Irish Expatriatism, Language and Literature
The Problem of English
1st Edition
Published on 22. September 2018
VI, 228 pages
978-3-319-95900-9 (ISBN)
Description
This book examines how Irishness as national narrative is consistently understood 'from a distance'. Irish Presidents, critics, and media initiatives focus on how Irishness is a global resource chiefly informed by the experiences of an Irish diaspora predominantly working in English, while also reminding Irish people 'at home' that Irish is the 'national tongue'. In returning to some of Ireland's major expat writers and international diplomats, this book examines the economic reasons for their migration, the opportunities they gained by working abroad (sometimes for the British Empire), and their experiences of writing and governing in non-native English speaking communities such as China and Hong Kong. It argues that their concerns about belonging, loneliness, the desire to buy a place 'back home', and losing a language are shared by today's generation of social network expatriates.
Reviews / Votes
"In the field of Irish Studies, finding a new perspective can often be difficult; and this is especially true of issues like the Diaspora and the experience of immigration and emigration. In Irish Expatriatism, Language and Literature , Michael O'Sullivan has achieved exactly such a fresh perspective. This excellent and perceptive study focuses on writers who typically regarded their migrations as periods of non-permanent residence abroad for economic reasons in professions their societies often aligned with cultural capital. For this reason their migratory personas have most often been described as emigrants and expats. O'Sullivan traces what might be termed epistemological migrancy, tracing feelings such as loneliness, a constant state of (un)belonging, the desire to buy property 'back home', and the loss of a language." (Dr Eugene O'Brien, University of Limerick, Ireland)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cham
Switzerland
Publishing group
Springer International Publishing
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Reflowable
Illustrations
VI, 228 p. 3 illus.
File size
2,12 MB
ISBN-13
978-3-319-95900-9 (9783319959009)
DOI
10.1007/978-3-319-95900-9
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
10/2018
Palgrave Macmillan
€80.24
Shipment within 10-15 days
Person
Michael O'Sullivan
is Associate Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has worked for universities in Ireland, the UK, the US, Japan and Hong Kong. He has published widely in Irish Studies and in the humanities. Recent books include
The Humanities and the Irish University
and
The Incarnation of Language: Joyce, Proust and a Philosophy of the Flesh
.
Content
1. Introduction.- 2. Swift: The Irish expat 'at home' with "our language".- 3. Goldsmith: The Irish expat in London as "Chinaman".- 4. Irish expat empire builders in China and Hong Kong: Robert Hart and John Pope Hennessy.- 5. Yeats: The expat buys property back home.- 6. Joyce: The expat and the 'loss of English'.- 7. Bowen: the unspeakable loneliness of the Anglo-Irish expat.- 8. Boland: can the expat find a 'home' in language?.- 9. A Forgotten Irish Cosmopolitanism: Goh Poh Seng's Ireland.- 10. Social Network Expatriatism and new departures in John Boyne and Donal Ryan.
