University of Galway

Course Module Information

Course Modules

Semester 2 | Credits: 5

This module will explore representations and registrations of gender (both femininity and masculinity) in a selection of Irish and related writing and film from the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It will consider both the specificities of the Irish socio-historical context and the corresponding conditions of global modernity. As such, it will examine the tensions, negotiations and new articulations that can be read through the lens of both Irish social history and transnational configurations of gender. The module has been arranged into 4 interconnected units of intellectual debate. By way of introduction, we begin by considering discourses of Irish feminism and the female embodiment of Ireland in nationalism. We will then think about the embodiment of Ireland through the literary trope of the body in the bog. We next turn to the topic of food and hunger before concluding with two units that will explore the policing of gendered bodies in various manifestations.
(Language of instruction: English)

Learning Outcomes
  1. Demonstrate an understanding of different theories related to social constructions of gender, Irish nationalism and globalisation.
  2. Engage with these theories in tandem with a range of selected primary texts.
  3. Show understanding of literary texts in relation to contemporary Irish social and historical conditions and contexts.
  4. Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between ideology and literature, for example capitalism, development, patriarchy, racism, and heterosexism.
Assessments
  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Teachers
Reading List
  1. "Domestic Violence [selections]" by Eavan Boland
    ISBN: 978039333308.
  2. "Under the Hawthorn Tree" by Marita Conlon-McKenna
    ISBN: 9780862782061.
  3. "North [selections]" by Seamus Heaney
    ISBN: 9781854112.
  4. "Stay" by Aisling Hunter
    ISBN: 978155192568.
  5. "Baby Zero" by Emer Martin
    ISBN: 978099135470.
The above information outlines module EN2132: "Gender and Globalisation in Modern Ireland (S2)" and is valid from 2016 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.