ENGL 368
Ireland in Film Spring 2022
Division I
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Class Details

In 1909, James Joyce was briefly the manager of one of Dublin’s first cinemas. The medium of film has long attracted Irish writers–as a means to explore and represent the country’s political and cultural history, to interrogate the very notion of “Irishness”, and to promote their work to a wider audience. In turn, Ireland has long provided a rich subject for Hollywood fantasy, often being portrayed by non-Irish directors as either a mythic space for emerald-green romanticism, or, more darkly, as a place of political terror and enduring ideological rivalries. In this course we will view and discuss major films from the canon of Irish cinema, to assess the country’s newly ascendant film movement. We will consider the impact of commercial considerations, and the powerful influence of British and American films on Irish filmmakers. We will also read the literary texts on which some films were based, so as to weigh the strengths and limitations of the medium as a resource for writers who initially worked only in print. This course will introduce participants to the technical vocabulary of film art, as well as to major developments in modern Irish history and culture. Films to be viewed will likely include: Man of Aran, The Informer, The Quiet Man, Eat the Peach, In the Name of the Father, Butcher Boy, Intermission, Into the West, The Field, The Crying Game, December Bride, The Commitments, Michael Collins, Ondine, Six Shooter, In Bruges and The Guard; and we will also assess one or more short independent films such as Budawanny and Adam and Paul. Special attention will be given to the work of Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan, Terry George, and Martin McDonagh.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 15
Expected: 15
Class#: 3868
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: Two long papers, regular short responses and discussion board postings, class participation.
Prerequisites: a 100-level ENGL course, or a score of 5 on the AP English Literature exam, or a score of 6 or 7 on the Higher Level IB English exam; not open to first-year students
Enrollment Preferences: English majors
Distributions: Division I
Attributes: ENGL post-1900 Courses
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