New Publication: Great Irish Novels of the Twenty-First Century (Irish Studies in Europe, Vol. XIII), edited by Sarah Joy Link and Katharina Rennhak
What makes a "great" Irish novel in the twenty-first century, and who gets to decide? This volume brings together leading scholars of Irish literature to explore this very question. Each contributor selects a novel they consider "great," reflecting on the critical and cultural processes that informed their choice. The result is not a ranked list, but a conversation about literary taste and value, and the evolving role of literary criticism today. At once an exploration of contemporary Irish writing and a reflection on the practice of criticism itself, this volume invites readers to reconsider what it means to call a novel "great".
Contents:
Introduction: What is a Great Irish Novel of the Twenty-First Century? (Sarah Joy Link and Katharina Rennhak)
Anne Enright, The Wig My Father Wore (1995): Reconstructing the Irish Family (Hedwig Schwall)
John Banville, The Sea (2005): Trauma, Memory, and Identity (Ralf Haekel)
Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture (2008): Fictionalized History beyond Revisionism (Christoph Reinfandt)
Colum McCann, TransAtlantic (2013): The Green Atlantic Revisited (Ina Bergmann)
Mary Morrissy, The Rising of Bella Casey (2013): Of Remembering and Forgetting (Loredana Salis)
Mike McCormack, Solar Bones (2016): The Anxieties of the Age - Art and Economics (Derek Hand)
Sara Baume, A Line Made by Walking (2017): An Artist Novel for the Twenty-First Century (Elke D'hoker)
Sally Rooney, Conversations with Friends (2017): A Novel for Millennials in Dublin and Beyond (Katharina Rennhak)
Colm Tobin, House of Names (2017): A Re-Imagination of Greek Tragedy for the Twenty-First Century (Caroline Lusin)
Anna Burns, Milkman (2018): Gender Troubles (Catherine Toal)
Jan Carson, The Fire Starters (2019): Myth, Make Believe, and the Unreliability of Language in the Post-Troubles Era (Sylvie Mikowski)
Helen Cullen, The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually (2020): The 'art of precious scars' - Making, Breaking, and Repairing the Irish Family (Claire Lynch)
More information: https://www.wvttrier.de/en/p/great-irish-novels-of-the-twenty-first-century
Available for EFACIS members at https://www.efacis.eu/ise-volumes
