Irish Children's Literature and Culture by O'Sullivan, Keith; Coghlan, Valerie;

Short description:

What constitutes a ‘national literature’ is rarely straightforward, and it is especially complex when discussing writing for young people in an Irish context. Until recently, there was only a slight body of work that could be classified as ‘Irish children’s literature’ (whatever the parameters) in comparison with Ireland’s contribution to adult literature in the twentieth century. This volume looks critically at Irish writing for children from the 1980s to the present, examining the work of many writers and illustrators and engaging with all the major forms and genres. Topics include the gothic, the speculative, picturebooks, poetry, post-colonial discourse, identity and ethnicity, and globalization. Modern Irish children’s literature is also contextualized in relation to Irish mythology and earlier writings, thereby demonstrating the complexity of this fascinating area. The contributors, who are leading experts in their fields, examine a range of texts in relation to contemporary literary and cultural theory, and also in relation to writing for adults, thereby inviting a consideration of how well writing for a young audience can compare with writing for an adult one. This groundbreaking work is essential reading for all interested in Irish literature, childhood, and children’s literature.

Long description:

Irish Children’s Literature and Culture looks critically at Irish writing for children from the 1980s to the present, examining the work of many writers and illustrators and engaging with major genres, forms, and issues, including the gothic, the speculative, picturebooks, ethnicity, and globalization. It contextualizes modern Irish children’s literature in relation to Irish mythology and earlier writings, as well as in relation to Irish writing for adults, thereby demonstrating the complexity of this fascinating area.

What constitutes a "national literature" is rarely straightforward, and it is especially complex when discussing writing for young people in an Irish context. Until recently, there was only a slight body of work that could be classified as "Irish children’s literature" in comparison with Ireland’s contribution to adult literature in the twentieth century. The contributors to the volume examine a range of texts in relation to contemporary literary and cultural theory, and children’s literature internationally, raising provocative questions about the future of the topic. Irish Children’s Literature and Culture is essential reading for those interested in Irish literature, culture, sociology, childhood, and children’s literature.

Valerie Coghlan, Church of Ireland College of Education, Dublin, is a librarian and lecturer. She is a former co-editor of Bookbird: An International Journal of Children's Literature. She has published widely on Irish children's literature and co-edited several books on the topic. She is a former board member of the IRSCL, and a founder member of the Irish Society for the Study of Children's Literature, Children's Books Ireland, and IBBY Ireland.

Keith O’Sullivan lectures in English at the Church of Ireland College of Education, Dublin. He is a founder member of the Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature, a former member of the board of directors of Children’s Books Ireland, and past chair of the Children’s Books Ireland/Bisto Book of the Year Awards. He has published on the works of Philip Pullman and Emily Brontë.

Table of Contents:

Selected Contents:  Introduction  1: Mythologizing Ireland, Ciara Ní Bhroin  2: Borderlands: Dead Bog and Living Landscape, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne  3: Cleaning up the Mess?: The Child and Nation in Historical Fiction Set between 1890 and 1922, Susan Cahill  4: ‘What Foot Does He Dig With?’: Inscriptions of Religion and Cultural Identity, Valerie Coghlan  5: Young Adult Fiction and Youth Culture, Pádraic Whyte  6: Fictionalizing Family, Amanda Piesse  7: ‘Binding with Briars’: Romanticizing the Child, Keith O’Sullivan  8: Evil Innocence: The Child and Adult in Fiction, Jarlath Killeen  9: ‘Walking … into the Night’: Growing Up with the Gothic, Anne Markey  10: Contemplating Otherness: Imagining the Future in Speculative Fiction, Patricia Kennon  11 Meanings and Means: Children’s Poetry Now, Mary Shine Thompson  12: Picturebooks that Transcend Boundaries, Sandra L Beckett  13: Insularity and Internationalism: Between Local Production and the Global Marketplace, Emer O’Sullivan