Contemporary Irish Literature: A New Boom in Transition

Author: Chen Li (Professor, School of English, University of Foreign Chinese, Beijing, Deputy Director of the Irish Studies Centre)

The literary boom of Irish literature in the early 20th century stunned the world, giving birth to World-class literary masters such as Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Wilde, Joyce, and Beckett, which had an important impact on world literature in the 20th century. Since the end of the 20th century, Irish literature has entered a new period of prosperity, and it has intensified after the new century, with a tendency to accelerate its development. This new boom, which began in the 1960s, began with reflections on history and Irish identity as the main thrust, and since 1990 has entered a new phase of development in which subject matter and expressions become increasingly international and diverse.

Photo by John Banville Richard Gilrigan courtesy of the Irish Literary Society

Photo by Marina Carl Richard Gilrigan provided by the Irish Literary Society

Photo by Ann Enlet Richard Gilrigan courtesy of the Irish Literary Society

A historical reflection on the Irish identity

The partition of North and South was a legacy of the Irish nationalist revolution, which erupted in 1968 and bloody clashes between religions and political factions continued for the next 30 years. Political crises call for literary expression. Although it is difficult to generalize the multitude of works in terms of unified concepts or themes, reflections on identity, geography, history, and ongoing political conflicts are the literary themes of this period.

The postcolonial theory that swept through the academic circles provided strong theoretical support for literary creation and research. The complementarity of theory and practice gave birth to the earliest germ of Irish studies as an independent discipline. Writers at this stage all showed a high degree of self-conscious national consciousness and a spirit of historical reflection, calling for a re-examination and evaluation of the history and nationalist ideas of the Irish Revolution, summarizing the lessons of history and opening up a new future by facing history squarely. Writers are involved in rethinking and defining Irish identity in a variety of ways. The long period of violent friction and armed conflict has made the themes of history, violence and trauma related to Irish political issues the mainstream theme of Irish literature at the end of the 20th century.

Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) and Brian Freer (1929-2015) are outstanding representatives of the new generation of writers who have ascended to the literary scene since the 1960s. An outstanding representative of a new round of poetic flourishing, Heaney is hailed as the most important Irish poet after Yeats and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. Heaney was born in the countryside of central Northern Ireland and later moved to Dublin. His background in agricultural upbringing profoundly influenced his work. In his masterpiece, "Excavation," Heaney uses the "digging" of three generations of his grandchildren to outline the continuation and change of the bloodline: grandfather and father digging peat and potatoes with shovels, while poets use the pen in their hands to dig for life. Heaney's poems are rooted in the unique soil of Ireland, which contains a large number of detailed records of agricultural life. He is like a folklorist, using the poet's pen to "dig" memories and record the era that is passing away rapidly due to the rapid development of industrialization. The violent conflict in Northern Ireland is also an important theme in Heaney's poetry. Heaney's greatness lies in the fact that he has developed his own way of balancing political positions with artistic freedom. Turning to the peat moors and marsh funerals of western Ireland, he attempted to construct a historical mythological framework to illustrate the political conflicts of the moment, and to give his Northern Ireland narrative more human warmth and complexity with a calm and restrained tone. In poems such as Peat Swamp, The Trend and The Swamp Queen, he uses the imagery of peat swamp to weave it into a unique cultural symbol of the poet's individual and a special region of the Irish nation, with myths and legends, a paradoxical space that both provides nourishment (peat is the main fuel for Irish farmers) and brings death.

Cover of the radio drama "Hecabo" produced by the Irish Broadcasting Corporation Information Image

Freer was a central figure in the flourishing of contemporary theatre. In 1964, Freer's "Philadelphia, Here I Come!" It debuted at the Dublin Theatre Festival and moved to Broadway for 9 consecutive months, establishing Freer's international prestige. In his more than 40-year career, Freer has published at least one of the most popular plays in every decade, including Noble (1979), Translation (1980) and Dancing Lunasha Festival (1990). Ireland underwent dramatic changes in Freer's creative career, from economic embarrassment and cultural conservatism in the 1950s to the economic rise and cultural self-confidence of the "Celtic Tigers" in the 1990s. Freer keenly grasped the pulse of the times, constantly innovating techniques and broadening themes in his works, showing a dynamic picture of Irish changes. Arguably, Freer is the most important writer to continue to show the changing times in Ireland at the end of the 20th century. At the same time, his works participate in the discussion of the times by focusing on hot cultural topics and local customs, which has important cultural and political significance.

Second, integration into the world: a rapidly changing cultural atmosphere

The year 1990 can be seen in many ways as a watershed moment, marking a new historical phase in Ireland's social life and cultural atmosphere. This year, Ireland elected its first female president, Mary Robinson, and her victory was widely seen as a major victory for a new generation of liberal and enlightened minds over traditional conservative forces. Freed from the ultra-conservative politics of the mid-20th century, Ireland began to reintegrate into Europe and the world in a new way.

