THE SIGNIFICANCE, impact, and wider resonances of the 1916 Rising on Irish literature, culture, and society are explored in a new book, co-editied by Galway academic Seán Crosson.
Towards 2016: 1916 and Irish Literature, Culture & Society, edited by Seán Crosson of NUI Galway's Huston School of Film & Digital Media, and Prof Werner Huber of the University of Vienna, considers how 1916 has impacted on politics and society, theatre, music, poetry, James Joyce, greyhound sports, graphic novels, contemporary fiction, documentary, media, language, and the Irish economy. It features contributors from film director Neil Jordan and NUI Galway’s Prof Alan Ahearne.
"The continuing resonance of the Rising to contemporary Ireland is evident in the now much quoted editorial of The Irish Times in November 2010, the day after it was announced Ireland was to receive a financial bailout from the EU and IMF," said Seán Crosson. "‘Was it for this?’ the editorial asked, ‘the men of 1916 died’, highlighting the gendering of the commemoration of that event.”
Interestingly, as Dr Crossan points out, 1916 was also the year James Joyce published A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, and first indigenous film production company, The Film Company of Ireland, was founded.
Towards 2016: 1916 and Irish Literature, Culture & Society is available in Charlie Byrne's Bookshop.
