Celtic 193: Modern Irish Prose Literature

Barbara Hillers
Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures
Harvard University

Course Description

An exploration of twentieth-century prose literature in Irish, including the novel, short story, and autobiography. The course is geared to the interests and abilities of the participants and designed to increase students' fluency and confidence in using the language as a medium of sophisticated discourse. Conducted in Irish.

Topics

  • Gaeltacht literature between romanticism and realism
  • The Gaeltacht autobiographies
  • But is it a novel? Séanna, Deoraíocht and other Gaelic `novels'
  • The short-story from Ó Conaire to Ó Conghaile
  • The Gaelic low-brow novel
  • Urban genres and urban milieus

    Assessment

    Students are required to make a number of formal and informal in-class presentations on selected topics (35%). Written assessment consists of three short review-style papers (30%), and a final term paper due by the end of reading period (35%).