The Formation of an Irish Literary Canon in the Mid-Twentieth Century

This scholarly study of the formation of the Irish literary canon in the first half of the twentieth century provides fascinating and often surprising insights into the ways in which different educational institutions responded to the political and historical changes taking place as Ireland moved from colonial to postcolonial status. Dr Wei H. Kao discusses not only what was included on school and university curriculum but also writers who were excluded, in particular women writers who appeared to interrogate a male nationalist agenda for the representation of Ireland.– Emeritus Professor C.L. Innes The writers discussed include Daniel Corkery, J.G. Farrell, Denis Johnston, Mary Lavin, Iris Murdoch, Kate O’Brien, Frank O’Connor, Liam O’Flaherty, and James Plunkett.



Wei H. Kao received his doctorate from the University of Kent, England, and teaches at National Taiwan University. His articles on Irish dramatists and women novelists have appeared, among others, in Moving World: A Journal of Transcultural Writings, Journal of Beckett Studies, and Celtic Tiger, Paper Tiger: Irish Writing from Wilde to Weird (2007). His comparative study of Irish and world literatures is forthcoming.