research topics for irish literature

Irish Studies: Literature, Film and Theatre

• Literature: Finding Books and Journals

General databases

Literature specific databases, online resources.

• Film: Finding Books and Journals
• Film: Finding Articles and Film Reviews
• Theatre: Finding Books and Journals
• Theatre: Finding Articles and Reviews
• Citing Sources This link opens in a new window

General databases contain content from a variety of subject areas and publication types.  This will allow you to look at your research from a wide perspective.  

Be sure to use the search refinements each database may offer including:

• document type, and
• source type
• ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window ProQuest Central is a large, multidisciplinary database with over 11,000 titles, with over 8,000 titles in full-text. It serves as the central resource for researchers at all levels in all markets. Over 160 subjects areas are covered extensively in this product including business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences and more.
• Credo Reference This link opens in a new window Online collection of dictionaries, encyclopedias, biographical sources, quotations, bilingual dictionaries, and measurement conversions covering topics from the arts to the sciences.
• JSTOR This link opens in a new window JSTOR provides access to scholarly journals, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. In addition to journal articles, users can access book chapters, ebooks, and primary source documents.

• Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window Dissertations and Theses Global contains indexes, dissertations and some theses. Full-text is available for many dissertations and theses, including those from NYU.
• Google Scholar This link opens in a new window Google Scholar is a central search for scholarly literature. It covers disciplines and sources, peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.
• Biography in Context This link opens in a new window Online biographical reference database in the fields of literature, science, business, entertainment, politics, sports, history, current events and the arts.Biographical information on over one million people throughout history, around the world.
• Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window Provides full-text access to dictionaries, language reference, Islamic studies and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.

Unlike the general databases, subject-specific databases generally focus solely on journal articles as a publication type and do not have a broad, multidisciplinary approach.  

This is a brief list of some of the many databases that would be useful in the study of Irish and Anglo-Irish Literature:

• Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window Literature Resource Center offers biographical and other background information for research on literary topics, authors, and their works. Its coverage includes all genres and disciplines, all time periods, and all regions of the world. Literature Resource Center's content comes from the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism, and more, including full text of selected poems, plays, and short stories.
• Arts & Humanities Database This link opens in a new window Arts & Humanities Database features hundreds of titles covering Art, Architecture, Design, History, Philosophy, Music, Literature, Theatre and Cultural Studies.
• Humanities Source This link opens in a new window Humanities Source includes full text access to journals. It combines various Humanities related databases, including the American Humanities Index.
• Literature Criticism Online This link opens in a new window Literature Criticism Online includes the contents of several multidisciplinary series, including Contemporary Literary Criticism and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. The collection includes biographical essays and selected literary criticism for authors from the classical period to the present day.
• Periodicals Index Online This link opens in a new window Indexes millions of articles published in over 4,250 periodicals in the humanities and social sciences across more than 300 years.
• Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive (TLS) This link opens in a new window The Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive contains every page of every copy of the Times Literary Supplement (TLS) published from 1902 to 2011. The database is searchable by author or contributor; the identities of the contributors to the TLS who were published anonymously until 1974 are disclosed for the first time and augmented by biographical sketches.
• British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window Includes 10,000 pages of diaries and letters revealing the experiences of approximately 500 women. The collection now includes primary materials spanning more than 300 years. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database.
• Irish Women Poets of the Romantic Period This link opens in a new window Irish Women Poets of the Romantic Period includes searchable full text and page images for volumes of poetry by approximately 50 Irish women writing between 1768 and 1842. The collection also offers numerous biographical and critical essays prepared by leading scholars
• Women Writers Online This link opens in a new window Women Writers Online is a full-text collection of early women’s writing in English, published by the Women Writers Project at Northeastern University. It includes full transcriptions of texts published between 1526 and 1850, focusing on materials that are rare or inaccessible.
• MEMSO: Medieval and Early Modern Sources Online This link opens in a new window MEMSO is a resource for the study of Britain and its place in the world during the medieval and early modern period (c. 1100-1800). It combines the key printed sources for English, Irish, Scottish and Colonial history with original manuscripts and the latest web technologies.
• Cambridge Companions Online This link opens in a new window Cambridge Companions are lively, accessible introductions to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics and periods. All are collections of specially commissioned essays, shaped and introduced to appeal to student readers. Together the chapters add up to a systematic critical account of, for example Plato, Luther, Jane Austen, Tom Stoppard or Stravinsky, the French Novel or Jewish American Literature, and each title is supported by reference features such as a chronology and guide to further reading.
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window Eighteenth Century Collections Online provides access to facsimile page images and full text of works published in the British Isles (plus some from North America) during the 18th century. The collection includes books, pamphlets, and broadsides. Users can search within texts keyword and download them as PDFs.
• Nineteenth Century Collections Online (Gale) This link opens in a new window Nineteenth Century Collections Online is a multi-year global digitization and publishing program focusing on primary source collections of the nineteenth century, with archives releasing incrementally. ** The database includes the collections Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange; British Politics & Society; British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture; Children's Literature and Childhood; Europe and Africa: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization, and Conquest; European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection; Mapping the World: Maps and Travel Literature; Photography: The World Through the Lens; Religion, Society, Spirituality, and Reform; Science, Technology, and Medicine: 1780-1925, Parts I and II; And Women: Transnational Networks. **
• CELT - Corpus of Electronic Texts To bring the wealth of Irish literary and historical culture (in Irish, Latin, Anglo-Norman French, and English) to the Internet in a rigorously scholarly and user-friendly project for the widest possible range of readers and researchers. CELT (the Corpus of Electronic Texts) caters for academic scholars, teachers, students, all over the world. Texts are accompanied by introductions, background information, graphics, translations where possible, and scholarly bibliographies.
• Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg offers over 36,000 free ebooks to download to your PC, Kindle, Android, iOS or other portable device. Search for Irish authors / Irish Literature to see what is freely available to you.
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• Last Updated: Apr 25, 2024 3:53 PM
• URL: https://guides.nyu.edu/irish-arts

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The Oxford Companion To Irish Literature

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The literature of Ireland displays an exceptional richness and diversity - whether in Irish or English, by native Irish and Anglo-Irish writers or by outsiders like Edmund Spenser whose works were deeply imbued with the country in which he lived and wrote. In over 2,000 entries, the Companion to Irish Literature surveys the Irish literary landscape across some sixteen centuries, describing its features and landmarks. Entries range from ogam writing, developed in the 4th century, to the fiction, poetry, and drama of the l990s; and from Cú Chulainn to James Joyce. There are accounts of authors as early as Adomnán, 7th century Abbot of Iona, up to contemporary writers such as Roddy Doyle, Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney, and Edna O'Brien. Individual entries are provided for all major works, from Táin Bó Cuailnge - the Ulster saga reflecting the Celtic Iron Age - to Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent, Ó Cadhain's Cré na Cille, and Banville's The Book of Evidence. The Companion also illuminates the historical contexts of these writers, and the events which sometimes directly inspired them - the Famine of 1845-8, which provided a theme for novelists, poets, and memoirists from William Carleton to Patrick Kavanagh and Peadar Ó Laoghaire; the founding of the Abbey Theatre and its impact on playwrights such as J. M. Synge and Padraic Colum; the Easter Rising that stirred Yeats to the `terrible beauty' of `Easter 1916'. It offers a wealth of information on general topics, ranging from the stage Irishman to Catholicism, Protestantism, the Irish language, and university education in Ireland; and on genres such as annals, bardic poetry, and folksong. The majority of entries include a succinct bibliography, and the volume also provides a chronology and maps.