In terms of economy, Ireland gradually entered a period of rapid economic growth after 1990. After more than a decade of rapid development of the "Celtic Tiger", Ireland has taken off the hat of poverty for centuries and has become one of the richest countries in the European Union. The Irish economy was devastated by the European debt crisis in 2009, but even so, it was still the first country to recover from the crisis. Economic development has brought about new cultural self-confidence, embodied in many aspects of contemporary literature.

In line with the political and economic removal of the old and the new, Irish society has entered a period of rapid change in the overall cultural atmosphere of increasing openness and diversity. The ongoing Scandals of Catholic Priests since the 1990s have severely dismantled the Roman Catholic Church's spiritual grip on modern Ireland, and Irish society has finally entered a long-delayed process of secularization. At the same time, with the weakening of religious control and the deepening of the international feminist movement, Irish women have reached a new stage on the road of breaking down gender restrictions, giving voice to women, and removing patriarchal oppression. Women writers as a whole make a brilliant debut in the Irish literary scene, actively participating in shaping the rapidly changing cultural consciousness and gender perceptions. In addition, the economic growth of the "Celtic Tigers" has brought about a large number of immigrants, and Ireland has changed from a traditional exporter to an importer of population. The social structure has undergone fundamental changes in the process of rapid industrialization, urbanization, and diversification of the national population structure, and problems such as urban-rural disparity, the differentiation between the rich and the poor, and internal discrimination have also been exposed during this period.

Poster for the movie Breakfast Pluto Information Picture

New eras call for new cultural expressions. Irish literature accelerated its prosperity after 1990 and entered a new stage of blossoming and controversy. A large number of novelists rose rapidly, the novel genre became a representative literary category, the creation of long and short stories flourished, and poetry and drama continued to achieve impressive results. The Irish literary scene has emerged with many new talents, and has frequently won English literature awards such as the Booker Prize and the Costa Award, and has achieved considerable achievements in artistry and popularity.

The new generation of writers generally has a strong sense of removing the old and making new, and many of them have received formal education in academic literary writing or literary criticism, reflecting different concerns and horizons from their predecessors in their works. The cultural heritage of the Irish Renaissance was criticized and purged by some writers as a restraining and restrictive force.

Third, from Joyce - innovative literary expression

The new exploration is first reflected in the experimental spirit of new languages and new forms. Joyce, the father of literature, has essentially influenced the linguistic experiments and formal innovations of contemporary writers. Since Joyce, English literature has struggled to find works of completely pure realism, always revealing some modernist influences, especially in contemporary Irish literature.

John Banville (1945-) is the most important contemporary writer to practice language experimentation, almost universally recognized as the first living Irish writer. His postmodern novels are Ireland's most complex and imaginative cultural product since the second half of the 20th century. The complex experimental nature of these novels in form, and the complex textual relationships they intermingle with, are reminiscent of the literary achievements of Joyce and Beckett. His novels such as "Unattainable", "Eclipse", "Shroud" and Booker Prize-winning works "The Sea" constantly torture the relationship between artistic representation and reality truth, and have a strong meta-fiction characteristic in addition to language experiments.

The new exploration is also reflected in the unremitting pursuit of new themes, including not only the continuous expansion of themes, but also the new interpretation and new application of classic texts and classic themes.

First of all, Ireland's complex historical problems and the accompanying reflections on violence, political loyalty, nationalist hegemony and other issues continue to appear in new works, continuing the Irish themes of the previous stage. The situation in Northern Ireland gradually stabilized with the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998, and works on the theme of northern ireland's conflict began to develop into a "post-conflict era" with new characteristics. Patrick McCabe (1955-) 'Butcher Kid' (1992, film 1997) and Breakfast Pluto (novel 1998, film 2005) shifted their focus from depicting violent conflict to depicting the trauma of individuals in violent situations. Robert McClyam Wilson's (1964-) Eureka Street (1996) disintegrates in a farcical banter that undermines the sanctity of the religious, political, and other dualistic opposites that lead to conflict. Anna Burns (1962-) booker's Prize-winning novel The Milkman (2018) reflects on the harm of political violence and patriarchal discourse to women from a female perspective. Neil Jordan (1950-) wrote and directed the Northern Irish conflict film The Crying Game (1992), an outstanding example of the combination of this novel boom and the film medium.

Irish literature in different languages the Irish Literary Society offers

At the same time, rewriting or rewriting classic texts and classic themes has become a major feature of contemporary literature. The cultural heritage of the Irish Renaissance has been challenged by some contemporary writers, but interestingly, there has been a renewed interest in contemporary Irish literature in reviving ancient myths and legends, but this interest has been placed under a broader framework, not only for Irish native mythology, but also for Europe, especially for ancient Greco-Roman mythology. Contemporary writers have a strong realistic concern for the revival of ancient myths and legends, and participate in contemporary discussions of real social issues by appropriating and rewriting ancient mythological themes.

