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Oxford Companion to Irish Literature by Bruce Stewart (1996, Hardcover)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated

ISBN-100198661584

ISBN-139780198661580

eBay Product ID (ePID)99799

Product Key Features

Book TitleOxford Companion to Irish Literature

Number of Pages640 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year1996

TopicEuropean / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh

IllustratorYes

GenreLiterary Criticism

AuthorBruce Stewart

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.7 in

Item Weight42.7 Oz

Item Length9.1 in

Item Width6.1 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN95-044943

TitleLeadingThe

Dewey Edition20

Reviews'Anyone interested in following up the Irish literary institutions and concepts ... must acquire the new Oxford Companion to Irish Literature ... a hugely useful tool for checking and reference.'Victoria Glendinning, Daily Telegraph, 'Editor Robert Welch ... has spent 10 years compiling the book. It has not been wasted.'Mario Basini, Cardiff Western Mail, 'the brief guides to further reading are admirably up-to-date ... The editor declares an intention to avoid jargon and he deserves heartfelt gratitude for succeeding. There is much to relish between the lines ... the Companion does more than plug a necessary gap in the unevenly-filled shelf ofIrish reference books. It records and celebrates an extraordinarily distinguished intellectual achievement.'Roy Foster, The Times, 'monumental ... The work has required 10 assiduous years to compile, and the author offers it as both reliable guide and stimulating companion to any reader wishing to delve into Ireland's surest indigenous industry, the written word'Anne Simpson, Glasgow Herald, 'one consults an Oxford Companion for facts, not assessment, and you will find many cogent and extensive definitions here ... so much industry has gone into this undertaking that we should be grateful for all it contains in the way of information and illumination'Patricia Craig, The Independent, 'there could hardly be a better time to publish The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature ... the Companion gives a dizzyingly eclectic overview of Irish literature - and sometimes political - life'Ian McTear, Belfast Telegraph, 'seriously good and enduring work, which will demand a place in the study of every scholar of Irish literature'Kevin Myers, The Irish Times (Dublin), 'heroic volume ... It surpasses previous exercises of a similar nature in the richness of its detail and the ecumenism of its approach. The system of cross-reference favoured in successive Oxford Companions proves to be perhaps the book's crowning glory. An act of critical interpretation inits own right, this book not only records the details of an immensely rich literature, but also helps to change the way in which we understand it.'Times Literary Supplement, 'This book is a treasure chest of knowledge about the well-known and lesser-known writers responsible for Ireland's rich literary heritage. It is a mammoth work ... For anyone really interested in Irish literature it is a must ... a reference book that can be dug out and delved into wheneverthe need arises ... the book is a fine piece of work, and it should be in any serious Irish reader's library.'Pat Byrne, Irish World

