AN2102MA 06 The Irish Dramatic Revival
Required Optional, MA, 1st – 2nd year
seminar, 2 hrs, graded
Wed, 119 (Országh Seminar) 12.00 – 13.40
Bertha Csilla
office: 105
office hour:
Wed. 15.00 – 16.00
[email protected]
This seminar course aims to give students an insight into one of the most fertile periods of Irish
culture and literature, the Irish Renaissance, and to provide an introduction to the dramatic forms
that emerged as part of the Irish Dramatic Movement. Multidisciplinary discussions will address
this complex cultural phenomenon in the context of cultural nationalism, anti-colonialism,
decolonisation, post-colonial formation of individual and national self-images, and will attempt to
shed light on some of the ways drama as a specific genre can participate in, and respond to, such
discourses. The analyses of plays by the outstanding playwrights of the period – J. M.Synge, A.
Gregory, S.O’Casey, W.B.Yeats – will explore thematic and formal innovations that helped
reinvigorate the English-language drama of Europe; the relationship between text and theatricality,
between verbal, visual, auditory and kinetic components of the stage language, and the
implications of handling dramatic space and place. At the end of the term we will take a look at
the impact the drama of the Irish Renaissance had on Samuel Beckett.
SCHEDULE
17 Feb
Introduction. The Irish Renaissance, The Dramatic Movement;
Ireland and colonization, colonial and postcolonial consciousness
D. Kiberd. “Ireland – England’s Unconscious”,
T. Brown, from “Cultural Nationalism 1880-1930”
24 Feb
Allegorizing the Nation:
A. Gregory and W.B.Yeats, Cathleen ni Houlihan
R. Kearney, “Myths of Motherland”
The Return of the Dead:
J.M.Synge, Riders to the Sea
2 March
Convention vs. Tradition: Decolonization (of Women)
J. M. Synge The Shadow of the Glen
P.J. Mathews, “The Shadow of the Glen,”
9 March
Conventional Morality vs. Individual / Artistic Vision
J. M. Synge, The Well of the Saints
Relevant parts of A. Roche, “Marginal Zones…”
16 March
“a gallous story and a dirty deed”; Illusion, Imagination and Reality
J. M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World
J. M. Synge, “Preface” to the Playboy
Relevant parts of A. Roche, “Impact of Synge”
23 March
Woman playwright – (Proto)Feminist?
Lady Augusta Gregory, Spreading the News, Grania
M.Waters, from “Lady Gregory’s Grania: A Feminist Voice”
30 March ---------------------- Consultation Week -----------------5 April
Mythic Heroes and Fools – Tragedy and Farce
W.B.Yeats, On Baile’s Strand
Relevant parts of A. Roche, “Yeats as Founder and Playwright”
12 April
Dramatic Experimentation: the Japanese Noh
W. B. Yeats, At the Hawk’s Well
W. B. Yeats, “Introduction” to Certain Noble Plays of Japan
19 April
Myth and History:
W. B. Yeats, The Dreaming of the Bones
Relevant parts of K. Worth, “Yeats’s Drama of the Interior”
26 April
History without Myth
S. O’Casey, Juno and the Paycock
M.Keaton, from “The Mother’s Tale: Maternal Agency in Juno
and the Paycock”
3 May
End-term test
10 May (non-final year students)
The Irish Dramatic Revival and Beckett
S. Beckett, Waiting for Godot
Relevant parts of A. Roche, “Marginal Zones…”
17 May
Conclusion
REQUIREMENTS
Readings: Obviously, all the primary and secondary texts must be read by the time they are due
in class. Class participation: will be evaluated based upon the quality and frequency of
contributions.
Short tests: At the beginning of every class a brief test enquiring into the assigned reading
(either primary or secondary or both) can be expected. Out of the total number of tests
written during the term, the worst result will not count towards the overall value of the
tests, and one missing test will be forgiven. All other missing tests will be graded as Zero.
Journal: Journal entries record responses (opinions, impressions, questions raised) to the works
read. Journals will not be checked or graded but they will greatly facilitate participation
in the class discussions.
