The Irish Proust: Cultural Crossings from Beckett to McGahern(Historicizing Modernism)

This collection of essays is the first book devoted to exploring Marcel Proust’s influence on Irish literature and Irish themes within his work. Featuring contributions from eleven scholars of French and Irish studies, The Irish Proust reveals a surprising textual dimension of Proust’s novel and traces the enduring legacy of his work throughout modern Irish letters. Proust's work, which was banned in Ireland during the 1940s and 1950s, occupies an essential position within the Irish literary and cultural imaginary. From Samuel Beckett and Elizabeth Bowen to Brendan Behan and John McGahern, À la recherche du temps perdu has been a touchstone for generations of Irish writers. Including bold new readings of Proust’s presence within the writings of Beckett, Bowen, Behan, McGahern, and Mary Devenport O’Neill, The Irish Proust draws on a wide range of archival sources and sheds new light on the cosmopolitan, modernist literary culture that emerged in post-independence Ireland despite a hostile official climate.

Table of Contents:
Notes on contributors Acknowledgements Abbreviations Foreword: The Man Who Built Ireland’s Paris Embassy: Henri, Marquis de Breteuil—Monarchist, Diarist, and Inspiration for Marcel Proust’s ‘Hannibal de Bréauté’ Niall Burgess (Ambassador of Ireland to France and Monaco) Introduction Max McGuinness (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)and Michael Cronin (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) Part 1: Irish Themes in Proust 1. In Search of a Gaelic Proust Max McGuinness (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) 2. Proust and Wilde Elisabeth Ladenson (Columbia University, USA) 3. Revivalist Proust Barry McCrea (University of Notre Dame, USA) 4. The Metempsychotic Room: Proust, His Siblings, and His Avatars Patrick O’Donovan (University College Cork, Ireland) Part 2: Proust in Ireland 5. Amphibian Proust: Aesthetic Renewal and the Trinity College Dublin French Department in Post-Independence Ireland Michael Cronin (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) 6. Mary Devenport O’Neill’s Poetic Reception of Marcel Proust Gráinne Condon (Independent scholar) 7. Proust Revisited: The Legacy of Marcel Proust in Brendan Behan’s Bridewell Deirdre McMahon (Independent scholar) 8. Proust, McGahern, and Memoir: the Déjà Lu Richard Robinson (Swansea University, Wales) Part 3: Irish Proustians in Exile 9. Proust, Beckett, and the ‘Abominable Edition of the Nouvelle Revue Française’ Nathalie Mauriac Dyer (CNRS-École normale supérieure, France) Translated from the French by Max McGuinness (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) 10. Bowen after Proust Isabelle Serça (Université de Toulouse, France) Translated from the French by Michael Cronin (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) and Max McGuinness (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) 11. ‘A Very Dangerous Influence’: Elizabeth Bowen and Marcel Proust Heather Ingman (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)

About the Author :
Max McGuinness is a Research Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow in French at Trinity College Dublin. Michael Cronin is 1776 Professor of French at Trinity College Dublin.

Review :
It is not possible to do full justice to this pioneering collection of essays on Proust’s influence on contemporary Irish writers from the 1920s to the beginning of the twenty-first century, and to a most penetrating exploration of the Irish dimension of Proust’s own writings. The chapters that examine the penetration of Proust’s work in Ireland and the echoes of Irish history and culture in Proust’s novels represent a major contribution towards a better understanding of the close and often intriguing literary relationship between France and Ireland. The editors have done a splendid job marshalling an Irish expedition to Proust's France, returning from the raiding party with rare and precious booty. These essays provide a cornucopia of subtle and scintillating crossings between Irish and French literary imaginations. A delight to read and relish.