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Semester 2

Songs, Swords, Rebels and Revivals: Modern Celtic Literature in Translation (CELT08023)

Subject

Celtic

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

2

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

**Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

The course provides an introduction to selected genres of Celtic literature from the early modern and modern periods, and an understanding of the social and historical background that gave rise to the texts studied. Two strands make up the course, one dealing with the Scottish Gaelic tradition and the other looking at Early Modern and Modern Irish literature. English translations are used throughout the course, and no knowledge of the original Celtic languages is required. The course is aimed at students who have successfully completed Celtic Civilisation 1A and 1B, as well as Heroes, Wonders, Saints and Sagas: Medieval Celtic Literature in Translation, but it is also open to anyone who has taken a course in a literary or historical or similar subject at University level and wishes to explore the Celtic tradition. The course does not aim to provide a comprehensive survey of the two literatures studied, but rather to examine in greater depth certain periods or themes or genres which are characteristic of the tradition, which offer cross-cultural comparisons within the Celtic world, and which are amenable to study through translation. For history students, the course offers insight into the nature and working of the two literary traditions; for literature students, enhanced understanding of the social and political background to the selected parts of Scottish Gaelic and Early Modern and Modern Irish literature; for students of Celtic Studies, the opportunity to range widely in the early modern and modern fields in advance of Honours course choices and the more intensive but narrower language-based study of the Honours classes. Each thematic component consists of an equal number of lecture-based and discussion-based classes. Combined with Celtic Literature 2A, the course offers the opportunity to progress to the Honours programme of Medieval Celtic Studies.

Course Description

The course introduces students to selections of poetry and prose from Scottish Gaelic and Irish literature in translation. One strand examines some major features and themes of Scottish Gaelic literature (mainly poetry) dating from between the sixteenth and the twentieth century. We begin with the inherited Gaelic tradition up to the seventeenth century, before the decline in chiefly patronage of professional literati, with a selection of texts that represent both formal genres of praise and lighter material produced by amateur composers. Our discussion of representative voices from the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century 'Golden Age' of vernacular Gaelic poetry introduces important practitioners of poetry such as Iain Lom, Sìleas na Ceapaich, Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, and Donnchadh Bàn Macintyre; their work reflects the poet's intellectual, emotional, and - sometimes - propagandistic response to the political and social upheavals of the time, notably the Jacobite Risings. We then proceed to the poets' view of the crumbling of traditional Gaelic society in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century, in the age of Clearance and emigration, religious awakening and political revival. Finally, we look at the emergence of modern poetry in the twentieth century and how it negotiates the space between the older tradition and the place of Gaelic literature in a predominantly English-speaking world. The other strand introduces some of the main themes, genres and developments in Irish literature (mainly poetry) from the late sixteenth century to the present. Again, we begin with the work of the professional poets and their reaction to the loss of aristocratic patronage in the seventeenth century as a result of political upheavals in Ireland. We then consider the practitioners of vernacular Irish verse and the new themes, forms, and genres that come to the fore following the demise of the professional poets, notably Dáibhí Ó Bruadair and Aogán Ó Rathaille. Material composed in the eighteenth century then offers us insights into the poets' reflections of Jacobite history and ideology as well as a glimpse of a rich tradition of folksong composed by both men and women; Brian Merriman's 'Midnight Court' encapsulates criticism of oppressive morality and power structures in society and 'The Keen for Art O'Leary' serves as an example of female reaction to loss and grief. Nineteenth-century material includes the important genre of autobiography detailing life in remote Irish-speaking communities. Twentieth-century and contemporary material addresses questions of modernity, tradition, and intellectual life in a minority culture and language. In both strands, the texts studied reflect in various ways the socio-economic and, more importantly, the political milieu of their times, and students may expect to acquire a good understanding of the function of such texts and the historical background to their composition. The course consists of lectures introducing the poets, their work, and the historical and socio-cultural background of the time and of seminars where we engage in discussion of individual works. The written assignments are designed to give the students the opportunity to explore more texts in the light of what they have learned in the course.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

This course is high-demand, meaning that there is a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces. Enrolment is managed by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the departments, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces.

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