IASIL 2007 - University College Dublin

Keynote Speakers: Professor Anne Fogarty (University College Dublin), Professor Nicholas Grene (Trinity College Dublin), Professor Cheryl Herr (University of Iowa), Professor Declan Kiberd (University College Dublin)

This topic was suggested by the Ireland of the 21st century and how it is impacting on the development of Irish literatures. Ireland is a country transformed by the economic success of the Celtic Tiger and the replacement of decades of emigration by immigrants from a wide variety of countries. How that phenomonon is being represented, both by those already here and by the new arrivals, is a major area of investigation for Irish literary and cultural studies. A decade earlier, the cultural contribution of the Irish diaspora achieved greater prominence through the speeches of then-president Mary Robinson. At the 2006 IASIL Sydney conference, a call went out for more attention to writing from that diaspora, from the literatures in the various countries to which the Irish emigrated and on which they impacted. The Irish contribution to Australian life and letters was a notable focus of the keynote addresses by writers Tom Kenneally and David Malouf. In the longer historic context, varieties of Irishness still has resonance in relation to the two tribes on the island. Different forms of Irish identity and belief challenge the monolith of Catholic nationalism but that monolith in turn obscures contested issues within those two key terms.

The topic is also meant to highlight issues of gender in the cultural and literary context – to encourage the strong feminist strand that was so prominent in the 2004 IASIL Galway conference. Marina Carr’s profile as the only Irish woman playwright to have achieved both international success and scholarly attention suggests the continued need to focus attention on those women writers who are marginalised in both the record and the canon. There has been increased attention to gay writers in recent conferences and queer theory is bound to proceed beyond Joyce studies, as was evident from the ‘Queering Beckett’ panel at the 2005 IASIL Prague conference. ‘Varieties of Irishness’ will also, it is hoped, broaden the focus to other areas of Irish representation – such as film, video, dance, art, music – and encourage emphasis on a wide variety of writing – there was a wonderful paper at Sydney on Roy Keane’s autobiography, for example. None of this is intended to take away from attention to the major writers whose works have and will continue to dominate IASIL conferences and the Irish literary scene – not only from Yeats and Joyce on but to writers from earlier periods such as Spenser, Swift, Edgeworth and Boucicault; the topic should equally accommodate them.

Papers about Irish language authors will be particularly welcome.

Read the first call for papers, issued October 2006

About IASIL Conferences

IASIL conferences are private meetings of members of the Association. They are not intended to be open to the public or to non-members of the Association, though occasional arrangements may be made to facilitate such access, on an ad hoc basis, and subject to the approval of the Association and/or the individual conference organiser(s).

Conditions of access for non-members will vary from year to year; the conditions in force for one conference should not be seen as a precedent for future years' conferences.

All conference organisers reserve the right to deny access to the conference to non-members, or to cancel non-members' registration requests, without explanation.

The conferences are not held to provide opportunities for individuals or organisations to promote activities not directly related to the Association's activities (i.e. official Association business and the delivery of academic papers). Activities not included within the remit of IASIL conferences include but are not limited to the following examples: publishing, student recruitment, and the promotion of academic programmes.

IASIL conferences are not held for the purposes of conducting business on matters not directly relating to the Association's activities, such as job interviews, bookselling, or discussion of publication opportunities. No delegate should form the expectation of entitlement to conduct any such business.

Organisation of IASIL conferences is the responsibility of local organisers, working in conjunction with the Association's Executive. Arrangements for conferences may therefore change from year to year; no arrangement in place for one year's conference should be seen as a precedent for the organisation of future years' conferences.

Priority of access to the conference will always be given to IASIL members in good standing.

Non-members may be admitted from time-to-time, but as IASIL is a private organisation, conference organisers and the Association retain the right to refuse access to conferences to non-members, without explanation.

Page Updated Tuesday, 3 July, 2007

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