"LITERATURE"
Irish Literature, the oral and written literature of the people of Ireland, an island
that today comprises the independent Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is
politically part of the United Kingdom. In recent years the definition of Irish
literature has been broadened to encompass literature produced by Irish
writers living outside Ireland and writers of Irish descent whose work reflects
the Irish or Irish emigrant experience. Irish literature is composed in the Irish and the
English languages. Irish, also known as Gaelic, is the traditional tongue of Ireland.
The oldest Irish literature consists of stories and poems about ancient kings and
heroes, which were transmitted orally in Irish. Written literature in Ireland begins
after Christian missionaries arrived in the 5th century AD and introduced the Roman
alphabet, which was then adapted to the Irish language. Christianity coexisted with
traditional Irish ways, rather than supplanting them, and has continued to do so to
the present day. Both traditions figure strongly in Irish literature.The second major
influence on Irish literature, after Christianity, was colonization from England, which began
in the 12th century. By the 17th and 18th centuries, the English had consolidated
their power in Ireland, and Anglo-Irish writers—Irish-born writers of English descent
—dominated Ireland's literary culture. English was the language of the rulers; literature
in Irish survived largely in oral tradition. Anglo-Irish literary movements of the 19th
century sought to revive Gaelic culture and the Irish language. These movements
linked literature with the cause of Irish political and cultural independence from Britain.
The revival gained strength when Irish became an official language in 1922. At that
time the island was divided politically into the Irish Free State, which became Ireland
in 1949, and Northern Ireland. Today writers in Irish and English continue to find
themes in the Irish landscape and in Irish history. Irish literature reflects the bravado
of Celtic heroes as well as the suffering and hardships the Irish people have experienced
over the course of their history. Despite these hardships, wit and humor often
in the form of satire or irony—have characterized much of Irish literature.
Another defining feature has been an exploration of the riches of language and an
enjoyment of wordplay. A love of language is evident in Irish literature, from the
early sagas to the 20th-century experiments of James Joyce.
