Irish Children's Literature and the Poetics of Memory

Focusing on the mythological narratives that influence Irish children''s 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 Ireland''s 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 children''s 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 children''s literature. In doing so, it examines the reciprocity that exists between imagination, memory, and childhood experiences in this body of work.>

About the author

Dr Rebecca Long graduated from the inaugural M.Phil in Children’s Literature in Trinity College Dublin in 2013, and went on to complete her PhD in Irish children’s literature in 2018. Her research interests include mythology, folklore, oral cultures and communal memory.Lisa Sainsbury is Director of the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature, University of Roehampton, UK.

Product details

• Authors: Rebecca Long, Rebecca (Trinity College Dublin Long, Long Rebecca
• Assisted by: Lisa Sainsbury (Editor of the series)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.04.2021
• EAN: 9781350167254
• ISBN: 978-1-350-16725-4
• No. of pages: 208
• Series: Bloomsbury Perspectives on Children's Literature
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; LITERARY CRITICISM / Children's & Young Adult Literature, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 20th Century, Literature: history & criticism, Literary studies: from c 1900 -, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000, Literature: history and criticism, Children's & teenage literature studies, Children’s and teenage literature studies: general, LITERARY CRITICISM / Novel as Form