Module: Anglo-Irish Literature: The Novel & Short Story

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Anglo-Irish Literature: The Novel & Short Story
Module Code	LIT1067 (ITS: EN332)
Faculty	SALIS	School	Humanities & Social Sciences
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5

Description

This course offers an introduction to Anglo-Irish literature, starting with English-language versions of Irish folklore or mythology and moving swiftly to 20th-century examples of short stories and novels. The carefully selected works provide students with insights into key Irish cultural and historical issues and events that have helped shape contemporary Irish society.

Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the novel and short story as important literary genres in modern Ireland.
2. Relate in an informed and sensitive manner to the social, political and cultural contexts of the works studied.
3. Construct an informed vision of life in Ireland through the reading of fiction and secondary literature.
4. Evaluate critically the effectiveness of the main narrative techniques and devices employed in the novels and short stories discussed.
5. Write a critical essay which demonstrates a personal response to the work, along with an ability to analyse, and compare and contrast, the works studied, in an insightful way.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	12	formal presentation
Seminars	12	group work and discussions
Independent Study	50	further reading of novels and short stories plus background reading on literary criticism
Assignment Completion	12	preparation of critical essay with bibliography
Directed learning	39	focused background reading on literary movements and leading authors
Total Workload: 125

Section Breakdown
CRN	20669	Part of Term	Semester 2
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator		Module Teacher

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Essay	Students will prepare an individual essay based on one of a number of topics agreed in class with the lecturer after reading week.	100%	Sem 2 End

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

This is an approximate account of the material to be be read and discussed in class.
This is an approximate account of the material to be read and discussed in class. Some variation is possible and will be flagged on Loop. NB The material below is indicative. Changes and new selections may be made and these will be indicated on EN332 Loop.

WEEK 1 INTRODUCTION

WEEK 2 FOLK STORIES AND MYTHOLOGY The oral and written tradition. TEXT: Over Nine Waves ed. Marie Heaney and/or other published sources.

SUBSEQUENT WEEKS (a) SHORT STORIES Writers of the 20th century such as James Joyce, Sean O’ Faolain, Frank O’Connor, Mary Lavin and Edna O'Brien. The stories to be discussed may include Joyce’s ‘The Dead’, O'Faolain's ‘The Trout’, O’Connor’s ‘Guests of the Nation’, and Edna O'Brien's ‘Sister Imelda’. TEXT: Classic Irish Short Stories ed. F. O’Connor, OUP. NB Some texts will be available on Moodle. (b) SHORT STORIES Writers of the 20th century. These may include a selection from Claire Keegan’s second collection Walk the Blue Fields (2007). (c) A SAMPLING OF SHORT NOVELS (such as Jennifer Johnston’s How many miles to Babylon (A 'Big House' novel set in 1914 that examines the friendship between an officer and soldier who grew up on the same Anglo-Irish estate) and/or EXTRACTS from significant longer works. WEEK 12 Review and revision of module. Discussion of issues relating to essay preparation.

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin: 0, An Introduction to Early Irish Literature, 1-4, Four Courts Press, Dublin,
ed. Robert Welch: 1996, The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature, OUP, Oxford,
Ingman Heather: 2009, A history of the Irish short story, CUP,
Jeffers, Jennifer: 2002, The Irish novel at the end of the twentieth century, Palgrave, New York,
Ingman Heather: 2007, Twentieth century fiction by Irish women: nation and gender,
Cullingford, Elizabeth Butler: 2001, Ireland's others: ethnicity and gender in Irish literature and popular culture, Cork, Cork UP,
Ellman, Richard: 1987, Four Dubliners : Wilde, Yeats, Joyce, and Beckett, London, Hamilton,,
Jeffares, A. Norman: 1982, Anglo-Irish literature, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin,
Martin, Augustine: 1996, Bearing witness: essays on Anglo-Irish literature, University College Dublin Press, Dublin,

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None

Indicative Content and Learning Activities This is an approximate account of the material to be read and discussed in class. Some variation is possible and will be flagged on Loop. NB The material below is indicative. Changes and new selections may be made and these will be indicated on EN332 Loop. WEEK 1 INTRODUCTION WEEK 2 FOLK STORIES AND MYTHOLOGY The oral and written tradition. TEXT: Over Nine Waves ed. Marie Heaney and/or other published sources. SUBSEQUENT WEEKS (a) SHORT STORIES Writers of the 20th century such as James Joyce, Sean O’ Faolain, Frank O’Connor, Mary Lavin and Edna O'Brien. The stories to be discussed may include Joyce’s ‘The Dead’, O'Faolain's ‘The Trout’, O’Connor’s ‘Guests of the Nation’, and Edna O'Brien's ‘Sister Imelda’. TEXT: Classic Irish Short Stories ed. F. O’Connor, OUP. NB Some texts will be available on Moodle. (b) SHORT STORIES Writers of the 20th century. These may include a selection from Claire Keegan’s second collection Walk the Blue Fields (2007). (c) A SAMPLING OF SHORT NOVELS (such as Jennifer Johnston’s How many miles to Babylon (A 'Big House' novel set in 1914 that examines the friendship between an officer and soldier who grew up on the same Anglo-Irish estate) and/or EXTRACTS from significant longer works. WEEK 12 Review and revision of module. Discussion of issues relating to essay preparation.