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Irish Studies Research Guide

• Background Information
• Finding Articles
• Finding Books
• Websites and Selected Resources
• Professional Organizations
• Citing Sources - APA

[email protected]

Irish Studies: A Research Guide Overview

This guide has been designed to assist students pursuing research and exploration of topics in Irish Studies through minors, study abroad programs and individual course work. This guide is also meant to provide faculty with a resource to aid in the pursuit of teaching and guiding students through the critical and important questions of these disciplines. 

Irish Studies: Encyclopedias, Handbooks, and Guides

The New Irish Studies

This collection tracks how Irish writers have represented the peace and reconciliation process in Northern Ireland, the consequences of the Celtic Tiger economic boom in the Republic, the waning influence of Catholicism, the increased authority of diverse voices, and an altered relationship with Europe. The essays acknowledge the distinctiveness of contemporary Irish literature, reflecting a sense that the local can shed light on the global, even as they reach beyond the limited tropes that have long identified Irish literature.

Irish Literature in Transition: 1980-2020

Irish Literature in Transition, 1980-2020 elucidates the central features of Irish literature during the twentieth century's long turn, covering its significant trends and formations, reassessing its major writers and texts, and providing path-making accounts of its emergent figures. Over the past forty years, life in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland has been transformed by new material conditions in each polity and by ideological shifts in the way people understand themselves and their relation to the world.

Routledge International Handbook of Irish Studies

A fully interdisciplinary exploration of Irish Studies' development since the end of the Celtic Tiger (contributors include scholars from literary studies, history, sports studies, performance studies, music studies, language studies, politics, economics, media studies, art and visual culture, gender studies, and more) Includes essays from scholars and practitioners in Ireland, the US, and the UK Includes several essays that consider Irish studies in relation to ecological crisis, including the global pandemic Includes essays from both emerging and well-established scholars Addresses intersections between Irish studies and diverse theoretical frameworks, including queer theory, ecocriticism, critical race studies, feminist theory, disability studies, postcolonial theory, and queer theory.

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Irish Literature: An Overview

2008, The Rough Guide to Ireland (Ninth Edition), edited by Paul Gray and Geoff Wallis, (London: Rough Guides Ltd., 2008), pp. 716-731.

This article provides an overview of 2000 years of Irish literature, in both the Irish language (Gaelic) and English. Writers considered include Thomas Moore, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Máirtín Ó Direáin, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Seán Ó Ríordáin, Sean O'Casey, Seamus Heaney and John Banville.

Related Papers

Estudios Irlandeses

Yulia Pushkarevskaya Naughton

""Professor Declan Kiberd is Chair of Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama at University College Dublin, where he has taught for many years after having taught at the University of Kent at Canterbury and Trinity College Dublin. He is a director of the Abbey Theatre. He has been Parnell Fellow at Magdalene College Cambridge, and a visiting professor at Duke University and the Sorbonne. He has also been Director of the Yeats International Summer School (1985-7), Patron of the Dublin Shaw Society (1995-2000), a columnist with The Irish Times (1985-7) and The Irish Press (1987-93), the presenter of the RTÉ Arts programme, Exhibit A (1984-6), and a regular essayist and reviewer in The Irish Times, TLS, London Review of Books and The New York Times. Professor Kiberd is the author of many books including his seminal Inventing Ireland: The Literature of the Modern Nation (1995), Irish Classics (2000), and The Irish Writer and the World (2005), as well as Ulysses and Us, published just this year, and he was also the editor of the Penguin edition of the Annotated Students’ Ulysses (1992). He is one of the most important voices in Irish Studies. Beyond that, he is also a prominent public intellectual, and he continues to be an inspirational figure for generations of students. In this interview, we discussed the relevance of the comparative approach to Irish Studies and the future of Comparative Literature in Ireland and worldwide. Key Words. Declan Kiberd, Comparative Literature (also Comp. Lit.), world literature, exile, children’s literature, postcolonial literature, Irish literature, James Joyce’s Ulysses.""

Postcolonial Text

Katrin Urschel

Charlotte McIvor

Logos: a journal of modern culture and society

Barry McCrea

he undiminished impact of Joyce in world literature, as well as the great critical and commercial popularity of contemporary Irish fiction, can blind us to the fact that the novel has an uneasy place in the Irish literary tradition. For more than a century, Irish fiction has enjoyed popularity and esteem on the world literary stage out of all proportion to the size of the country's population. But whereas in poetry and drama one can easily discern relationships and lineages amongst Irish writers, and identify shared concerns, influences, and practices shaping their work, it is very difficult to describe the contours of "the Irish novel" or to account, collectively, for its success. There is very little, on the surface, to connect the linguistic experimentation of Anna Burns' Milkman, the satirical comedy of Claire Kilroy or Paul Murray, the unadorned, quasi-didactic prose of Sally Rooney, and the vernacular flights of Patrick McCabe. It is harder still to perceive a clear connection between contemporary Irish novelists and their pioneering forebears in the twentieth century. Moreover, while Irish novels continue to win prizes and acclaim, and abroad Ireland is viewed as a veritable fiction factory, in the Irish popular imagination at home, in a way unimaginable in France, England, the United States, or Italy, the emblematic image of "the writer" has stubbornly remained (or at least did until very recently) that of a poet or a playwright rather than a novelist.

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Articles on Irish literature

Displaying all articles.

With The Pogues, Shane MacGowan perhaps proved himself the most important Irish writer since James Joyce

Alexander Howard , University of Sydney

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch: Booker prize-winning novel is a distinctly Irish tale of civic and ideological collapse

Eve Patten , Trinity College Dublin

Paul Lynch wins Booker prize 2023: why we’re in a ‘golden age’ of Irish writing

Orlaith Darling , Trinity College Dublin

Anne Enright’s bold new novel The Wren, The Wren is the work of a writer at the height of her power

Georgia Phillips , University of Adelaide

My favourite fictional character: the crazed, compelling voice of William Trevor’s 40something photographer Ivy Eckdorf

Carol Lefevre , University of Adelaide

Guide to the Classics: Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, a tragicomedy for our times

Mark Byron , University of Sydney

Artistic works inspired by the Great Famine struggle to do it justice, but they keep the memory alive

Emily Mark-FitzGerald , University College Dublin

Lucia Joyce: on Bloomsday, consider this real-life character’s enduring and mysterious appeal

Helen Saunders , King's College London

Friday essay: the wonder of Joyce’s Ulysses

SF McLaren , Western Sydney University

Related Topics

• Booker Prize
• Booker Prize 2023
• British history
• Give me perspective
• Irish writing
• James Joyce

Top contributors

Professor, University of Sydney

Author: Reframing A Portrait of the Artist: Joyce and the phenomenological imagination, Western Sydney University

PhD candidate, King's College London

Associate Professor in the School of Art History and Cultural Policy, University College Dublin

Visiting Research Fellow, Department of English and Creative Writing, University of Adelaide

Lecturer, Creative Writing, University of Adelaide

PhD Candidate, Contemporary English Literature and Critical Theory, Trinity College Dublin

Professor of English, Trinity College Dublin

Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney

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University libraries, research guides, literary research: strategies and sources: irish literature.