At-home essay: ONLY FOR 1st-year students and those who, in whatever year, are not writing
their MA theses in this term: an approx. 1800-2200-word research paper on an issue
related to the course. Topics will be chosen in the first or second class. The paper is due
at the seminar when the play(s) concerned is (are) being discussed. Note: you are
expected to do research and use a minimum of 5 scholarly sources (books, chapters of
books, essays in journals – wikipedia is NOT an academic source!). Your essay must be
honestly and precisely documented! For documentation form see MLA Style Sheet.
Plagiarism deserves capital punishment! (See Academic Handbook)
Presentation: FOR all students. A brief, 5-6 minute summary of the main issues of your paper
or (those who do not have to write a paper) a presentation of an issue, idea, problem
related to a chosen topic. After that, the student will have to play a prominent role in the
discussion as the "expert" on the subject.
NOTE: FINAL-year students, who are writing their theses, are exempt from writing an at-home
seminar essay. They still must, however, give a brief (5-6 minute-long) presentation (as
described above) on a subject chosen and agreed upon at the beginning of the term.
Please, note that class participation, short tests, at-home essay and/or only presentation (as
defined above) and endterm test are obligatory and the failure to meet any of these requirements
will jeopardise the completion of the course. Failure to meet more than one requirement will
automatically result in overall failure. For the research paper/essay submission (for those who are
obliged to write one) and the end-term test - only one re-sit or re-submission will be granted.
Please also note that there is no make-up for insufficient class attendance or in case you fail to
submit your research paper (term essay) by the announced deadline.
Grading policy:
1st -year students:
Class participation
25%
Brief tests
10%
At-home essay
30%
Presentation
5%
End-term test
30%
final-year student
30 %
10 %
20 %
40 %
Availability of texts:
Hard copies of plays are available in the Institute Library. Essays will be available for
downloading in the library (room 101) in PDF form, except for those marked as in the
Critical Anthology, of which copies are available in the library. One hard copy of essays
in a course packet will be on reserve.
Absences
Maximum three absences are permitted by university regulations. However, without serious cause
(e.g. illness or official trip abroad) the second and third absence will each result in losing 5
% of your overall achievement. In case of a longer absence (either due to illness, or official
leave), the teacher and the student will come to an agreement of how to solve the problem.
Plays:
J. M. Synge: Riders to the Sea; The Shadow of the Glen; The Well of the Saints; The Playboy of
the Western World
Lady Augusta Gregory: Spreading the News; Grania
S. O’Casey: Juno and the Paycock
W. B. Yeats and Augusta Gregory) Cathleen ni Houlihan
W.B. Yeats: On Baile’s Strand; At the Hawk’s Well; The Dreaming of the Bones
+ for non-final year students: S. Beckett: Waiting for Godot
Essays:
In course packet:
Kearney, Richard. “Myths of Motherland.” Postnationalist Ireland. London: Routledge, 1997.
108-21.
Kiberd, Declan. “Ireland – England’s Unconscious?”. Inventing Ireland, Cambridge, MA.:
Harvard, 1996. 29-32.
Mathews, P.J. “The Shadow of the Glen.” Revival. Cork: Cork UP, 2003. 137-45.
Roche, Anthony. “Marginal Zones of and Liminality.” Synge and the Making of Modern Irish
Drama. Dublin: Carysfort, 2013. 181-98.
---. “Yeats as Founder and Playwright.“ The Irish Dramatic Revival 1899-1939. London:
Bloomsbury, 2015. 29-52. (esp. 33-40, 44-52.) AND
---. “The Impact of Synge”, 53-77.
Worth, Catherine. “Yeats’s Drama of the Interiror”. The Irish Drama of Europe from Yeats to
Beckett. London: Athlone, 1986. 158-193. (esp. 158-60, 170-74)
Yeats,W.B. "Introduction” to Certain Noble Plays of Japan. Churchtown: Cuala, 1916. I-XIX.
In Critical Anthology for the Study of Modern Irish Literature. Ed. Mária Kurdi.Budapest:
Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, 2003.:
Brown, Terence. From “Cultural Nationalism 1880-1930.” 81-84.
Keaton, Maria. from “The Mother’s Tale: Maternal Agency in Juno and the Paycock,” 165-71.
Waters, Maureen. from “Lady Gregory’s Grania: A Feminist Voice.” 145-52.