British Horizons / Colonial Frameworks

Steven G. Ellis, ‘Writing Irish History: Revisionism, Colonialism, and the British Isles’, pp.1-21. Proffers a general discourse on Irish historiography focusing on the advantages of a British perspective alongside the longstanding traditional approach and the need for research outside the narrow parameters of nationalistic historiography; analyses the debate between nationalist and revisionist historians in this context as well as the varying interpretations of the terms colonisation and colonialism while surveying the two exceptionally definitive eras of colonisation in Ireland during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and again in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; juxtaposes the Irish context with that of Australia, New Zealand. Nigeria and Pakistan and discusses the significant impact of the scholarship of Prof. David Quinn and Prof. Nicholas Canny in this field.

Darryl Jones, ‘“I Failed Utterly”: Saunders Lewis and the Cultural Politics of Welsh Modernism’, pp.22-43. Analyses Saunders Lewis’s cultural aesthetics while constructing a modernist discourse within Welsh writing; treats Lewis’s own political agenda as well as the political language in modern Wales; refers to his commitment to the English monarchy, his time as founder and leader of the nascent Welsh Nationalist Party and his anti-industrialist tendencies; cites extnsively from his own works and correspondances and those of his contempories such as M. Wynn Thomas, Ned Thomas and Mary Douglas and alludes to many of his wotks including William Pantycelyn (1927), his best surviving critical work and Brad (1958) and 1938 (1978), both on Hitler and the Nazis.

Christopher Harvie, ‘Garron Top to Caer Gybi: Images of the Inland Sea’, pp.44-61. Traces the succession of images which have represented Ireland and Irishness throughout literary history, outlining the roles of our literary characters in the context of the Northern Ireland crisis and the consequential effect on intellectual imagination; includes numerous citations from works produced by journals such as Field day and Crane Bag, literature from Bernard Shaw and James Joyce, poetry from Coleridge, Dylan Thomas, Yeats, and George Meredith, lyrics of John Lennon and Paul McCartney and the political speeches of Ian Paisley and Sinn Fein.

Colin Graham, ‘Post-Colonial Theory and Kiberd’s "Ireland"‘, pp.62-67. Reviews Declan Kiberd’s narrative, Inventing Ireland, on the Irish nation in literature deeming it a worthy accomplishment in bridging a gap between academic and public discourse in this field; notes his use of post-colonial theory, notions of hybridity and his anti-myth making techniques in his analysis of structures of Irish dialogue while highlighting his frequent reference to works by Frantz Fanon, Albert Memmi and Edward Said.

The Famine

Carmel Quinlan, ‘“A Punishment From God”: The Famine in the Centenary Folklore Questionnaire’, pp.68-86. Makes a thematic examination of the collective memory of the famine based on oral testimony through generations as surveyed by the Irish Folklore Commission (IFC) in 1944/45; investigates the possible influence of the IFC’s own agenda on the information gathered as well as their methodology which Quinlan finds similar to that of Sean Ó Suilleabhan’s in Handbook of Irish Folklore; notes the apparent inability to talk about the famine era and the resulting sense of detachment within communities to the trajedy; includes various informant’s accounts of the prevailing attitudes at the time of the survey along with extracts from the related works of Cormac Ó Grada and Young Irelander, Michael Doheny’s The Felon’s Track.

Science in Ireland

Seán Lysaght, ‘Themes in the Irish History of Science’, pp.87-97. Vies for a greater scientific literacy in Ireland proclaiming its relevance when placed in social, political, institutional or architectural forms and viewed as a componant of local historiography or in the context of Irish cultural debate; underscores the disadvantages of disciplinarity, highlighting the cool response to the cross-disciplinary work of Estyn Evans while noting the growing interest world wide in this field as displayed in the recent publication series, Fontana History of Science; refers to the rich tradition of natural history writing produced by historians such as John Templeton, Robert Patterson and Alexander Goodman More.

Poetry

Peter McDonald, ‘The Poet and “The Finished Man”: Heaney’s Oxford Lectures’, pp.98-108. Summerises the themes under discussion in Heaney’s Oxford lectures on ‘The Redress of Poetry’; outlines Heaney’s discourse on the authority of poetry and of the writer as presented in The Government of the Tongue, poetry as a process of language, the integrity and power of poetic language and the critical and creative voice of the poet; refers to Heaney’s thoughts on the work of fellow poets such as Elizabeth Bishop, John Clare, Wilde, Larkin and Marlowe and includes extracts from the lectures as well as a reproduction of Heaney’s poem ‘The Fragment’.