• Literary Research Series
• British Romantic Era
• American Nationalism and Romanticism
• American Modernist Era
• American Realism and Naturalism
• Irish Literature
• Australia and New Zealand
• British Modernism
• British Renaissance/Early Modern
• Canadian Literature
• Victorian and Edwardian Ages
• Postcolonial Literatures in English
• British Eighteenth Century
• British Postmodernism

Table of Contents

Chapter 2: General Literary Reference Resources

Chapter 3: Library Catalogs

Chapter 4:    Print and Electronic Bibliographies, Indexes, and Annual Reviews

Chapter 5: Scholarly Journals

Chapter 6: periodicals, newspapers and reviews.

Chapter 7:  Microform and Digital Collections

Chapter 8: Manuscripts and Archives

Chapter 9: web sources, chapter 2: general literary reference sources.

Research Guides:

• Literary Research Guide

General Irish Literature Encyclopedias and Companions:

• The Cambridge Companion to Modern Irish Culture
• The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature

Genre Irish Literature Encyclopedias and Companions:

• The Cambridge Companion to Contemporary Irish Poetry
• The Cambridge Companion to the Irish Novel
• The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century Irish Drama

Biographical Sources:

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Union Catalogs:

National Library Catalogs:

• British Library Integrated Catalogue
• Library of Congress Online Catalog
• National Library of Ireland Online Catalogues
• Trinity College Library Online Catalogue

Chapter 4: Print and Electronic Bibliographies, Indexes, and Annual Reviews

General Literature Bibliographies:

• Project Muse
• Year's Work in English Studies

Irish Literature Journals:

• An Sionnach: A Journal of Literature, Culture, and the Arts
• Australian Journal of Irish Studies
• Canadian Journal of Irish Studies
• Dublin Review
• Eigse: A Journal of Irish Studies
• Estudios Irlandeses
• Etudes Irlandaises
• Field Day Review
• Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies
• Irish Review
• Irish Studies Review
• New Hibernia Review
• Nordic Irish Studies

Author-Specific Journals:

• Hypermedia Joyce Studies: An Electronic Journal of James Joyce
• James Joyce Quarterly
• Journal of Beckett Studies

General Literature Journals:

• boundary 2: An International Journal of Literature and Culture
• Comparative Literature Studies
• Essays in Criticism: A Quarterly Journal of Literary Criticism
• MLQ: Modern Language Quarterly
• Modern Language Review
• New Literary History
• Review of English Studies
• SEL: Studies in English Literature
• Women's Writing

Identifying Periodicals and Newspapers:

• Center for Research Libraries
• Copac Academic and National Library Catalogue
• Irish Newspaper Archives
• Newsplan Report of the Newsplan Project

Finding Articles and Reviews:

• Book Review Index
• Poole's Index to Periodical Literature
• Periodicals Archive Online
• Periodicals Index Online

Chapter 7: Microform and Digital Collections

Finding Microform and Digitized Collections:

• Bibliographies and Guides
• CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
• A Guide to Microform Research Collections in the Humanities and Social Sciences Division of the Library of Congress

Microform and Digitized Collections:

• Act of Union Virtual Library: A Digital Resource for the Act of Union of 1800
• Early British Periodicals
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online
• Elizabethan Ireland and the Settlement of Ulster: The Carew Papers from Lambeth Palace Library: List of Contents and Index to Reels
• English Literary Periodicals
• Irish Script on Screen
• Early English Books Online
• Project Gutenberg

Locating Relevant Archives and Manuscripts:

Websites for Locating Archives and Manuscript Collections:

• Repositories of Primary Sources
• Archives Ireland
• British Library Manuscripts Catalogue
• DocumentsOnline
• Irish Literary Collections Portal
• The National Archives
• The National Archives Catalogue
• The National Archives of Ireland
• National Library of Ireland
• National Register of Archives

Scholarly Gateways:

• Ireland: Language and Literature
• Voice of the Shuttle: Gaelic and Celtic
• Voice of the Shuttle: Ireland
• IRITH: Irish Resources in the Humanities
• British and Irish Literature

Electronic Text Archives:

• Bartleby.com
• Renascence Editions: An Online Repository of Works Printed in English Between the Years 1477-1799
• Bibliomania
• Cuala Press Broadside Collection
• Oxford Text Archive
• Irish Literary Sources and Resources

Author Sites:

• The Belfast Group
• Irish Writers Online
• Paul Muldoon
• The Oscholars

Current Awareness Resources:

• American Conference for Irish Studies
• British Association for Irish Studies
• International Association for the Study of Irish Literature

Reference Tools:

• National Archives
• National Library of Ireland Online Catalogue
• National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections
• Queen's University's Belfast Library
• Trinity College Library Dublin Online Catalog

Cultural and Historical Resources:

• Culture Ireland
• Irishdiaspora.net
• Literature of the 'Troubles'
• Bibliography of Nineteenth Century Irish Literature

Book Information

Volume Description, Reviews, and About the Authors

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Literature in english.

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• Book Reviews
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• Eighteenth Century
• Irish Literature in English

Digitized Irish Literature in English

Dictionaries and reference, articles and databases, related library research guides.

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• The Faber Poetry Library (Chadwyck-Healey) A collection of some of the most influential poets of the twentieth century. The Faber list spans the seventy-year history of this major publishing house, and includes the poetry of Thom Gunn, Siegfried Sassoon, T.S. Eliot, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Wendy Cope and Seamus Heaney. In total The Faber Poetry Library contains 140 volumes by 50 poets.
• Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) This link opens in a new window Index of publications covering the history of the British Isles, the British Empire and Commonwealth from 55BC to present; the successor of the Royal Historical Society Bibliography of British and Irish History. (Brepols) [1900 - present] more... less... Lists books, articles in books, articles in some 700 journals; covers historical writing dealing with the British Isles, and with the British Empire and Commonwealth, during all periods for which written documentation is available - from 55BC to the present. It is the successor to the Royal Historical Society Bibliography of British and Irish History, available online from 2002 to 2009. To access database, click on Enter databases, then click on Bibliography of British and Irish History.
• English Drama (Chadwyck-Healey) A unique collection of more than 3,900 plays in verse and prose tracing the development of drama in English from the medieval mystery cycles to the comedies of Oscar Wilde.
• Twentieth-Century English Poetry (Chadwyck-Healey) A collection of more than 600 volumes of poetry by 283 poets from 1900 to the present day, including W.B. Yeats, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, Wilfred Owen, Thom Gunn, Fleur Adcock, Paul Muldoon, Tony Harrison, Benjamin Zephaniah and Carol Ann Duffy, and incorporating the poets in The Faber Poetry Library.
• Nineteenth Century Fiction (Chadwyck-Healey) A collection of 250 British and Irish novels from the period 1782 to 1903, stretching from the golden age of Gothic fiction to the Decadent and New Woman novels of the 1890s. Major novelists of the period such as Austen, Scott, Mary Shelley, Dickens, Eliot, Hardy and the Brontës feature alongside popular romances, sensation fiction, colonial adventure novels and children's literature.
• British and Irish History Research Guide Find the best databases, resources, and primary texts related to the history of the UK and Ireland. Created by the UC Berkeley history librarian.

