culture, history, literature, and art, I can think of no better place to start than here. Highly recommended."

Christopher B. Fox

"My hope is that in reading these pieces readers will be encouraged to go on to engage with the writers involved in more depth. What the editors have done is to have saved for us the evidence of some of the most sensitive, idealistic, often combative people of an extraordinary set of decades that ended a century of devastation and began a new century that presented both a promise and a set of conflicts whose consequences would endure into our own times."

Michael D. Higgins