Conor O’Callaghan, ‘The Gate-Lodge’, pp.109-11 [poem].

Michael Longley, ‘A Sprig of Bay’, ded. in memory of Sean Dunne 1956-1995, pp.112 [poem].

Lee Jenkins, ‘Minor Poet among the Major Players?’, pp.113-19, review of Patricia Coughlan and Alex Davis (eds.), Modernism and Ireland: The Poetry of the Thirties (Cork: Cork Univ. Press 1995). Welcomes the intercession of this publication in the ongoing debate over the Irish Poetic doctrine of this century and particularly during the thirties, treating the works of Brian Coffey, Denis Devlin and Thomas McGreevy; notes Coughlan and Davis’s argument against defining poetry in terms of centres and peripheries, major and minor and includes citations from McGreevy’s ‘The Six Who Were Hanged’, ‘Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill’ and ‘Homage to Vercingetorix’.

Des O’Rawe, ‘Healing Islands’, pp.120-25, review of Sean Dunne, Time and the Island (Oldcastle: The Gallery Press 1996); Medbh McGuckian, Captain Lavender (Oldcastle: The Gallery Press 1994); Joan Newmann, Coming of Age (Belfast: The Blackstaff Press 1995); Frank Ormsby, The Ghost Train (Oldcastle: The Gallery Press 1995). Laments the loss of Dunne to the poetic world, believing this last collection of work from him to be a wonderful testimony to this disciplined and generous spirit; includes reproductions of his poems ‘The Butterfly Soul’ and ‘The Healing Island’; Appreciates McGuckian’s fresh perspectives in this her fifth major collection, noting her central theme to be the prioritising of the subjective over the objective; quotes two stanza from her poem ‘Et Animum Dimittit’; Deems Newmann’s collection sexist in blaming patriarchy for all of societies ills while remarking on her theme content of growing up amidst deception, cruelty, violation and death; Praises Ormsby’s imaginative and unaffected offering in this symposium, enjoying his consistency in technical achievement and symbolic representation.

David Wheatley, ‘Unsuspected Shapes’, pp.125-29, review of Michael Longley, The Ghost Orchid (London: Jonathon Cape 1995); Derek Mahon, The Hudson Letter (Oldcastle: Gallery Press 1995). Applauds Longley’s use of syntax and measured pace, regarding this as his wittiest collection to date and includes his poems ‘The Camp-Fires’ and ‘Headstone’; Deems Mahon unmatched in his undulations from "furrow-browed philosophical mode to naked melodrama", while finding this set of works bold, uneven and immensly enjoyable.

Michael McAteer, ‘Cross-References’, pp.129-32, review of Robert Welch, ed. [asst. ed. Bruce Stewart], The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature (Oxford Univ. Press 1996). Lauds this mammoth book which will be invaluable to researchers in Irish historical and literary fields, welcoming the inclusion of works by less recognised figures such as George Bernard Shaw and Francis Stuart and female writers such as Margaret Brew and Cecilia Caddell, &c.

Dympna McLoughlin, ‘Nuns, Prostitutes, Wives, Mill Girls’, pp.132-36, review of Janice Holmes and Diane Urquhart, eds., Coming into the Light: The Work, Politics and Religion of Women in Ulster 1840-1940 (Queens Univ. Belfast: Inst. of Irish Studies 1994); Maria Luddy, Women and Philanthropy in Nineteenth-Century Ireland (Cambridge Univ. Press 1995); Maria Luddy, Women in Ireland 1800-1918 - A Documentary History (Cork: Cork Univ. Press 1995); Mary O’Dowd and Sabine Wichart (eds.), Chattel, Servant or Citizen: Women’s Status in Church, State and Society (Queens Univ. Press; Inst. of Irish Studies). Highly acclaims Urquart’s article on Unionist women’s politics and remarks on other noteworthy contributions such as Margaret Neil’s on female housework industry and Andrea Ebel Brozyna on women’s morality; Considers Luddy’s work on Women and Philanthrophy broad in perspective, well researched and detailed in analysis; Also recommends Luddy’s documentary history of the lives of ordinary women in Ireland dealing with issues of work, politics, education and personal life; Commends O’Dowd and Wichert’s provision of an impressive range of theoretical pieces, sources and archives treating the academic validity and gravity of women’s history.

