French Literature Reviews - 2026
C. Conan, Irish Literature in the 21st Century. Matter, Space, Environment
Comparative and World Literature
Irish Literature in the 21st Century. Matter, Space, Environment
Catherine Conan
P.U.R., 2021
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25 EUR
276 p.
ISBN: 978-2-7535-8102-9
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This book offers a critical reading of contemporary Irish literature in relation to space and the environment. It examines how the shift in the economic development model starting in 2001 led to the sudden collapse of the post-colonial national narrative of emancipation. Drawing on the theoretical tools of geocriticism, ecocriticism, and new materialist philosophies, the study brings together analyses of well-established authors and more recently emerged voices to outline new spatial, environmental, and material trajectories in Irish literature.
Published with the support of the University of Western Brittany.
This volume contributes to contemporary discussions within literary studies concerning the intersections of geography, ecological awareness, and material culture in recent writing. By examining how literature responds to socio-economic transformations and the questioning of national narratives, the study engages with established critical frameworks such as geocriticism and ecocriticism. These approaches have increasingly informed how scholars analyze the ways contemporary texts represent physical surroundings, urban and rural landscapes, and the changing material conditions of modern society within the wider field of Irish and European letters.
Readers interested in contemporary Irish writing and environmental approaches to literature may find this critical study relevant to their inquiries. The book offers a critical reading of contemporary Irish literature in relation to space and the environment. It examines how the shift in the economic development model starting in 2001 led to the sudden collapse of the post-colonial national narrative of emancipation. Drawing on the theoretical tools of geocriticism, ecocriticism, and new materialist philosophies, the study brings together analyses of well-established authors and more recently emerged voices to outline new spatial, environmental, and material trajectories in Irish literature.