Irish literature in transition: 1980–2020: Edited by Eric Falci and Paige Reynolds

Harrison, Liam

Abstract

Irish Literature in Transition 1980–2020, edited by Eric Falci and Paige Reynolds, is the final volume in a series of six, which begin with the year 1700 and conclude in 2020. The series is a monumental feat of scholarship overseen by the general editors Claire Connolly and Marjorie Howes. The chapters in the 1980–2020 volume span criticism on recent Irish fiction, poetry, cinema, and drama, while there are dedicated chapters on Northern Irish writing, Irish language literature, and diaspora writing. Section titles vary from the vague and capacious “Times” and “Spaces”, to specific aesthetic concerns, “Forms of Experience” and “Practices Institutions, and Audiences”. Codas conclude each large section in the volume, providing brief snapshots of paired prominent figures; Eavan Boland and Seamus Heaney, Tom Murphy and Brian Friel, and Edna O’Brien with Eimear McBride. Reynolds ends a wide-ranging volume with a slightly hagiographic take on the roles played by Tramp Press and The Irish Times in cultivating new Irish writing.

• Journal Article Type: Book Review
• Acceptance Date: Feb 28, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Apr 1, 2021
• Publication Date: Apr 3, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jan 17, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 17, 2023
• Journal: Irish Studies Review
• Print ISSN: 0967-0882
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-9303
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 280-283
• Item Discussed: Edited by Eric Falci and Paige Reynolds, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020, 448 pp., £89.99 (hardback), ISBN 9781108474047
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09670882.2021.1911027
• Keywords: Literature and Literary Theory; Sociology and Political Science; History; Cultural Studies
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10282401
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09670882.2021.1911027
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=cisr20; Published: 2021-04-01