Course: FLM6115-1 – Literatura Irlandesa em Diálogo
Instructor: Dr. Pádraic Whyte
Course Coordinator: Dr. Mariana Bolfarine
Date: August 24 to 28, 2026
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Venue: Prédio de Letras (Edifício Prof. Antonio Candido) – FFLCH/USP
August 24 and 26: Room 262
August 25: Room 260
August 27 and 28: Room 264
Objectives:
This course facilitates the exploration of the construction of childhood and youth in Irish writing. Students will be given the opportunity to analyse texts written for adult readers as well as texts written for children. The module will examine texts through the lens of ‘childhood and youth’, and students will be introduced to a series of subject areas including myth, folklore, community, education, history, postcolonialism, race, ability, genders, and sexualities. With a focus on texts from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, discussions will be positioned within the context of broader cultural debates and will incorporate a number of theoretical approaches.
On completion of this module, students should be able to
1. Discuss and evaluate the construction of childhood and youth in a broad range of Irish writing from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries
2. Distinguish between ‘literary childhoods’ and ‘children’s literature’
3. Relate textual analysis to broader cultural debates internationally
4. Develop existing critical and analytical skills, become empowered citizens, and think beyond the confines of ‘learning outcomes’.
Rationale:
This advanced level course on Irish writing will be of interest to any students working on, or with a research interest in, Irish literature. It will offer opportunities for the exploration of a broad range of Irish texts through the lens of ‘childhood and youth’ and will inform research and teaching in related areas such as studies in myth, folklore, community, education, history, postcolonialism, race, ability, genders, and sexualities.
Content:
- Introduction: Writing childhoods. Discussion of short stories and picturebooks. Stories from Eilís Dillon’s The Lucky Bag (1984) and extracts from Seamus Deane’s Reading in the Dark (1996)
- Storytelling and Myth: Stories from Padraic Colum’s The Big Tree of Bunlahy (1934) and Ella Young’s Celtic Wonder Tales (1910)
- Genders, Sexualities, and Young Adult Experience: Extracts from CG Moore’s Gut Feelings (2021) and stories from Deirdre Sullivan’s Tangleweed and Brine (2017)
- Transnational Identities in fiction and film: CS Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950). Discussion of novel and film (2005) extracts.
- Close readings of stories and extracts. Students will present on their favourite texts.
- Seminars and conclusion.
Type of Assessment:
Assessment criteria and methodology:
- Participation in debates engendered by assigned critical, literary and artistic texts;
- Presentation of seminars;
- Final assignment: Final paper (research article).
- Evaluation:
A= Excellent, with credit;
B= Good, with credit;
C= Regular, with credit;
D= Fail, no credit.
Notes/Remarks:
Classes will be taught in person in English by the guest professor, and the assigned readings will also be in English.
Bibliography:
Primary Readings
ADAMSON, Andrew (dir.). The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. [Filme]. Produção de Walden Media, 2005.
COLUM, Padraic; YEATS, Jack B. The Big Tree of Bunlahy. Dublin: Macmillan, 1934.
DEANE, Seamus. Reading in the Dark. London: Jonathan Cape, 1996.
DILLON, Eilís et al. The Lucky Bag. Dublin: Poolbeg Press, 1984.
LEWIS, C. S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1950.
MOORE, C. G. Gut Feelings. Dublin: Little Island, 2021.
YOUNG, Ella; GONNE, Maud. Celtic Wonder Tales. New York: Dover Publications, 1910.
SULLIVAN, Deirdre. Tangleweed and Brine. London: Hot Key Books, 2017.
Secondary
BROWN, Terence. Ireland: a social and cultural history, 1922–85. 2. ed. London: Fontana Press, 1987.
FERRITER, Diarmaid. The Transformation of Ireland. New York: Overlook Press, 2004.
INGMAN, Heather. Introduction. In: INGMAN, Heather. A History of the Irish Short Story. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
LUDDY, Maria; SMITH, James M. (eds.). Éire-Ireland. v. 44, n. 1-2, Spring/Summer 2009.
HOLLINDALE, Peter. Signs of Childness in Children’s Books. Gloucestershire: Thimble Press, 1997.
MOONEY, Jennifer. Feminist Discourse in Irish Literature: Gender and Power in Louise O’Neill’s Young Adult Fiction. New York: Routledge, 2023.
NÍ BHROIN, Ciara. Mythologizing Ireland. In: COGHLAN, Valerie; O’SULLIVAN, Keith (eds.). Irish Children’s Literature and Culture. London; New York: Routledge, 2011.
NÍ DHUIBHNE, Éilís. Look! It’s a Woman Writer!: Irish Literary Feminisms, 1970–2020. Dublin: Arlen House, 2021.
WHYTE, Pádraic; O’SULLIVAN, Keith (eds.). The Writings of Padraic Colum: “That Queer Thing, Genius”. London; New York: Routledge, 2024.
Languages taught: English
Class type: Presencial
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