Irish Childrens Literature and the Poetics of Memory

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Focusing on the mythological narratives that influence Irish childrens literature, this book examines the connections between landscape, time and identity, positing that myth and the language of myth offer authors and readers the opportunity to engage with Irelands culture and heritage. It explores the recurring patterns of Irish mythological narratives that influence literature produced for children in Ireland between the nineteenth and the twenty-first centuries. A selection of childrens books published between 1892, when there was an escalation of the cultural pursuit of Irish independence and 2016, which marked the centenary of the Easter 1916 rebellion against English rule, are discussed with the aim of demonstrating the development of a pattern of retrieving, re-telling, remembering and re-imagining myths in Irish childrens literature. In doing so, it examines the reciprocity that exists between imagination, memory, and childhood experiences in this body of work.

Author Bio

Dr Rebecca Long graduated from the inaugural M.Phil in Childrens Literature in Trinity College Dublin in 2013, and went on to complete her PhD in Irish childrens literature in 2018. Her research interests include mythology, folklore, oral cultures and communal memory.