BTAN32006BA03 The Irish Renaissance
Required Optional, BA, 3rd year
seminar, 2 hrs, graded
Wed, Studio 111, 18.00 – 19.40
Bertha Csilla
csillabertha@gmail.com
office: 105
office hours:
Wed. 16.00 – 17.00
Thu, 16.00 – 17.00
The Irish Renaissance will be discussed as a cultural phenomenon in its relation to cultural
nationalism, anti-colonialism, decolonisation, post-colonial subject- and nation-formation,
while also endeavouring to define the theatre’s instrumental role in national self-reflection as
a “mirror up to nation” (Ch. Murray) and in the formation, definition, and sustenance of
national consciousness. Analyses of plays by the outstanding playwrights of the period – J.
M.Synge, A. Gregory, S. O’Casey, W.B.Yeats – will draw attention to thematic and formal
innovations that helped reinvigorate the English-language drama of Europe and re-define the
dramatic genres.
SCHEDULE
9 Sept
Introduction. The Irish Renaissance
16 Sept
J. M. Synge, Riders to the Sea
W. B. Yeats, “The Irish Dramatic Movement”
T.Brown, from “Cultural Nationalism 1880-1930”
23 Sept
J. M. Synge, The Well of the Saints
W. B. Yeats, Preface to The Well of the Saints
30 Sept
J. M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World
J. M. Synge: Preface to The Playboy
7 Oct
J. M. Synge, The Playboy of the Western World
Ch. Murray, “Synge: ironic revolutionary”
14 Oct
21 Oct
28 Oct
4 Nov
11 Nov
Lady Augusta Gregory: Grania
M.Waters, from “Lady Gregory’s Grania: A Feminist Voice”
-------------- Consultation Week ------------------S. O’Casey, Juno and the Paycock
M.Keaton, from “The Mother’s Tale: Maternal Agency in Juno and the
Paycock”
S. O’Casey: The Silver Tassie
Heinz Kosok: “The Silver Tassie”
S. O’Casey: Cock-a-Doodle Dandy
2 Dec
W. B. Yeats, At the Hawk’s Well
W. B. Yeats, “Introduction” to Certain Noble Plays of Japan
W. B. Yeats, The Dreaming of the Bones
K. Worth, “Yeats’s Drama of the Interior”
W. B. Yeats, Purgatory
9 Dec
End-term test
16 Dec
Conclusion, evaluation
18 Nov
25 Nov
REQUIREMENTS
Class participation: is necessary for obtaining marks above three and it will be evaluated
based upon the quality and frequency of contributions
(approx. 40%).
Journal: should record the students’ encounter with and responses (opinions, impressions,
questions raised) to the works read. Journal entries should be 250-300 words on an
A4 sheet of paper for each class unless an essay or test is due and will be checked
several times during the term. They will not be graded, but their quality will influence
the final mark.
At-home essay: a 4-5 typed page (approx. 1200-1500 words) essay on a topic chosen in the
first class. The paper is due at the seminar when the play(s) concerned is (are) being
discussed. After a brief, 5-6 minute summary of his/her paper, the student will have
to play a prominent role in the discussion as the "expert" on the subject. Note: you are
expected to do research in the library and use your sources of information (theory,
background, criticism etc.) in your essay, honestly and precisely documented (see
Academic Handbook for rules of essay-writing, avoiding plagiarism, etc.) (30%)
End-term test: a test consisting of questions inquiring into any part of the material covered
during the course thus far.
(30%)
TEXTS:
Plays:
J. M. Synge: Riders to the Sea; The Well of the Saints; The Playboy of the Western World
Lady Augusta Gregory: Grania
S. O’Casey: Juno and the Paycock; The Silver Tassie; Cock-a-Doodle Dandy
W. B. Yeats: At the Hawk’s Well; The Dreaming of the Bones; Purgatory
Essays:
Brown, Terence. From “Cultural Nationalism 1880-1930.” Critical Anthology for the Study of
Modern Irish Literature. Ed. Mária Kurdi.Budapest: Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, 2003.
81-84.
Keaton, Maria. from “The Mother’s Tale: Maternal Agency in Juno and the Paycock,”
Critical Anthology, 165-71.
Kosok, Heinz. “The Silver Tassie.” O'Casey the Dramatist. Gerrards Cross, Bucks.: Colin
Smythe, 1985. 94-113.
Murray, Christopher. “Synge: ironic revolutionary.” Twentieth-Century Irish Drama: Mirror
up to Nation. Manchester and New York: Manchester UP, 1997. 64-87.
Worth, Katherine. “Yeats's Drama of the Interior: A Technique for the Modern Theatre.” The
Irish Drama of Europe from Yeats to Beckett. London: Athlone, 1986. 158-193.
Yeats,W.B."Introduction” to Certain Noble Plays of Japan. Churchtown: Cuala, 1916. I-XIX.
---. “Preface to Synge’s The Well of the Saints.”
---. “The Irish Dramatic Movement”, Selected Criticism, London: Macmillan, 1976. 195-206.
Waters, Maureen. from “Lady Gregory’s Grania: A Feminist Voice,” Critical Anthology 14552.
Availability of material:
All the plays are available in the Institute library. The essays are in the Course Packet except
for those listed as in Critical Anthology