| Critics of contemporary Irish literature and culture identify the late 1950s and early 1960s as a pivotal period in Ireland’s history. During these years, the Irish government instituted a sweeping series of economic and political reforms that collectively transformed Ireland virtually overnight from an inward-looking traditional society to an industrialized and cosmopolitan European community member state. The consequences of this radical transformation have been mirrored and analyzed in contemporary Irish literature. In this course, we will examine the works of authors situated on either side of this crucial moment in Irish history. |
