One of Ireland's foremost literary and cultural historians,
Terence Brown's command of the intellectual and cultural currents
running through the Irish literary canon is second to none, and he
has been enormously influential in shaping the field of Irish
studies. These essays reflect the key themes of Brown's
distinguished career, most crucially his critical engagement with
the post-colonial model of Irish cultural and literary history
currently dominant in Irish Studies. With essays on major figures
such as Yeats, MacNeice, Joyce and Beckett, as well as contemporary
authors including Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Michael Longley, Paul
Muldoon and Brian Friel, this volume is a major contribution to
scholarship, directing scholars and students to new approaches to
twentieth-century Irish cultural and literary history.
· A volume of important essays by one of Ireland's foremost
literary critics · New critical perspectives on Joyce, Beckett,
Yeats, MacNeice, Heaney, Friel, Muldoon and others · An important
intervention in current debates on postcolonialism and Irish
literature