Image in banner: Cliffs of Moher  by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen under CC BY-SA 3.0. Image has been cropped, brightened, and remixed.

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Topics in Irish Lit:

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• Spring 2024

SAME AS ENGL-UA 0761.

This course will conduct an intensive examination of Samuel Beckett's career, reading closely his poetry, novels, letters, essays, and dramatic works against the literary, philosophical, political and historical contexts in which they were written and received. Along the way we will consider how attempts to define Beckett -- as Irish, as French, as Modernist, Existentialist, Post-modernist, humanist, and nihilist -- have all fallen short of his unique blend of tragic and comic genius.

Emphasis varies by semester; designed to allow flexibility in course offerings from visiting scholars and specialists in particular fields. Past examinations have included contemporary Irish fiction and poetry, Irish women writers, and Northern Irish poetry.

Course Information

IRISH-UA 761

Undergraduate

Spring 2022

John p waters.

INT 204: Ireland: Research Topic Ideas for Ireland

• Research Project
• Research Topic Ideas for Ireland
• Tips for Searching the Web
• Center for Reading and Writing
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• Birds of Ireland

Ireland Research Topic Ideas

Here are some research topic ideas. .

Many of these require narrowing or expanding to create an eight-page paper and a presentation, but are a start to get you thinking. 

Think about answering the "reporter's questions" for your topic: who, what, when, where, how, why and how much . 

For help with your paper and presentation, contact the SUNY Adirondack Center for Reading and Writing , run by the English Division faculty. They can advise you on your drafts and offer input about your presentation. Visit them in person, set up an appointment or use the online tutoring service. 

We've tried to provide topics below that might interest business, psychology, anthropology, culinary arts, creative writing and other majors. In some cases, we added links to give you a bit more information about the topic.

If prompted, log in to a library database with your college username and password.   

• Start Your Research Here box: Beer AND Ireland
• Statista: Beer AND Ireland
• Wikipedia: Beer in Ireland  - use sources in footnotes:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Ireland .   
• Start Your Research Here box: Brexit AND "Northern Ireland" AND Ireland (limited to 2021-2024)
• Statista   Brexit AND "Northern Ireland" AND Ireland  
• Start Your Research Here box:  "Irish language" OR "Gaelic language"
• Statista: "Irish language"  
• Pronunciation Guide: https://cursai.bitesize.irish/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/3.Pronunciation-Cheat-Sheets.pdf.  
• Start Your Research Here box:    Cultural identity AND Ireland OR Irish  
• CIA World Factbook:   Ireland - The World Factbook (cia.gov)  and https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-kingdom/  
• Start Your Research Here box:   Ireland AND Folklore
• Website: Irish folklore and site:edu:  https://hraf.yale.edu/luck-of-the-irish-folklore-and-fairies-in-rural-ireland /.
• Gale eBooks (encyclopedias):  leprechauns OR fairies OR selkies OR banshees AND ireland  
• Start Your Research Here box: 
• "health care" AND Ireland    
• Websites: Irish National Archives: Genealogy website
• Website: Library of Congress:  https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/irish/adaptation-and-assimilation/
• Website: Library of Congress:  https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/irish/irish-catholic-immigration-to-america/  
• Website: Ellis Island:  https://www.statueofliberty.org/ellis-island/overview-history/ .
• Start Your Research Here box:  Ireland and migration
• Statista: Ireland AND migration  
• Website: UNESCO: Giant's Causeway:  https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/369/ . 
• Website - National Trust: Giant's Causeway
• Start Your Research Here box:  Ireland AND geolog*
• Website: Ireland Geological Survey map:  https://www.gsi.ie/en-ie/geoscience-topics/geology/Pages/Geology-of-Ireland.aspx . 
• Website; Ireland Geological Survey: Volcanoes in Ireland .  
• "Oral tradition" AND storytelling AND ireland  
• Ireland - The World Factbook (cia.gov) ). and https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-kingdom/ )
• BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/northern_ireland/northern_ireland_politics.   
• Start Your Research Here box:   Irish literature
• Gale Literature Resource Center: Irish literature, Modern  (or, search for a specific author in this database)  
• Irish immigration
• Ireland AND "potato famine"    
• Start Your Research Here box: Ireland and Troubles
• Ballard Brief from BYU:  https://ballardbrief.byu.edu/issue-briefs/troubles-in-northern-ireland.  
• What is the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement? ( Good Friday Agreement: What is it? (bbc.com) ) 

OTHER TOPICS: 

• History and significance of whiskey in Ireland - what is the role of whiskey in Irish history? Why is it famous?  What kinds of Irish whiskey are there? How are they made? Which brands are considered to be the highest quality?   
• Book of Kells - what is it and where did it come from? Where is it located and why? What's the significance of the Book of Kells? When was it created? What is it made of, and why?   
• Celts - who were they, where did they come from, and what did they contribute to Irish history?   
• Traditional Irish step dancing - how did it develop and what is its cultural significance? Why don't they move their arms when dancing? Maybe teach us a few steps!   
• Irish travelers - According to the CIA's  World Factbook , Irish Travelers are 0.7% of the Irish population. Who are they? How did they originate? What do they do? Are they related to the Roma (Romany) people?  
• Effect of Brexit on Northern Ireland/Ireland trade ( Northern Ireland Brexit deal: At-a-glance (bbc.com) ; about Northern Ireland goods going into Ireland, which is in the EU). What problems does it cause? What are the currency differences between the two countries?   
• Irish cuisine - history of specific famous Irish foods we might be trying, like soda bread, corned beef, etc.   
• St. Patrick - what do we know of the actual person, and what was his significance in Irish history? Where was he from? Was he ever officially made a saint in the Catholic Church? Did he actually drive the snakes out of Ireland?   
• Irish tourism - who visits and why? What is the role of tourism in the Irish economy? What are the main reasons people visit Ireland, and why? How is tourism promoted in and outside of Ireland? How is Ireland perceived by the rest of the world?   
• Major exports of Ireland - What does Ireland make and sell to other countries? What do they import from other countries? How do Ireland's natural resources and location affect what is imported and exported? ( ( Ireland - The World Factbook (cia.gov) ).)  
• Comparison of Irish income/GINI coefficient and U.S. income, standard of living. What accounts for the differences and similarities between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States?  ( Ireland - The World Factbook (cia.gov) ).  
• Alcohol and tobacco consumption in Ireland - what is the role of these in Irish society? Is alcoholism a problem in Ireland, and if so, why? Do lots of people smoke in Ireland? Are there campaigns to lessen smoking in Ireland? What about other drug addiction rates in Ireland?   
• History of specific Irish musical instruments - how did they develop? What do they look and sound like? (https://scalar.usc.edu/works/music-in-global-america/traditional-music-and-folk-music-of-ireland.)  
• Celtic music - how did it develop and what does it sound like? ( Music of Ireland - Celtic Music Recordings and Collections at the Archives of Traditional Music - Library Research Guides at Indiana University )  
• Role of religion in the Irish economy, past and present - how many people are practicing Catholics and Protestants? What role does religion historically play in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and what caused these conflicts?   
• History of Irish lace (or a specific type/style)  
• History of Aran Sweaters (fishermen's sweaters or "jumpers") - How did they originate? Did men do the knitting too? What type of wool is used? What types of stitches are typical for Aran sweaters, and why? (In British English, sweaters are called "jumpers.")
• Irish adolescents - do teens in Ireland have similar rates of anxiety and depression as the United States? How do they differ or are they similar, and why?   
• Red hair - Why do some Irish people have red hair? Where did those genes originate? What are the pros and cons of having naturally red hair? In the library databases, you could try searching for  "hair color" AND Ireland OR Celts  or "red hair" AND genetic*.   
• Wildlife of Ireland and why there are no snakes ( https://a-z-animals.com/animals/location/europe/ireland/ ,  List of reptiles of Ireland - Wikipedia  and  Why Doesn’t Ireland Have Snakes? | Popular Science (popsci.com) ).  
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• Next: Tips for Searching the Web >>
• Last Updated: Apr 3, 2024 12:26 PM
• URL: https://library.sunyacc.edu/ireland

