Lonely voices the short story as Ireland's national genre

Ireland, both the Republic and the North, has brought forth many famous playwrights, novelist, poets and also a remarkably high number of popular writers of short stories. The short story has a long and distinguished tradition in Ireland and continues to fascinate readers and writers, it is still often hailed as Ireland’s ‘national genre’. For a long time, the Irish short story has almost exclusively been read and regarded as a realist form, used to depict quintessential truths about Ireland and Irish identity. However, now other readings of and approaches to the short story contribute to a more encompassing view of this genre. Many writers have dedicated much of their fiction to the exploration of national issues and the history of Ireland, others explore topics like family, often seen as one, if not the, fundamental unit of Irish culture, (gender and national) identity and crisis. Many short stories feature protagonists who belong to marginalized groups, or, as Anne Enright calls them, to the -outlawed, dreaming, defeated” (guardian.co.uk). In this seminar, we will analyse, interpret and discuss both famous and lesser known Irish short stories. We will first discuss the generic conventions of the short story, give a very brief overview of Irish (literary) history and then move on to a selection of short stories. The readings of the story will focus on very diverse topics; for example, space, recurring metaphors, motifs and themes like exile and return or death. Reading the stories and talking about their historical, cultural and social background will often enable us to find access to a nation which debates many of its controversies and problems in its often award-winning literature. Besides, this seminar shall provide you with a basic knowledge of important methods for analysing texts and writing essays or term papers. All short stories will be uploaded to moodle. Seminar für Anglistik Beachten Sie, dass Sie diesen Kurs nach den Prüfungsordnungen ab 2011 nicht besuchen dürfen, wenn Sie die für dieses Modulelement laut Fachspezifischen Bestimmungen und Modulhandbuch notwendigen Voraussetzungen noch nicht erfüllen. 3 LP Studienleistung / 2 LP: active participation + at least 8 entries in the discussion forum (moodle) before the session 3 LP Prüfungsleistung: term paper (13-15 pages) 5 LP BA 'old' : active participation + at least 8 entries in the discussion forum (moodle) before the session + short term paper (7-9 pages) 7 LP BA 'old' and 5 LP 'old' Lehramt: active participation + at least 8 entries in the discussion forum (moodle) before the session + term paper (13-15 pages) Universität Siegen SoSe 2015 M.A. Boller Alessandra M.A