D. George Boyce, ‘Writing “Home”’, pp.136-38, review of David Fitzpatrick, Oceans of Consolation. Personal Accounts of Irish Migration to Australia (Cork: Cork Univ. Press 1995). Praises this analysis of over a hundred letters to and from Australia which offers an insight to areas of politics, health, welfare, locality and family relations.

Thomas Kilroy, ‘Four Years of Yeats’, pp.138-40, review of John Kelly and Ronald Schuchard and John Kelly ed., The Collected Letters of W.B. Yeats, Vol. 3 1901-1904 (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1994). Laudates this volumn which covers issues of Yeat’s politics, aesthetics and personal crisis and which also includes a letter from Lady Gregory regarding the opening of the new theatre as well as insights to his contemporaries such as Synge and Joyce.

Brian G. Caraher, ‘A Choice of Joyces’, pp.140-46, review of Emer Nolan, James Joyce and Nationalism (London and New York: Routledge 1995); Danis Rose, The Textual Diaries of James Joyce (Dublin: Lilliput Press 1995); Fritz Senn, Christine O’Neill (ed.), Inductive Scrutinis: Focus on Joyce (Dublin: Lilliput Press 1995). Appreciates Nolan’s juxtaposition of Joyce with his contemporaries such as Ezra pound, T. S. Eliot and Wyndham Lewis as she strives to unsettle the mainstream study of Joyce and place a nationalistic perspective on his work; Criticises Rose’s arduous chronology of Joyce’s notebooks, finding his random treatment of the sources and themes jumbled and inconclusive; compliments Senn’s symposium of essays which look at areas of language, style and philology of Joyce’s work and his efforts to achieve an understanding of the critical and cultural differences which influenced this writer.

Eamonn Hughes, ‘Listening and Telling’, pp.146-51, review of Jennifer Johnston, The Illusionist (London: Sinclair-Stvenson 1995); Jennifer Johnston, Three Monologues (Belfast: Lagan Press 1995); Dermot Healy, A Goat’s Song (London: Harvill 1994); Hugo Hamilton, The Love Test (London: Faber and Faber 1995); Desmond Hogan, A Farewell to Prague (London: Faber and Faber 1995); Philip MacCann, The Miracle Shed (London: Faber and Faber 1995); Jennifer Cornell, All There Is (Dingle: Brandon 1995), Hugh Carr, Voices from a Far Country (Belfast: Blackstaff 1995). Notes the theme of silence and secrecy and the exigency of narrative in The Illusionist; Three Monologues is similarly concerned with listening and reporting personal performances in moments of crisis; Regards Healy’s book as beautifully “measured and meditative" while appreciating his fresh viewpoint on Northern politics; Hamilton’s novel, set in Germany, treats themes of devision and reconciliation as experienced from a personal point of view; Remarks on the absence of a spirited narrative or founding structure in Hogan’s publication; Finds MacCann’s narrative somewhat inconsequential in discussing such significant issues as the marginalisation and mistreatment of groups of people; Enjoys Cornell’s symposium of stories, especially her final tale on the formative control of narrative on life; Believes Carr’s novel is unoriginal in style and content although this does not degrade his high standard of literature.

Tom Herron, ‘Plays and Polemics’, pp.151-53, review of Marilynn J. Richtarik, Acting Between the Lines: The Field Day Theatre Company and Irish Cultural Politics 1980-1984 (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1994). Ascertains that this book is revealing and invigorating in its analysis of the first five years of Field Day’s publications, documenting the early progression of the company, problems and financing as well as critical and audience responses to the plays.

D. George Boyce, ‘Reason, Reconciliation and Reality’, pp.153-56, review of John Wilson Foster, ed., The Idea of the Union: Statements and Critiques in Support of the Union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Vancouver: Belcouver Press 1995); Forum for Peace and Reconciliation, Building Trust in Ireland: Studies Commissioned by the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation (Belfast: Blackstaff Press 1996). Comments on the inclusion of essays by some of the most articulate Unionist thinkers, offering a broad view of the political geography of the British Isles; Commends the articles by Arthur Aughey on empirical enactment and politics, Dermot Keogh on church-state relations in Southern Ireland and Brice Dickson with his Unionist perspective of Southern constitutional law, altogether, a rejuvenating and positive-minded publication.

[Missing Irish Review, Nos. 20-22.]