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Irish English literature Irish literature'

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Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.

Reimer, Eric J. "'My passport's green' : Irishness in the new world order /." view abstract or download file of text, 2002. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p3055706.

Stubbs, Tara M. C. "'Irish by descent' : Marianne Moore, Irish writers and the American-Irish Inheritance." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2008. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:bf87b5ea-4baa-4a46-9509-2c59e738e2a1.

Corr, Christopher Joseph. "English literary culture and the Irish literary revival : the provenance of the aesthetic of modern Irish literature in English, 1865-1900." Thesis, University of Ulster, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.260997.

Oehling, Richard. "Contemporary Irish Fiction: Lavin and Trevor." W&M ScholarWorks, 1985. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539625307.

McMullen, Albert Joseph. "Echoes of Early Irish Influence in Anglo-Saxon Literary Landscapes." Thesis, Harvard University, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:17467346.

Beckett, Colm. "A study of Robert S. McAdam's manuscript English - Irish dictionary." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.282118.

Campbell, Alexandra. "Archipelagic poetics : ecology in modern Scottish and Irish poetry." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2018. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/9102/.

Williams, Justine Isabella. "The Irish plays of James Shirley, 1636-1640." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2010. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/3933/.

Jackson, Ellen-Raïssa. "Cultural identity in contemporary Scottish and Irish writing." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1999. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2548/.

Harvey, Alison Dean. "Irish realism women, the novel, and national politics,1870-1922 /." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2007. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1417800181&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

Nichols, K. Madolyn. "The women who leave : Irish women writing on emigration." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2014. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/66161/.

Gordon, Vanessa Jane. "The novels of Flann O'Brien : myth, reality and the Irish context." Thesis, Royal Holloway, University of London, 1985. http://repository.royalholloway.ac.uk/items/bd53e827-cc14-4b53-a68e-3af54b12a1f5/1/.

Tracy, Thomas J. "Comic plots with tragic endings : the British writing of Ireland, 1800-1870 /." view abstract or download file of text, 2002. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p3045097.

Mansouri, Shahriyar. "The modern Irish Bildungsroman : a narrative of resistance and deformation." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2014. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5495/.

Barrett, Christine. "Navigating Time: Cartographic Narratives in Early Modern English Literature." Thesis, Harvard University, 2012. http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:10320.

Maxedon, Tom. "A course portfolio, what is "Irishness?" : surveying Ireland's struggle to define a unified national identity, depicted in the country's literature from 1801-present." Virtual Press, 1996. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1027119.

Neely, Sarah. "Adapting to change in contemporary Irish and Scottish culture : fiction to film." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2003. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/7486/.

Starr, Robert. "'Nailed to the rolls of honour, crucified' : Irish literary responses to the Great War." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2017. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/108220/.

Moss, Rhiannon Sarah. "Irish modernism in an international frame : Thomas MacGreevy, Sean O'Faolain and Samuel Beckett in the 1930s." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2009. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/1592.

Harris, Susan C. "Bodies and blood : gender and sacrifice in modern Irish drama /." Digital version accessible at:, 1998. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/fullcit?p9837975.

Bender, Jacob. "Latin labyrinths, Celtic knots: modernism and the dead in Irish and Latin American literature." Diss., University of Iowa, 2017. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/5714.

Mitchell, Brendan. "'Out of the quarrel with others' : the conflict between self and community in modern Irish writing." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2015. http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/2052039/.

Tann, Donovan Eugene. "Spaces of Religious Retreat in Seventeenth-Century English Literature and Culture." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2014. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/277961.

Wise, Mary Allison. "Tracing the Material: Spaces and Objects in British and Irish Modernist Novels." Scholar Commons, 2016. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6438.

Goss, Sarah Judith. "The agony of consciousness : history and memory in nineteenth-century Irish gothic novels /." view abstract or download file of text, 2003. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p3102166.

Valley, Leslie Ann. "Replacing the Priest: Tradition, Politics, and Religion in Early Modern Irish Drama." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2009. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1856.

Balinisteanu, Mihai Tudor. "Narrative, social myth and reality in contemporary Scottish and Irish women's writing : Kennedy, Lochhead, Bourke, Ni Dhuibhne and Carr." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2007. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6273/.

MacQuarrie, Charles William. "The waves of Manannán : a study of the literary representations of Manannán mac Lir from Immram Brain (c. 700) to Finnegans Wake (1939) /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/9348.

Dunbar, Siobhan Mary. "(Un)silencing the voices of the country girls: A journey into twentieth-century Irish girlhood through the fiction of Edna O'Brien." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/27977.

Kielstra, Julia Paulman. "Subterranean adventures : attitudes toward the land as influenced by the sciences in selected English, Irish, and American gothic novels 1789-1911." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.389761.

Jones, Mary-Ellen. "It's an Irish Lullaby: One Story of Hyphenated American Culture." VCU Scholars Compass, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10156/1911.

Macbeth, Georgia School of Theatre Film &amp Dance UNSW. "A Plurality of Identities: Ulster Protestantism in Contemporary Northern Irish Drama." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Theatre, Film and Dance, 1999. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/33257.

Eakin, Sarah E. "The Synthesis of Anglo-Saxon and Christian Traditions in the Old English JUDITH ." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1386941516.

Breen, Mary Catherine. "The making and unmaking of an Irish woman of letters." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2012. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:83af4e95-c26a-4bf2-a319-bb2a1240c55d.

Hopper, Keith. "Imagining otherwise : Neil Jordan's counter-narratives." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.669873.

Bennett, Sarah. "The American contexts of Irish poetry, 1950-present." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.669957.

Brunette, Vinicius Cherobino. "Do narrar à beira da morte: uma leitura crítica de Malone Dies, de Samuel Beckett." Universidade de São Paulo, 2018. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8147/tde-25022019-105502/.

