Neil Cornwell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074097
- eISBN:
- 9781781700969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074097.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter takes a look at Brian O'Nolan, who was also known as Flann O'Brien and Myles na Gopaleen in the literary world, introducing each of O'Nolan's literary personas, from the novelist and ...
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This chapter takes a look at Brian O'Nolan, who was also known as Flann O'Brien and Myles na Gopaleen in the literary world, introducing each of O'Nolan's literary personas, from the novelist and short-story writer (O'Brien), to the author of the funniest newspaper feature (na Gopaleen). From there the discussion focuses his two main novels, At Swim-Two-Birds and The Third Policeman. It notes that At Swim-Two-Birds was written through the second half of the 1930s and that it follows from the early writings of that decade. The Third Policeman, on the other hand, has lesser elements than the other novels, but is considered as more concentrated and serious.Less
This chapter takes a look at Brian O'Nolan, who was also known as Flann O'Brien and Myles na Gopaleen in the literary world, introducing each of O'Nolan's literary personas, from the novelist and short-story writer (O'Brien), to the author of the funniest newspaper feature (na Gopaleen). From there the discussion focuses his two main novels, At Swim-Two-Birds and The Third Policeman. It notes that At Swim-Two-Birds was written through the second half of the 1930s and that it follows from the early writings of that decade. The Third Policeman, on the other hand, has lesser elements than the other novels, but is considered as more concentrated and serious.
Neil Cornwell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719074097
- eISBN:
- 9781781700969
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719074097.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This book offers a comprehensive account of the absurd in prose fiction. As well as providing a basis for courses on absurdist literature (whether in fiction or in drama), it offers a broadly based ...
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This book offers a comprehensive account of the absurd in prose fiction. As well as providing a basis for courses on absurdist literature (whether in fiction or in drama), it offers a broadly based philosophical background. Sections covering theoretical approaches and an overview of the historical literary antecedents to the ‘modern’ absurd introduce the largely twentieth-century core chapters. In addition to discussing a variety of literary movements (from Surrealism to the Russian OBERIU), the book offers detailed case studies of four prominent exponents of the absurd: Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Daniil Kharms and Flann O'Brien. There is also wide discussion of other English-language and European contributors to the phenomenon of the absurd.Less
This book offers a comprehensive account of the absurd in prose fiction. As well as providing a basis for courses on absurdist literature (whether in fiction or in drama), it offers a broadly based philosophical background. Sections covering theoretical approaches and an overview of the historical literary antecedents to the ‘modern’ absurd introduce the largely twentieth-century core chapters. In addition to discussing a variety of literary movements (from Surrealism to the Russian OBERIU), the book offers detailed case studies of four prominent exponents of the absurd: Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Daniil Kharms and Flann O'Brien. There is also wide discussion of other English-language and European contributors to the phenomenon of the absurd.
Niall Carson
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719099373
- eISBN:
- 9781526109743
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719099373.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
This chapter looks at the group of authors and artists that contributed to and worked for The Bell. It exposes the relationships between O’Faoláin and O’Donnell to Flann O’Brien, Patrick Kavanagh and ...
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This chapter looks at the group of authors and artists that contributed to and worked for The Bell. It exposes the relationships between O’Faoláin and O’Donnell to Flann O’Brien, Patrick Kavanagh and Austin Clarke. It also accounts for the bizarre ménage that existed between the Poetry Editor of The Bell, his wife, the painter Nora McGuinness and the established author Robert Graves and his mistress, the poet, Laura Riding. This scandal rocked literary England and had reverberations in Ireland and for The Bell. This chapter also discusses censorship in Ireland and places it in its proper international context; it does so by addressing O’Faoláin’s attitude to censorship and by complicating the traditional picture of him as a leading voice of secular liberalism against and oppressive state censorship.Less
This chapter looks at the group of authors and artists that contributed to and worked for The Bell. It exposes the relationships between O’Faoláin and O’Donnell to Flann O’Brien, Patrick Kavanagh and Austin Clarke. It also accounts for the bizarre ménage that existed between the Poetry Editor of The Bell, his wife, the painter Nora McGuinness and the established author Robert Graves and his mistress, the poet, Laura Riding. This scandal rocked literary England and had reverberations in Ireland and for The Bell. This chapter also discusses censorship in Ireland and places it in its proper international context; it does so by addressing O’Faoláin’s attitude to censorship and by complicating the traditional picture of him as a leading voice of secular liberalism against and oppressive state censorship.
