Chirea Alexandra Madalina anul II sem I forma ID Homework

Summarize the major developments brought by the Literary Revival and its representative to the construction of the irish cultural identity.

Literary Revival is a term used to describe the modern Irish literary movement, lasting from around 1890 and the fall of Parnell to about 1922, a date marking the end of the Anglo-Irish War and the publication of Joyce's Ulysses.The Irish Literary Revival was a period of overwhelming significance for the Irish nation. Whether it is called the Irish literary revival,or the Celtic Revival,or the Celtic Renaissance,a literary movement began in Dublin in the late nineteenth century that produced some of the greatest and most important works in English language.The idea,generally speaking was to look to the Gaelic past,to legend and literature,and to the folklore and traditions of the irish peasantry for the inspiration to create a new Irish literature.The Revival ows much to the works of Ferguson and Petrie,and Mangan and the later Standish James O'Grady,and others working in the translation of Irish poetry, and with the intention of establishing a tradition of Irish culture within English literature. Yeats and Synge,Lady Gregory,Douglas Hyde, George Moore,James Joyce,all of them swept Dublin with their works. Everybody wrote either within the scope of the Revival or in response to it. The movement developed into a vigurous literary force centred on the poet and playwright William Butler Yeats.Though he contributed to the foundation of the Abbey Theatre, the first Irish national theatre,he wrote only a few plays,wich were beautiful but difficult to stage.His chief colleague was Lady Gregory who took a leading part in the Abbey's management and also wrote many plays. The major developments brought by the Literary Revival according to Yeats idea were to initiate a cultural movement strong enough to replace the political fight for Home Rule and land Reform,also to publish the irish and celtic legends and folklore in

order to educate the posterity and to bring to their attention that they have a monumental past that is worthily be learnt. It was the Revival, and the Abbey Theatre, in particular, that brought the movement to redeem Irish culture and language from the closed councils of a few, to the mainstream life of the common person The Literary Revival also militate for the national spirit and the spreading of the irishness abroad. Because the celtic knowledge was thought to be bright,the nation was lead to go back to that celtic knowledge as many writers published significant works based on celtic myths and culture at that time. The idea of the Literary Revival was to present a fusion between a legendary past and the simplicity of the rural class wich was not touched by industrialisation. This image was strongly criticized by J.M.Synge and James Joyce because of its limited views. The Revival contributed in creating an idilic,pastoral image of Ireland,image that fascinated even the British public and through this Revival ,Ireland found its own roots and ackowledge its legendary past and its own great literature wich inspired many writers since then . The Literary revival movement was associated with a revival of interest in Ireland's Gaelic heritage and the growth of Irish nationalism and the Irish cultural identity.