Swanson, Michael David. ""The Vehicle of Delight and Morality": Humor and Sentiment in the Plays of John O'Keeffe as a Reflection of Late Eighteenth-Century English Theatrical Comedy." The Ohio State University, 1991. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1382014382.

Cardwell, Emily Marie. ""To Dissolve the Barbarous Spell": The Significance of Female Education in Eighteenth-Century English Literature." Ashland University Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=auhonors1493719150574665.

Sheridan, Louise. "A comparative analysis of issues of migration, hybridity and diaspora in Irish diasporic literary and oral narratives." Thesis, University of Northampton, 2011. http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/8882/.

Wilson, Mary Elizabeth. "On the threshold placing servants in modernist domesticity /." Amherst, Mass. : University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. http://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations/56/.

Yun, Hunam. "Appropriations of Irish drama by modern Korean nationalist theatre : a focus on the influence of Sean O’Casey in a colonial context." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2010. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/34647/.

Hodson, Katrin C. "The Plight of the Englishman: The Hazards of Colonization Addressed in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels ." Wittenberg University Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wuhonors1617896210333106.

Pryce, Alexandra Rhoanne. "Selective traditions : feminism and the poetry of Colette Bryce, Leontia Flynn and Sinead Morrissey." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3cff3422-3046-48d1-b765-05a815963ecd.

Tolen, Heather Lorene. "Resurrecting Speranza : Lady Jane Wilde as the Celtic Sovereignty /." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2008. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2700.pdf.

Tivnan, Shannon. "Domestic Spaces in Transition: Modern Representations of Dwelling in the Texts of Elizabeth Bowen." Scholar Commons, 2015. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5787.

Pettersson, Jacob. "The Portrayal of the Irish English Accent in Critical Role : From Mollymauk to Lucien, from Taliesin Jaffe to Matthew Mercer." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Institutionen för språk, litteratur och lärande, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-37729.

Hanan, Rachel Ann 1978. "Words in the world: The place of literature in Early Modern England." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/11156.

Hutton-Williams, Francis Brent. "Irish cultural politics, Thomas McGreevy and the Avant-Garde, 1922-1941." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:c6fbe4ba-3908-4e45-a012-00fa766cd1eb.

Unterborn, Kelly R. "Negative Representation and the Germination of English Identity in Medieval and Early Modern Travel Narratives." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1607713565270697.

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Joe cleary appointed john m. schiff professor of english.

Joe Cleary, one of Ireland’s most distinguished literary critics, was recently appointed the John M. Schiff Professor of English, effective immediately.

He is a member of Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) in the Department of English.

Cleary is well-known for his ambitious and groundbreaking work on wide-ranging topics that include Irish modernism, literary theory, national literatures and partition, modernist world literatures, and postcolonial literatures.

His most recent books are “Modernism, Empire, World Literature” (2021) and “The Irish Expatriate Novel in Late Capitalist Globalization” (2021). “Modernism, Empire, World Literature” examines how Irish and American writers transformed the London- and Paris-centered world literary system in the period after World War I. “The Irish Expatriate Novel in Late Capitalist Globalization” examines how Irish writers have engaged with the wider world beyond Ireland in the post-Cold War era in the contexts of a shift of the center of gravity of the Anglophone world literary system from England to the United States and the contemporary rise of China. The book was awarded the American Conference for Irish Studies Robert Rhodes prize for books on Irish Literature in 2022. Earlier, Cleary wrote on national literatures and partition in “Literature, Partition and the Nation-State: Culture and Conflict in Ireland, Israel and Palestine” (2002) and on 19th- and 20th-century Irish literary, cinematic, and music cultures in “Outrageous Fortune: Capital and Culture in Modern Ireland” (2007).

His edited volumes include “The Cambridge Companion to Irish Modernism” (2014), “The Cambridge Companion to Modern Irish Culture” (2005), and three special issues of journals. Cleary is currently working on a new volume on the transformation of modern Irish culture, tentatively titled “Six Revolutions: Modern Irish Culture and Society from the Great Famine to Climate Change.”

Cleary is a distinguished citizen of the university. He has served on the Humanities Division Graduate Studies Doctoral Reform Committee, the Yale College Executive Committee, the Undergraduate Studies Committee, and the Honor and Prizes Committee. In his previous employment at NUI Maynooth, Ireland, he served as acting chair of the Department of English (2006-2007), MA coordinator (2005-06), and director of postgraduate studies in the English Department (2003-2004).

A sought-after speaker on Irish modernism, literature, and culture, Cleary has been an invited speaker at the University of Almeira, Spain; Trinity College Dublin; Maynooth University; Williams College; University of Pennsylvania; University of Kent; St. John’s College, Cambridge, and numerous other institutions. Currently, Cleary serves on editorial boards for the Irish University Review, College English, The Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Literary Critique, and International Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies, and he has served as reader for Yale University Press, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Cork University Press, and Edinburgh University Press.

At Yale, Cleary’s undergraduate and graduate classes include “The Irish Revival and Modernism,” “Novels of Education and Formation,” “The Modernist Novel in the 1920s,” “Modernism, Empire, World Crisis, 1980-1950,” “Irish and Irish-American Modernism,”  “Imperial and Anti-Imperial Writing,” and “Western Marxist and Postcolonial Cultural Theory” He has also mentored dozens of graduate students in English.

He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and a Ph.D. at Columbia University.

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English Literature Research Paper Topics

This guide, centered on English literature research paper topics , serves as a comprehensive resource for students seeking to delve deep into the diverse epochs, authors, and themes that have shaped English literary tradition. Navigating the intricate tapestry of English literature offers scholars a multitude of avenues for exploration. From the mystique of medieval tales to the introspective narratives of modernism, this guide not only provides a plethora of English literature research paper topics but also offers insights on choosing the ideal topic, structuring the research paper, and harnessing the unmatched writing services of iResearchNet. Dive in to unravel the rich heritage of English literature and discover the myriad opportunities it presents for academic exploration.

100 English Literature Research Paper Topics

Diving into English literature is like embarking on a journey through time and culture. From ancient ballads to modernist narratives, it offers a vast panorama of themes, styles, and societal reflections. Below is a comprehensive list of English literature research paper topics spanning across different eras and genres:

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Medieval Literature

• The significance of chivalry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight .
• The Christian and Pagan elements in Beowulf .
• Courtly love in The Knight’s Tale from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales .
• Dream visions in Pearl and Piers Plowman .
• The role of fate and providence in The Consolation of Philosophy .
• The art of storytelling in The Decameron vs. The Canterbury Tales .
• The Seven Deadly Sins in Everyman .
• The evolution of the English language: Old English vs. Middle English.
• Religious allegory in The Second Shepherd’s Play .
• Women and femininity in the Lais of Marie de France .

Renaissance and Elizabethan Age

• Shakespeare’s portrayal of power in Macbeth .
• Love and beauty in Sonnet 18 .
• The idea of the “New World” in The Tempest .
• The virtues in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene .
• Magic and science in Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.
• The pastoral settings of As You Like It .
• The politics of gender in Twelfth Night .
• Revenge and madness in Hamlet .
• John Donne’s metaphysical poetry and its innovation.
• The darker side of the Renaissance: The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster.

