The Cambridge Companion to the Irish Novel (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

The Irish novel has had a distinguished history. It spans such diverse authors as James Joyce, George Moore, Maria Edgeworth, Bram Stoker, Flann O'Brien, Samuel Beckett, Lady Morgan, John Banville, and others. Yet it has until now received less critical attention than Irish poetry and drama. This volume covers three hundred years of Irish achievement in fiction, with essays on key genres, themes, and authors. It provides critiques of individual works, accounts of important novelists, and histories of sub-genres and allied narrative forms, establishing significant social and political contexts for dozens of novels. The varied perspectives and emphases by more than a dozen critics and literary historians ensure that the Irish novel receives due tribute for its colour, variety and linguistic verve. Each chapter features recommended further reading. This is the perfect overview for students of the Irish novel from the romances of the seventeenth century to the present day. Cover......Page 1 THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO THE IRISH NOVEL......Page 2 Contents......Page 6 Notes on contributors......Page 8 Acknowledgment......Page 10 Chronology......Page 11 Introduction......Page 22 1 The novel before 1800......Page 43 2 The national tale and allied genres, 1770s–1840s......Page 60 3 The novel of the big house......Page 81 4 The Gothic novel......Page 99 5 Catholics and fiction during the Union, 1801–1922......Page 118 6 Irish modernisms, 1880–1930......Page 134 7 James Joyce......Page 154 8 Region, realism and reaction, 1922–1972......Page 174 9 The novel in Irish......Page 192 10 Women novelists, 1930s–1960s......Page 210 11 Two post-modern novelists: Samuel Beckett and Flann O’Brien......Page 226 12 Life writing in the twentieth century......Page 244 13 The novel and the Northern Troubles......Page 259 14 Contemporary Irish fiction......Page 280 Index......Page 297 "This volume covers three hundred years of Irish achievement in fiction, with essays on key genres, themes and authors. It provides critiques of individual works, accounts of important novelists and histories of subgenres and allied narrative forms, establishing significant social and political contexts for dozens of novels."--Jacket Edited By John Wilson Foster. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.