Dewey Decimal820.9/9415/03

SynopsisThe literature of Ireland displays an exceptional richness and diversity - whether in Irish or English, by native Irish and Anglo-Irish writers or by outsiders like Edmund Spenser whose works were deeply imbued with the country in which he lived and wrote. In over 2,000 entries, the Companion to Irish Literature surveys the Irish literary landscape across some sixteen centuries, describing its features and landmarks. Entries range from ogam writing, developed in the 4th century, to the fiction, poetry, and drama of the l990s; and from Cú Chulainn to James Joyce. There are accounts of authors as early as Adomnán, 7th century Abbot of Iona, up to contemporary writers such as Roddy Doyle, Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney, and Edna O'Brien. Individual entries are provided for all major works, from Táin Bó Cuailnge - the Ulster saga reflecting the Celtic Iron Age - to Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent, Ó Cadhain's Cré na Cille, and Banville's The Book of Evidence. The Companion also illuminates the historical contexts of these writers, and the events which sometimes directly inspired them - the Famine of 1845-8, which provided a theme for novelists, poets, and memoirists from William Carleton to Patrick Kavanagh and Peadar Ó Laoghaire; the founding of the Abbey Theatre and its impact on playwrights such as J. M. Synge and Padraic Colum; the Easter Rising that stirred Yeats to the 'terrible beauty' of 'Easter 1916'. It offers a wealth of information on general topics, ranging from the stage Irishman to Catholicism, Protestantism, the Irish language, and university education in Ireland; and on genres such as annals, bardic poetry, and folksong. The majority of entries include a succinct bibliography, and the volume also provides a chronology and maps., The literature of Ireland displays an exceptional richness and diversity - whether in Irish or English, by native Irish and Anglo-Irish writers or by outsiders like Edmund Spenser whose works were deeply imbued with the country in which he lived and wrote. In over 2,000 entries, the Companion to Irish Literature surveys the Irish literary landscape across some sixteen centuries, describing its features and landmarks.Entries range from ogam writing, developed in the 4th century, to the fiction, poetry, and drama of the l990s; and from Cú Chulainn to James Joyce. There are accounts of authors as early as Adomnán, 7th century Abbot of Iona, up to contemporary writers such as Roddy Doyle, Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney, and Edna O'Brien. Individual entries are provided for all major works, from Táin Bó Cuailnge - the Ulster saga reflecting the Celtic Iron Age - to Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent, Ó Cadhain's Cré na Cille, and Banville's The Book of Evidence.The Companion also illuminates the historical contexts of these writers, and the events which sometimes directly inspired them - the Famine of 1845-8, which provided a theme for novelists, poets, and memoirists from William Carleton to Patrick Kavanagh and Peadar Ó Laoghaire; the founding of the Abbey Theatre and its impact on playwrights such as J. M. Synge and Padraic Colum; the Easter Rising that stirred Yeats to the 'terrible beauty' of 'Easter 1916'. It offers a wealth of information on general topics, ranging from the stage Irishman to Catholicism, Protestantism, the Irish language, and university education in Ireland; and on genres such as annals, bardic poetry, and folksong. The majority of entries include a succinct bibliography, and the volume also provides a chronology and maps., The literature of Ireland, written in both Irish and English, displays an exceptional richness and diversity. In over 2,000 entries, this Companion surveys the Irish literary landscape across some 16 centuries, right up to the present - covering writers and their works, genres, topics, folklore, and historical events. Cross-references link the alphabetically ordered entries, to provide a network of authoritative fact and critical comment which is at once informative and highly browsable., By turns sacred or profane, mystical or earthy, scathingly satirical and modern or achingly nostalgic for the ever-receding past, the literature of Ireland has long entranced and entertained readers the world over. Now The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature provides a comprehensive and delightfully readable guide to the evolution and achievements of Irish writers and writing across sixteen tumultuous centuries, from fourth-century ogam writing etched on ancient stones, to the towering twentieth-century figures of Yeats, Joyce, and Beckett, to the bold new voices emerging today as Ireland enters a new era and a new century. Written by a distinguished team of writers from Ireland and around the world, this remarkable Companion offers over 2,000 entries that provide insight into the intimate fusion of history, literature, and culture that distinguishes so much of Ireland's poetry, drama, and fiction. Unrivalled in scope, this superb volume encompasses writing in both the Irish language and in English, across the religious and political spectrums, by native Irish and Anglo-Irish writers and such outsiders as Londoner Edmund Spenser, who completed The Faerie Queen --and indeed most of his life's work--during his two decades in Ireland. In contrast to other, less complete references, the editors of this Companion seek always to show the complex and continuing influence of the Irish language on writers in English, and vice versa. And as befits a country where so many writers have not only been commentators and observers of history but also active participants in the nation's affairs, there are dozens of entries on important historical events that shaped the lives and fired the imaginations of the Irish, from the Battle of the Boyne and the Great Famine of the 1840s, to the Easter Uprising of 1916 and today's continuing conflicts and controversies. Hundreds of biographical entries range from the early bards and authors such as Adaman, the seventh century abbot and biographer of the Irish saint Colum Cille, to contemporary writers such as Seamus Heaney, Brian Friel, and Booker Prize-winning novelist Roddy Doyle. The myriad contributions of Ireland's women writers also are well-represented here, with entries on folklorist and dramatist Lady Gregory, co-founder of Ireland's world-renowned Abbey Theatre, and many others, including the novelists and short story writers Mary Lavin, Elizabeth Bowen, Julia O'Faolain, Edna O'Brien and Maeve Binchy, and contemporary poets Eilean Ni Chuilleanain, Nuala Ni Dhomnaill, and Rita Ann Higgins. Whether readers are seeking a quick introduction to the mythic figures of Cu Chulainn and the sidh, or fairy folk, who haunt the pages of Yeats's early poems, a handy who's who to the Dublin of Swift, Joyce, or Behan, or an invitation into the theatrical worlds of J.M. Synge or Sean O'Casey, The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature is a wonderfully accessible reference and an indispensable research tool. It will be treasured not only by students and scholars of Irish writing and history, but by anyone seeking a more acute understanding of one of the world's most vibrant literary traditions.

LC Classification NumberPR8706.O88 1996