The foundation of The Gaelic Journal (1882) by Douglas Hyde has often been interpreted as the beginning of the Gaelic Revival, a cultural movement which focused on indigenous folklore, oral traditions and mythology as the roots of an authentic Irish identity, thereby informing political nationalism (Castle 2001; Felton 2007). The Irish region—a complex concept involving various spatial levels (Whelan 1992) — and its literatures and cultures was central to nationalist ideologies, but the question arises in what respects local colour fiction of this era breaks away from this national frame to address transnational concerns and issues.
This research question will be central to this project, and examined in relation to short stories (published in periodicals in Ireland) and short story collections; book design and used illustrations will also be analysed. During the Gaelic Revival, visual and material arts played a significant role in literary production (Hutton & Walsh 2011: 392-93), and it will therefore be important to assess to what extent these aspects endorsed the transnational dimensions of the narratives.
Furthermore, this subproject examines the circulation and reception of Irish local colour short stories from this period in Europe and the US and Canada. Which works were published in editions elsewhere in Europe or transatlantic editions, and were there significant differences with the editions published in the home country? In what ways did marketing and prefaces to these editions address other European and Irish diaspora audiences?
Central authors: F.M. Allen, Jane Barlow, William Boyle, Shan Bullock, Lipsett Caldwell, B.M.Croker, Julia Crotty, Charlotte O’Connor Eccles, Emily Lawless, Seumás Macmanus, Randal McDonnell, Archibald McIlroy, Lewis McNamara, Rosa Mulholland, Frank James Mathews, George Moore, E. Sommerville and Martin Ross, Mary Tench, Katharine Tynan.
Journals: An Claidheamh Soluis; Athenaeum; Blackwood’s Magazine; Chamber’s Edinburgh Journal; Irish Homestead; Macmillan’s; The Cornhill Magazine; The Dublin Review; Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge; The Irish Monthly; The Irish Review; Shan Van Vocht.
This project is part of the main project Redefining the Region - The Transnational Dimensions of Local Colour (P.I. Prof. Marguérite Corporaal).
