Marginal Irish Modernisms

This project will undertake a re-examination of Irish cultural and political experience during a key period of the country's modern history - between 1879 (the commencement of the Land War) and 1939 (Eire's adoption of neutrality in World War II, and the 'end' of Modernism with the publication of Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake'). Progressing from an acknowledgement of the assumptions that have underpinned conventional models of Irish Modernism, our principal aims are:

1) to reconfigure the existing critical landscape as it is currently contested across disciplines in humanities (e.g. literature and history), the arts (e.g. fine art and music) and social sciences (e.g. sociology and politics);
2) to establish a longer-term, multi-disciplinary analysis of Irish cultural experience since the early twentieth century;
3) to disseminate our findings as widely as possible, and in ways that affect public perception of Irish cultural identity.

The project is multidisciplinary in scope, drawing on current debates in a range of fields including English, History, Politics and Cultural Studies.

Contemporary opinion regards Ireland as having a unique relationship with modernity in general, and with cultural Modernism in particular. In this account, the country produced some of the principal voices of Anglophone Modernism (e.g. Yeats, Joyce, Beckett). After seven hundred years of colonisation (the story goes) Ireland was a fractured country, its culture alienated to the point of trauma. Irish society in the nineteenth century was thus already 'Modernist' - already predisposed (through its politically and economically dependent status, as well as through the experience of profoundly traumatic events such as the Great Famine of the 1840s) to the processes of alienation and decentring that would in time come to constitute the cornerstones of the international Modernist movement.

This model has largely determined the trajectory of debates on subsequent Irish history. It is as a response to Modernist dislocation and fragmentation that all future developments (independence, emigration, war, scandal, etc.) come into focus.

Whilst compelling, this account does not do justice to the richness or the complexity of Irish Modernism during the fervent decades after 1879. Many figures of potential importance (e.g. 'minor' writers such as Alice Milligan) as well as many ideas of potential relevance (e.g. anarchism) are routinely relegated to the margins of debate.

By promoting discussion between scholars from different disciplines, Marginal Irish Modernisms will improve our understanding of how a range of ideas, practices, texts and events from a crucial period in Irish history might be considered from the perspective of Modernism, and how such a consideration might in turn enable contemporary scholars to re-interpret Modernism itself.

This aim will be accomplished primarily through a series of interdisciplinary networking events involving academics with research interests in Ireland during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Key international figures will feature in each event and the attendance of new researchers and research students will be encouraged and supported. Events will be held in international locations (London, Dublin, Liverpool). It is anticipated that once established, the project will continue into new fora, including a monograph series and a dedicated journal.

This major intervention in the academic field will be matched by a determination to create opportunities for wide public dissemination of research. The project will engage a range of stakeholders to advance their understanding of a key period in the formative development of Ireland and Irish identity, and to challenge ideas which have held sway for too long. Such an intervention will in turn contribute to the re-imagination of subsequent Irish history, and to the re-orientation of its current status.

By increasing the visibility of marginalised authors, texts and practices, the Marginal Irish Modernisms Network will benefit a wide range of non-academic stake-holders, especially those with an interest in culture in general, and Irish culture in particular.

Potential audiences include the general reading public, library users, reading groups, Irish cultural societies and special interest groups. Through a dedicated website and public activities, these audiences will benefit from raised awareness of previously overlooked or underrated texts and authors, thus increasing their understanding of the general development of cultural / political relations across the Atlantic Archipelago and beyond. This will also help to stimulate a sense of cultural identity for Irish communities in the areas close to each of the network events.

This latter point pertains especially to expatriate, multi-generational Irish audiences throughout the UK. Such communities have traditionally been regarded as removed from the well-spring of 'authentic' Irish culture. Insofar as Modernism is characterised by a focus on experiences of alienation and displacement, the Marginal Irish Modernisms Network will place the experience of emigration at the heart of this project, both in terms of its cultural representation and in terms of its social / political history.

Over the past two years the Principal Investigator has worked with the 'Irish Itinerary' - administered by the European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies (EFACIS), and funded by Culture Ireland - to expand Irish cultural activities across the continent (including Belgium, France, Holland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland and Sweden). He has been commissioned for a further two tours in 2015 and 2016, covering venues in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Hungary. These presentations will be for a mixed audience of academics and members of the public. This is one of the ways in which an appreciation of the need for an initiative along the lines of this Network has developed.

Beyond Europe, the Co-investigator has worked extensively at a number of US institutions (e.g. Universities of California and Texas), while the Principal Investigator has worked with Irish cultural groups throughout the UK (e.g. the London Irish Women's Centre and the Irish World Heritage Centre).

The Network will impact upon the Irish cultural sector by enhancing public knowledge of marginalised cultural activities and raising awareness of the breadth and diversity of Irish culture in general. Beneficiaries include publishers (e.g. Penguin Ireland), festival organisers (e.g. regional Irish festivals such as London, Liverpool and Manchester), and cultural agents such as Arts Council Ireland, Culture Ireland (a major contributor to the funding of Irish culture worldwide), museums and libraries (e.g. Liverpool Central Library, the Long Room at Trinity College, Dublin).

Increasing awareness of marginalised literature will increase engagement with Irish culture through the consumption of novels, poetry and plays, attendance at festivals, workshops, film screenings, and public lectures. Key changes arising from the network will be indicated by an increase in interest in specific authors or texts, increased attendance at cultural events, and a concomitant increase in discussion of authors and texts in popular media. This will be described further in the pathways to impact statement.

Communities local to each of the network events will benefit from public activities designed to raise awareness of the marginalised genre as a whole, or specific authors or texts within that genre. Films of these events will be uploaded to the website, enabling access for non-local viewers. For non-Irish communities, this will enable a deeper understanding of international Irish heritage, presenting new interpretations and stimulating debate around existing beliefs relating to Irish literature.