A History of Irish Autobiography
- Editor: Liam Harte, University of Manchester
- Date Published: March 2018
- availability: Available
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781107131446
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A History of Irish Autobiography is the first ever critical survey of autobiographical self-representation in Ireland from its recoverable beginnings to the twenty-first century. The book draws on a wealth of original scholarship by leading experts to provide an authoritative examination of autobiographical writing in the English and Irish languages. Beginning with a comprehensive overview of autobiography theory and criticism in Ireland, the History guides the reader through seventeen centuries of Irish achievement in autobiography, a category that incorporates diverse literary forms, from religious tracts and travelogues to letters, diaries, and online journals. This ambitious book is rich in insight. Chapters are structured around key subgenres, themes, texts, and practitioners, each featuring a guide to recommended further reading. The volume's extensive coverage is complemented by a detailed chronology of Irish autobiography from the fifth century to the contemporary era, the first of its kind to be published.
Read more- Contains twenty-five chapters by leading scholars from around the world, providing an authoritative critical survey of different types of Irish autobiography, notable subgenres, common themes, and important texts and writers
- Includes the first detailed chronology of Irish autobiography from the arrival of Christianity in the fifth century to the contemporary era
- Each chapter features a guide to recommended further reading, enabling readers to build upon the concepts provided in each chapter
Reviews & endorsements
‘The Irish genius for life-writing, anguished, resilient and invariably eloquent, is captured here in all its stunning variety. Ranging from St Patrick’s Confessio to contemporary travel, abuse and celebrity memoirs and the fictional self-portraits that revolutionized modern literature, this absorbing History traces the indelible features of the Irish autobiographical imaginary: the religious, political and emotional turmoil; the defiant humour; the struggle against entrenched forces that oppress or mock the self, including Irishness itself.’ Maria DiBattista, Charles Barnwell Straut Class of 1923 Professor of English, Princeton University
See more reviews'Liam Harte, in his lucid introduction to A History of Irish Autobiography, points out that this genre has been underexplored and undervalued by scholars despite its pervasive influence on Irish literature, most notably on James Joyce’s Ulysses. Harte’s multi-authored volume more than makes up for this critical neglect. Reaching back to St Patrick and forward to the recent torrent of Irish memoirs about child abuse, this History offers the most comprehensive and readable overview to date of autobiographical writing in Ireland, making a compelling case for the intrinsic value of the genre and its multiple ramifications.' Maud Ellmann, Randy L. and Melvin R. Berlin Professor of the Development of the Novel in English, University of Chicago
'… not only a good book that should be read by everyone who wants to know more about Irish history and literature, but also by the researchers interested in philology, history, religion and philosophy. The pleasant and uniform stile of the text and the scientific skills used, important qualities of this book should surely be part of each good library that is concerned with this topic.' Iuliu-Marius Morariu, Astra Salvensis
'A History of Irish Autobiography … provides a valuable introduction to the topic. It is as wide-ranging as the editor’s twenty-five contributors can make it … [the] book also comes complete with a chronology of notable works from c.450 to 2016.' Patricia Craig, The Times Literary Supplement
'Harte (Univ. of Manchester, UK) gathers 24 essays that together present a rich, multivalenced portrait of the evolution of Irish life writing from c. 450 to 2016, from St. Patrick’s Confessio to the digital age. … Harte's collection should interest not only scholars of Irish literature and culture but also students of autobiography in general and those interested in the relationship between place and identity. Recommended.' M.F. McClure, Choice
'Liam Harte’s most recent edited collection, A History of Irish Autobiography, cuts an impressive critical swathe through Irish life writing in its multifarious forms, from Saint Patrick’s Confessio to medieval Celtic poetic narratives to contemporary digital forms of Irish autobiography.' Taura Napier, Biography