Neil Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780719091674
- eISBN:
- 9781781707197
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719091674.003.0013
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
Neil Murphy, comparing contemporary writers with Joyce, Beckett and Flann O'Brien, notes the complex and nuanced relationship between these texts and their cultural contexts. The ‘Celtic Tiger’ ...
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Neil Murphy, comparing contemporary writers with Joyce, Beckett and Flann O'Brien, notes the complex and nuanced relationship between these texts and their cultural contexts. The ‘Celtic Tiger’ period, a moment of the most dramatic impact in recent Irish history, offers an opportunity to consider the nature of the possible relationship between literary fiction and its social and political contexts. Joyce's legendarily disinterested attitude towards World War 1, and his largely disengaged response to the revolutionary upheavals in Ireland between 1916 and 1923, are artistically revealing, particularly since the timeframe of the composition of Ulysses coincides with these historically cataclysmic years in European history. In a direct and antagonistic gesture towards referential writing, In this chapter, Murphy, through close readings of the works of John Banville and Dermot Healy, as well as consideration of Sebastian Barry and Anne Enright, suggests that while they may appear to gaze backwards in time, or into the depths of highly personalized ontological questions, or at the conundrums of artistic form, if one tilts the glass just a little it may be that the reflected image offers us a few useful glimpses of the Celtic Tiger years after all, but by potent, indirect visionLess
Neil Murphy, comparing contemporary writers with Joyce, Beckett and Flann O'Brien, notes the complex and nuanced relationship between these texts and their cultural contexts. The ‘Celtic Tiger’ period, a moment of the most dramatic impact in recent Irish history, offers an opportunity to consider the nature of the possible relationship between literary fiction and its social and political contexts. Joyce's legendarily disinterested attitude towards World War 1, and his largely disengaged response to the revolutionary upheavals in Ireland between 1916 and 1923, are artistically revealing, particularly since the timeframe of the composition of Ulysses coincides with these historically cataclysmic years in European history. In a direct and antagonistic gesture towards referential writing, In this chapter, Murphy, through close readings of the works of John Banville and Dermot Healy, as well as consideration of Sebastian Barry and Anne Enright, suggests that while they may appear to gaze backwards in time, or into the depths of highly personalized ontological questions, or at the conundrums of artistic form, if one tilts the glass just a little it may be that the reflected image offers us a few useful glimpses of the Celtic Tiger years after all, but by potent, indirect vision
Niall Carson
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719099373
- eISBN:
- 9781526109743
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719099373.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
This chapter will discuss the contribution of the Mass Observation movement to the formation of The Bell, and the influence it had on the nature of the articles published there. It will also discuss ...
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This chapter will discuss the contribution of the Mass Observation movement to the formation of The Bell, and the influence it had on the nature of the articles published there. It will also discuss O’Faoláin’s personal theory of the novel, where, following the lead of Henry James, he saw Ireland as a thinly-composed society. There is an outline of some of the more experimental works contained in The Bell specifically the work of Nick Nicholls, The White Stag Group, and the poet Freda Laughton. Also discussed is the editorial change from Seán O’Faoláin to Peadar O’Donnell and O’Donnell’s attempts to revive the flagging magazine with new subscriptions and new young authors.Less
This chapter will discuss the contribution of the Mass Observation movement to the formation of The Bell, and the influence it had on the nature of the articles published there. It will also discuss O’Faoláin’s personal theory of the novel, where, following the lead of Henry James, he saw Ireland as a thinly-composed society. There is an outline of some of the more experimental works contained in The Bell specifically the work of Nick Nicholls, The White Stag Group, and the poet Freda Laughton. Also discussed is the editorial change from Seán O’Faoláin to Peadar O’Donnell and O’Donnell’s attempts to revive the flagging magazine with new subscriptions and new young authors.
