Modernity, politics, and the past in Ulster literature 1898–1912

Abstract

This thesis explores the aesthetic and political nuances of Irish modernity as they manifest in fin-de-siècle Ulster literature, examining how a set of diverse, yet interconnected, writers developed individual and innovative contributions to the Irish historical imagination through their treatments of time, history, and modernity. It will address the critical neglect of Ulster literature in Irish modernist studies of this period and expand the horizons of the critical field to incorporate the peripheral, individual, and local. It will also move away from the reliance on Revival and regional frameworks in previous studies of fin-de-siècle Ulster writing. The writers studied here delved into the past not simply to make sense of the present. Instead, they used the past and its varied manifestations (mythic; historical) as a source of futurity. As a result, they critiqued Ulster’s nostalgic grappling with history, and mapped out the possibility of alternative and emancipatory political futures. Overall, this thesis will demonstrate that historicising these writers and their work changes our understanding of the relationship between aesthetics, politics, and history in Belfast, Ulster, and Ireland during this period.This project first examines political commitment in the works of Alice Milligan. Her combination of aesthetics and politics is represented as an attempt to seek out radical political futures using the mythic and historical past. Chapter Two comprises a study of the Ulster Literary Theatre’s literary magazine, Ulaḋ (1904–5). I read it as a modernist ‘little’ magazine for the first time, while also drawing on the framework of regional modernisms. Chapter Three updates critical paradigms about the modernist bildungsroman through analysis of the novels and autobiographies of Forrest Reid. Reid’s aestheticism and individualism will be explored using the influence of Romantic Hellenism and the aesthetic philosophy of Walter Pater. The final chapter turns to the satirical dramas of Gerald MacNamara, the principal dramatist of the Ulster Literary Theatre. Using the critical framework of modernist satire/satiric modernism, it argues that MacNamara’s use of humour both critiques and moves beyond the aesthetic and political modes of Revival theatre.

Thesis embargoed until 31 July 2029.

Date of Award	Jul 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Sponsors	AHRC Northern Bridge Consortium
Supervisor	Alex Murray (Supervisor) & Michael Pierse (Supervisor)