'Spanning seventeen centuries of life writing, this is a wonderful, wide-ranging introduction to the field, with twenty-five chapters covering oral narratives, letters, folklore, diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, and autobiographical novels. Harte’s introduction clearly delineates the main trends in the scholarship of Irish life writing. With a helpful select chronology at the beginning of the book and a comprehensive introduction outlining major theoretical trends, this is essential reading for any life-writing scholar.’ Muireann Leech, Oxford Bibliographies
‘A History of Irish Autobiography is a wide-ranging and critically engaged interdisciplinary publication. It is accessible and readable, giving it an appeal to a wider range of readersbeyond the academy. As editor, Harte makes an excellent case for the potential of further readings of Irish autobiography to open up exciting and rich avenues of scholarly enquiry. … It is easy to see the potential for myriad branches of enquiry to flourish from the foundation of this collection.’ Rebecca d’Arcy, Irish Studies Review
‘… had Harte made available only the invaluable timeline of Irish autobiography that begins the book, A History of Irish Autobiography would have been enormously helpful to scholars. On the whole, this anthology is an authoritative and essential volume for Irish studies scholars in multiple fields … I predict that Irish studies scholars will look back on the publication of this volume as a catalyst for a great many rich and long-lived scholarly conversations.’ Jane Elizabeth Dougherty, Journal of British Studies
‘… impressively comprehensive survey of autobiographical prose writing in Ireland … The editor Liam Harte provides an intelligently argued introduction to the critical history of this genre and to the collection of engaging essays that he has assembled here.’ Emer Nolan, James Joyce Quarterly
Customer reviews
17th Oct 2024 by UName-610381
The huge diversity of authors, the outstanding editorial and scientific conditions of the book (which has not only the texts of the researches but also a big index, pp. 394-408 and a short chronology, pp. XV-XXVI, containing a list with all the important publications of autobiography from the Confessio of Saint Patrick, written in 5th century until 2016) is accompanied by a diversity of topics and investigations dedicated to the autobiography written in Irish space. Book review of Iuliu-Marius Morariu, extract from journal Astra Salvensis, VI (2018), no. 11, p. 870-872.
Review was not posted due to profanity
×Product details
- Date Published: March 2018
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781107131446
- length: 434 pages
- dimensions: 235 x 162 x 26 mm
- weight: 0.75kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: autobiography theory and criticism in Ireland Liam Harte
2. Writing in medieval Ireland in the first-person voice Máire Ní Mhaonaigh
3. Early modern Irish autobiography Marie-Louise Coolahan
4. Irish Protestant life-writing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Elizabeth Grubgeld
5. Irish women's spiritual and religious life-writing in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Maria Luddy
6. Spiritual and religious life-writing in Ireland since 1900 Louise Fuller
7. Irish political autobiography from Wolfe Tone to Ernie O'Malley Matthew Kelly
8. The memoirs of male politicians in independent Ireland Eoin O'Malley and Kevin Rafter
9. Women's political autobiography in independent Ireland Margaret O'Callaghan
10. Autobiography and the Irish literary revival Nicholas Allen
11. Irish literary autobiography since the Revival Christina Hunt Mahony
12. The Irish autobiographical novel Jonathan Bolton
13. Memoirs of Irish rural life George O'Brien
14. The autobiography of the Irish working class Emmet O'Connor
15. Irish-language autobiography Bríona Nic Dhiarmada
16. Orality and life-writing in modern Ireland Kelly Fitzgerald and Mary Muldowney
17. Southern Irish Protestant autobiography since partition Robert Tobin
18. Northern Irish autobiography since 1960 Barry Sloan
19. The Irish travel memoir I: journeys within Ireland Glenn Hooper
20. The Irish travel memoir II: journeys beyond Ireland Michael Cronin
21. Life-writing and diaspora I: the autobiographical writings of the Irish in the USA and Latin America Laura P. Z. Izarra and James Silas Rogers
22. Life-writing and diaspora II: the autobiographical writings of the Irish in Britain and Australia Patrick Buckridge and Liam Harte
23. The Irish abuse survival memoir Moira J. Maguire
24. Irish celebrity autobiography Anthony P. McIntyre and Diane Negra
25. Irish life-writing in the digital era Claire Lynch.
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