Assessing the Achievement of J. M. Synge

(Hardback)

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J.M. Synge is generally considered one of the most important Irish dramatists, and his standing within the larger canon of world literature usually goes unchallenged. But his reputation may not be standing the test of time. A relative dearth of presentations of Synge's work at major national and international conferences and even at regional Irish studies conferences suggests that he is not studied as much as he once was, especially relative to other Irish authors such as Joyce, Yeats, O'Casey, and even Paul Muldoon and Eavan Boland. Tolerance for some of Synge's once-hailed extravagance is also lessening among students of his drama. The expert contributors of this book demonstrate that Synge's work is of continuing relevance to contemporary audiences and readers. Each of its essays illuminates the worth of Synge's dramatic canon either by some form of reassessment of individual plays or by comparison of Synge's work to that of authors whose reputation is still indisputably well established, such as Yeats, or to that of contemporary authors whose work is much in the public eye, such as Salman Rushdie. New approaches, including a feminist study of the language of Synge's heroines, also help establish the continued relevance of his drama to contemporary readers.

Reviews

Among its other strengths, this book also offers reasonably balanced coverage of Synge's playwriting career...specialists and generalists alike will benefit from the discussions of lesser-known texts. In short, this book deserves a place in college libraries and in the personal collection of scholars of Irish drama in general.-New England Theatre Journal
Gonzalez has collected 14 new essays addressing John Millington Synge's plays....Several essays recall riots resulting from performaces of his plays, and others remind readers of Syng'e attackes on patriarchalism, on myths about Irish womanhood, and on supersitions arising from institutional religion....Althought this volume offers some new ideas, most important is its reconfirmation of Synge's importance in both the Anglo-Irish and the world literary canons....All academic collections.-Choice
"Among its other strengths, this book also offers reasonably balanced coverage of Synge's playwriting career...specialists and generalists alike will benefit from the discussions of lesser-known texts. In short, this book deserves a place in college libraries and in the personal collection of scholars of Irish drama in general."-New England Theatre Journal
"Gonzalez has collected 14 new essays addressing John Millington Synge's plays....Several essays recall riots resulting from performaces of his plays, and others remind readers of Syng'e attackes on patriarchalism, on myths about Irish womanhood, and on supersitions arising from institutional religion....Althought this volume offers some new ideas, most important is its reconfirmation of Synge's importance in both the Anglo-Irish and the world literary canons....All academic collections."-Choice

Author Bio

ALEXANDER G. GONZALEZ, Professor of English, is the Irish-literature specialist at Cortland College of the State University of New York./e Educated at Queens College and at the University of Oregon, where he received his doctorate, he has also taught at both these institutions, as well as at The University of California at Santa Barbara, The Ohio State University, and at The Pennsylvania State University, where he was a Distinguished Scholar in Residence. He is the editor of Modern Irish Writers: A Bio-Critical Scourcebook (Greenwood, forthcoming), and Short Stories from the Irish Renaissance: An Anthology (1993). He is also author of two books, Darrell Figgis: A Study of His Novels (1992), and Peadar O'Donnell, Creative Writer (forthcoming, 1997) more than 25 articles have appeared in leading journals, such as Eire-Ireland, Studies in Short Fiction, The Journal of Irish Literature, and Notes on Modern Irish Literature.