The Restoration and the 18th Century

• The satirical world of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels .
• Class struggles in Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders .
• Alexander Pope’s critique of society in The Rape of the Lock .
• Aphra Behn and the emergence of the woman writer.
• The wit and wisdom of Samuel Johnson’s essays.
• The rise of the novel: Richardson vs. Fielding.
• Sentimentality and society in Sterne’s Tristram Shandy .
• Politics and plays: John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera .
• Women, education, and literature: Mary Wollstonecraft’s ideas.
• The mock-heroic in English literature.

Romantic Period

• Nature and transcendence in Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey .
• The Byronic hero in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage .
• Shelley’s Ozymandias and the ephemeral nature of power.
• The Gothic romance of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights .
• George Gordon Lord Byron and the Romantic antihero.
• The visionary world of William Blake’s poems.
• The exotic and the familiar in Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
• Keats’s exploration of beauty and mortality.
• The industrial revolution’s reflection in literature.
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the dangers of ambition.

Victorian Era

• Charles Dickens and his critique of Victorian society.
• The challenges of morality in Thomas Hardy’s novels.
• The bildungsroman in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre .
• The plight of women in George Eliot’s Middlemarch .
• Oscar Wilde’s wit and irony in The Importance of Being Earnest .
• The debate on science and religion in In Memoriam A.H.H by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
• The mystery and suspense of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories.
• The “Woman Question” in Victorian literature.
• The realism of Anthony Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire.
• Gothic elements in Dracula by Bram Stoker.
• The fragmented narrative of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse .
• T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and the disillusionment of the post-war era.
• The struggles of the working class in D.H. Lawrence’s novels.
• The impact of World War I on English poetry.
• James Joyce’s revolutionary narrative techniques in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man .
• E.M. Forster’s exploration of social and racial themes.
• The critique of colonialism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness .
• W.B. Yeats and the Irish literary revival.
• The emergence of the stream-of-consciousness technique.
• The Jazz Age and decadence in the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The Gothic Tradition

• Origins of Gothic fiction: Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto .
• The supernatural and macabre in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
• Ann Radcliffe’s influence on the Gothic novel.
• The role of the Byronic hero in The Vampyre by John Polidori.
• Duality of human nature in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .
• The haunting atmospheres in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.
• Gender and sexuality in Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.
• Edgar Allan Poe’s influence on English Gothic literature.
• Dracula by Bram Stoker: Themes of sexuality and fear of the unknown.
• The Gothic novel as a reflection of societal fears and anxieties.

The Angry Young Men Era

• Social criticism in John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger .
• Exploring masculinity in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe.
• The disillusionment of post-war Britain in The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner .
• The class struggle in Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim .
• Existential themes in John Wain’s Hurry on Down .
• Feminine perspectives in the era: Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey .
• The critique of academia in The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury.
• The Angry Young Men and their influence on modern theater.
• The transformation of British literature in the 1950s and 1960s.
• The lasting legacy of the Angry Young Men movement in contemporary literature.

Postmodern British Literature

• Metafiction in Julian Barnes’s Flaubert’s Parrot .
• The playfulness of language in Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses .
• Intertextuality in Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit .
• The fragmented narrative in Graham Swift’s Waterland .
• Reality and fiction in Ian McEwan’s Atonement .
• Gender and postcolonial themes in Angela Carter’s The Passion of New Eve .
• The exploration of identity in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth .
• The deconstruction of traditional narrative in Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
• Postmodern gothic in The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.
• Magical realism in The Porcelain Doll by Julian Barnes.

Contemporary English Literature

• The multicultural London in Brick Lane by Monica Ali.
• Exploring family dynamics in On Beauty by Zadie Smith.
• The concept of time in Ian McEwan’s Amsterdam .
• The role of history in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall .
• The exploration of love and loss in Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending .
• Postcolonial Britain in Andrea Levy’s Small Island .
• The challenges of modern life in Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity .
• The evolution of the English detective novel: Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories .
• The legacy of the British Empire in The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.
• The digital age and its influence on literature: The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon.

English literature boasts a rich and varied tapestry of themes, periods, and genres. This comprehensive list is a testament to the dynamism and depth of the field, offering a myriad of research avenues for students. As they venture into each topic, they can appreciate the nuances and complexities that have shaped the literary tradition, making it an invaluable component of global culture and heritage.

English Literature and the Range of Topics It Offers

English literature, encompassing the vast historical, cultural, and artistic legacy of writings in the English language, boasts a rich tapestry of narratives, characters, and stylistic innovations. From the earliest Old English epic poems to the reflective and multifaceted postmodern novels, English literature offers an expansive array of topics for analysis, discussion, and research. The depth and breadth of this literary tradition are mirrored by the diverse range of English literature research paper topics it can inspire.

The Medieval Foundation

Diving into the early origins of English literature, we encounter works like Beowulf , an Old English epic poem of heroism, fate, and the struggle against malevolent forces. Medieval English literature, characterized by religious texts, chivalric romances, and philosophical treatises, sets the stage for the evolution of narrative styles and thematic explorations. The rich allegorical narratives, like Piers Plowman or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , present intricate societal and spiritual commentaries that still resonate with readers today. These works invite inquiries into the socio-religious dynamics of medieval England, the evolution of the English language, and the literary techniques employed.

Renaissance and Enlightenment: A Burst of Creativity

The Renaissance and Elizabethan Age saw the emergence of revered playwrights like William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, whose dramas, whether tragedies, comedies, or histories, plumbed the depths of human emotion, politics, and existence. The genius of Shakespeare’s Hamlet or Othello , juxtaposed against Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus , provides a fertile ground for investigating themes of ambition, betrayal, love, and existential angst. Moreover, with poets like Edmund Spenser and his epic The Faerie Queene , English literature expanded its horizons, both thematically and stylistically.

The subsequent Restoration and the 18th century ushered in a period of social and literary change. With authors like Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope, satire became a powerful tool to critique society and politics. Furthermore, the emergence of the novel, as exemplified by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Samuel Richardson’s Pamela , offered researchers a chance to explore the evolving societal values, gender norms, and narrative techniques.

Romanticism, Victorian Era to Modernism: A Spectrum of Emotion and Thought

The Romantic period, marked by poets like William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and John Keats, celebrated nature, emotion, and individualism. In contrast, the Victorian era, with novelists like Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and the Brontë sisters, addressed societal change, morality, and industrialization. Both periods are a goldmine for English literature research paper topics around the individual vs. society, the role of nature, and the exploration of the self.

Modernism in English literature, with heavyweights like Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and T.S. Eliot, revolutionized narrative structure and thematic depth. Works from this era, such as To the Lighthouse or The Waste Land , demand analysis on fragmented narrative, stream of consciousness, and the introspective exploration of the human psyche.

Contemporary Reflections

Contemporary English literature, shaped by postcolonial, feminist, and postmodern influences, gives voice to a plethora of perspectives. Authors like Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, and Julian Barnes tackle issues of identity, multiculturalism, history, and reality versus fiction. Such works present a plethora of avenues for research, from analyzing the postcolonial identity in Rushdie’s narratives to the intricate tapestries of familial and societal dynamics in Smith’s novels.