For example, the female writer Marina Carr's play Hecabo (2015), adapted from Euripides' ancient Greek tragedy of the same name, clearly expresses Karl's dissatisfaction and revision of Euripides's male perspective. Hekab was the queen of Troy, and the Trojan War destroyed her country. Euripides's original play uses derogatory animal features to present her as a screaming vengeful figure, a cultural image that continues to this day in Western art. However, Carr's interpretation subverts the negative portrayal of this tragic woman by Western patriarchal cultural traditions. Heckab is no longer an abstract symbol of revenge, but a living woman with multiple identities. Carl's rewriting not only makes the characters fuller, but also has a greater universality in the form of ancient metaphors, and Heckaber's condemnation in the play eloquently expresses the pain and hurt that war and violence inflict on all women and children.

While interpreting traditional themes in a new way, more writers have begun to look for new directions and new themes. Ireland's new image in the "Celtic Tiger" and "Post-Celtic Tiger" periods became the main objects depicted by a new generation of writers. In their writing, Ireland has become a world of difference from Yeats and Joyce's colonial Ireland, and it is also in great contrast to the agricultural Ireland written by the post-state generation of writers, becoming an increasingly modern, urbanized and international affluent Ireland.

The discussion of family relations and intimate feelings has become a prominent theme line, attracting a large number of writers to participate in it. Moreover, this discussion is combined with the strong feminist consciousness of the Irish literary scene in recent years, focusing on expressing the female experience in intimate relationships. In her Booker Prize-winning novel The Gathering (2007), Ann Enright uses the Heggarty family's funeral party as an opportunity to depict the emotional history of the families of three generations, presenting a dynamic picture of changes in irish family relations. Sally Rooney (1991-) 's ChatBooks' Chats, from the perspective of college student Francis, sincerely explores how to deal with intimacy is important for the growth of modern women. Founded in 1592, Trinity University Dublin, like Woolf's Oxford and Cambridge universities, was the stronghold of conservative forces, and it was not until 1904 that the first female student was admitted. Rooney sets the novel in Ireland's first institution, once accessible only to men, and presents it as a paradise where women and men are equal to each other, free to pursue academic and spiritual development. This kind of textual shaping not only reflects the great changes of the times and the development of women's rights, but also expresses Rooney's idea of trying to shape a free urban space with more gender equality.

Contemporary writers have tried to describe Ireland's new position in Europe and the world, the sense of regional loyalty has been greatly weakened, and the sense of home and agricultural positioning that accompanies the sense of place have no longer bound the literary imagination of Irish writers, and they have begun to look for subject matter and reader markets around the world. The cosmopolitan context and the movement of people appear in abundance in the text, and Ireland is imagined and depicted in a tightly nested global system. Geographical, national, ethnic and other boundaries are constantly crossed, and the overall literary creation has a microscopic shift to the grand narrative, emphasizing the feelings of the individual, challenging the simple binary opposition of black and white, and showing the complexity and uniqueness of specific situations. These efforts have greatly enhanced the popularity of contemporary Irish literature, attracted a large international audience, and made Irish literature an important branch of contemporary English literature.

However, this international transformation does not mean that Irish literature has lost its "Irish" character. On the contrary, Irish contemporary writers have made extremely useful explorations of how to maintain and reconstruct Irish identity under the framework of globalization, and their high attention and active participation in Current Affairs in Ireland have made the Irish contemporary literary works still reflect strong Irish characteristics. Topics such as historical trauma, domestic violence, and middle-aged unemployment have not only become hot topics in Irish domestic cultural debates through the writing of contemporary literary works, and have actively promoted the improvement of social thought in related aspects, but also contributed new materials and new opinions with Irish characteristics to the relevant debates on the international cultural stage.

In Milkman, Anna Burns describes the experience of women with a high degree of Northern Ireland: the 18-year-old heroine lives at the height of the conflict in Northern Ireland, and the ethnic divisions and sectarian struggles she faces are very Irish. But at the same time, the gender oppression she has suffered, as well as the sexual harassment and mental oppression of her by members of the pan-military organization "milkmen" in the name of admiration, are highly representative global women's topics. The novel not only echoes the "Me Too" anti-sexual harassment movement that swept the world in 2018 with very Irish characteristics, but also contributes an Irish classic text to the liberation of women in the world with a whiplash literary imagination.

In addition, Irish diaspora writers who have lived abroad for many years, such as Sebastian Barry (1955-), Colm Tobin (1955-) and Coron McCain (1965-), often directly juxtapose Ireland and expatriate countries in their works, rethinking the relationship and position of the two in the process of two-way interaction with culture. This approach of cultural imagination and dynamic presentation of Ireland within a global framework has borne fruit, allowing contemporary Irish literature to go global while maintaining its national character well and successfully bringing Irish identity to the world stage.

In the history of Irish literature, women writers have been contributing their own strengths, but women writers have appeared in large numbers and groups in the Irish literary scene and consciously emitted women's voices to influence and shape the current gender consciousness, which is a cultural phenomenon that only existed after the end of the 20th century. Today, Ireland has not only a female president, but also a female "Irish novelist laureate" Ann Enright and a female "professor of Irish poetry": Nora Niganar, Paula Mihan, Eileen Culriana. The highest official honors in these related fields are both recognition of the individual artistic achievements of the above-mentioned female writers and the representative display of the literary power generated by the collective rise of female writers.

Guangming Daily ( 2022-04-07 13th edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily