Irish Literature in Transition, 1940–1980: Volume 5

A provocative range of essays on twentieth-century Irish authors, critics and culture framed in contexts of transition and transnationalism.

These essays will engage readers interested in Ireland's history between the Second World War and the Troubles, with analysis of Ireland's literary connections to Europe and America, surveys of Irish censorship, publishing and criticism, and discussions of individual authors including Seán O'Faoláin, Samuel Beckett, Edna O'Brien and John McGahern.This volume explores the history of Irish writing between the Second World War (or the 'Emergency') in 1939 and the re-emergence of violence in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. It situates modern Irish writing within the contexts of cultural transition and transnational connection, often challenging pre-existing perceptions of Irish literature in this period as stagnant and mundane. While taking into account the grip of Irish censorship and cultural nationalism during the mid-twentieth century, these essays identify an Irish literary culture stimulated by international political horizons and fully responsive to changes in publishing, readership, and education. The book combines valuable cultural surveys with focussed discussions of key literary moments, and of individual authors such as Seán O'Faoláin, Samuel Beckett, Edna O'Brien, and John McGahern.