Description
Book SynopsisThis volume of essays explores the multiple forms and functions of reading and writing in nineteenth-century Ireland. This century saw a dramatic transition in literacy levels and in the education and language practices of the Irish population, yet the processes and full significance of these transitions remains critically under explored. This book traces how understandings of literacy and language shaped national and transnational discourses of cultural identity, and the different reading communities produced by questions of language, religion, status, education and audience. Essays are gathered under four main areas of analysis: Literacy and Bilingualism; Periodicals and their readers; Translation, transmission and transnational literacies; Visual literacies. Through these sections, the authors offer a range of understandings of the ways in which Irish readers and writers interpreted and communicated their worlds. List of contributors: Rebecca Anne Barr, Sarah-Anne Buckley, Muireann O’Cinneide, Niall Ó Ciosáin, Máire Nic an Bhaird, Liam Mac Mathúna, James Quinn, Nicola Morris, Elizabeth Tilley, Darragh Gannon, Florry O’Driscoll, Michèle Milan, Nessa Cronin and Stephanie Rains.
Trade ReviewReviews ‘A cause for celebration and a strong indicator of the maturation of the field… this collection up-ends many assumptions about nineteenth-century Ireland as it grappled with literacies in both English and Irish during a century that witnessed tremendous change.’
Karen Steel,
Victorian Periodicals Review'The capacious key terms of
Literacy, Language, and Reading allow the conceptual nets to be cast far and wide... the real contribution of this volume is the kaleidoscopic view that it both constructs and encourages.'
Sean O’Toole,
Victorian Studies'In addition to scholars of linguistics and language, this book will be of use to those researching the history of the book and printing in Ireland, journalism, cartography and religion. All reveal something of the social and culture life of nineteenth century Ireland.'
Orla Fitzpatrick,
Irish Studies ReviewTable of ContentsSection 1 Literacy and Bilingualism1 Varieties of Literacy in Nineteenth-Century Ireland - Niall Ó Ciosáin
2 Douglas Hyde: First Steps in the Creation of a Linguist - Liam Mac Mathúna and Máire Níc Bhaird
Section 2 Periodicals and their Readers3 The Nation, History and the Making of a National Citizen - James Quinn
4 Watchmen to the House of Israel? Irish Methodism and the Religious Press - Nicola Morris
5 The Dublin Penny Journal and Alternative Histories - Elizabeth Tilley
Section 3 Translation, Transmission and Transnational Literacies6 Room With a View: Reading Ireland in the Irish College Old Library, Paris c. 1870-1900 - Darragh Gannon
7 “May God bless you and all at home”: Mid-Nineteenth-Century Irish Views on Italy As Seen Through the Letters of Albert Delahoyde, 1860-1870 - Florry O Driscoll
8 “Good Translations” or “Mental dram-drinking”? Translation and Literacy in Nineteenth-Century Ireland - Michèle Milan
Section 4 Visual Literacies9 From Dublin to Dehar Dun: Language, Translation and Mapping Ireland and India - Nessa Cronin
10 Reading the Hand: Palmistry, Graphology and Alternative Literacies - Stephanie Rains