Concluding Thoughts

In essence, English literature is an evolving entity, reflecting and shaping societal, cultural, and individual values and challenges over the centuries. For students and researchers, the wealth of English literature research paper topics it offers ranges from historical and linguistic analyses to deep dives into thematic cores and stylistic innovations. Whether one wishes to explore the chivalric codes of medieval romances, the biting satires of the 18th century, the emotional landscapes of Romanticism, or the fragmented realities of postmodern narratives, English literature provides an inexhaustible reservoir of research opportunities.

How to Choose an English Literature Topic

Choosing a research paper topic, especially within the expansive field of English literature, can be a challenging endeavor. The centuries-spanning literature offers a treasure trove of stories, themes, characters, and socio-political contexts that beckon exhaustive exploration. As such, students often find themselves at a crossroads, wondering where to begin and how to narrow down their choices to find that one compelling topic. Here’s a detailed guide to streamline this process:

• Align with Your Interests: Dive into periods, genres, or authors that genuinely intrigue you. If Victorian novels captivate your imagination or if Shakespearean dramas resonate with you, use that as your starting point. Genuine interest ensures sustained motivation throughout your research journey.
• Evaluate Academic Relevance: While personal interest is vital, ensure your chosen topic aligns with academic goals and curriculum requirements. Some English literature research paper topics, while intriguing, might not offer substantial academic value for a particular course or level of study.
• Seek Familiar Ground (But Not Too Familiar): Leverage your previous readings and coursework. Familiarity offers a foundation, but challenge yourself to explore uncharted territories within that domain. If you enjoyed Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice , maybe delve into its feminist interpretations or comparative studies with other contemporaneous works.
• Embrace Complexity: Opt for English literature research paper topics that lend themselves to multifaceted exploration. Simple topics might not provide enough depth for comprehensive research papers. Instead of a general overview of Romantic poetry, explore the portrayal of nature in Wordsworth’s works versus Shelley’s.
• Historical and Cultural Context: Literature isn’t created in a vacuum. Understand the historical and societal backdrop of a literary work. This context can offer a fresh perspective and can be an excellent lens for your research.
• Contemporary Relevance: How does a particular work or literary period converse with today’s world? Exploring the modern implications or relevance of classic works can be both enlightening and academically rewarding.
• Diverse Interpretations: Embrace English literature research paper topics open to various interpretations. Works like George Orwell’s 1984 or Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot can be analyzed from political, psychological, existential, or linguistic viewpoints.
• Consult with Peers and Professors: Engage in discussions with classmates and seek advice from professors. Their feedback can provide new perspectives or refine your existing topic ideas.
• Read Critiques and Literary Journals: Academic journals, critiques, and literary analyses offer insights into popular research areas and can help you identify gaps or lesser-explored aspects of a work or period.
• Flexibility is Key: As you delve deeper into your research, be open to tweaking or even changing your topic. New findings or challenges might necessitate slight shifts in your research focus.

Choosing the right research topic in English literature requires a blend of personal passion, academic relevance, and the potential for in-depth exploration. By aligning your interests with academic goals, and being open to exploration and adaptation, you pave the way for a fulfilling and academically enriching research experience. Remember, the journey of researching and understanding literature can be as enlightening as the end result. Embrace the process, and let the vast ocean of English literature inspire and challenge you.

How to Write an English Literature Research Paper

Penning an English literature research paper is a task that demands meticulous planning, a deep understanding of the subject, and the ability to weave thoughts coherently. English literature, with its vast and rich tapestry, offers endless avenues for exploration, making it both an exciting and daunting endeavor. Below are step-by-step guidelines to craft a compelling research paper in this domain:

• Understanding the Assignment: Before diving into the research phase, ensure you fully understand the assignment’s requirements. Is there a specific format? Are certain sources mandatory? What’s the word count? This foundational clarity sets the stage for efficient research and writing.
• Preliminary Research: Start with a broad exploration of your topic. Read general articles, introductory chapters, or review papers. This will give you a general overview and can help narrow down your focus.
• Thesis Statement Formulation: Your thesis is the backbone of your research paper. It should be clear, precise, and arguable. For instance, instead of writing “Shakespeare’s plays are influential,” you might specify, “ Macbeth illustrates the dire consequences of unchecked ambition.”
• Diving Deeper – Detailed Research: With your thesis in hand, dive deeper into primary (original texts) and secondary sources (critiques, essays). Libraries, academic databases, and literary journals are treasure troves of valuable information.
• Organize Your Findings: Use digital tools, index cards, or notebooks to categorize and annotate your findings. Grouping similar ideas together will make the writing process smoother.
• Drafting an Outline: An organized structure is essential for clarity. Create an outline with clear headings and subheadings, ensuring a logical flow of ideas. This will serve as a roadmap as you write.
• Introduction Crafting: Your introduction should be engaging, offering a glimpse of your thesis and the significance of your study. Remember, first impressions count!
• Literary Analysis: Delve into the text’s intricacies – symbols, themes, character development, stylistic devices, and historical context.
• Critiques and Counter-arguments: Discuss various interpretations of the text, and don’t shy away from addressing dissenting views. This lends credibility and depth to your paper.
• Comparative Analysis (if applicable): Compare the chosen work with others, drawing parallels or highlighting contrasts.
• Maintaining Coherence and Transition: Each paragraph should have a clear main idea and transition smoothly to the next, maintaining the paper’s flow and ensuring the reader’s engagement.
• Conclusion Crafting: Reiterate your thesis and summarize your main findings. Discuss the broader implications of your study, potentially suggesting areas for further exploration.
• Citing Your Sources: Always attribute ideas and quotations to their original authors. Depending on the assigned format (MLA, APA, etc.), ensure that in-text citations and the bibliography are correctly formatted.
• Revision and Proofreading: Once your draft is complete, take a break before revisiting it. Read it aloud to catch awkward phrasings. Check for grammatical errors, consistency in argumentation, and clarity in presenting ideas. Consider seeking peer reviews or utilizing editing tools.
• Seek Feedback: Before final submission, consider sharing your paper with a mentor, professor, or knowledgeable peer. Their insights can be invaluable in refining your research paper.

Writing an English literature research paper is as much an art as it is a science. While meticulous research and structured writing are crucial, allowing your passion for literature to shine through will elevate your paper. Remember, literature is about exploring the human experience, and as you dissect these masterpieces, you’re not just analyzing texts but delving into profound insights about life, society, and humanity. Embrace the journey, and let every step, from research to writing, be a process of discovery.

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Best books about Irish history to read in 2024

“All changed, changed utterly: / A terrible beauty is born,” wrote Yeats in one of the most powerful political poems of the 20th century, Easter, 1916.

The elegiac masterpiece simultaneously mourns the loss of life and collective violence of the infamous Easter Uprising, while drawing attention to the melancholic beauty of Irish rebellion.

The poem also draws on elements of the Celtic revival with subtle references to the folkloric, living and breathing nature of the Irish landscape. It’s why this quote, even in isolation, serves as a brilliant reflection of Irish history in its totality: famine, war and bloodshed mingled with the birth and rebirth of the nation.

Throughout the poem, Yeats zeroes in on intimate portraits of typical Irishmen and women while creating a panoramic sociopolitical view of the country. This is something that writers like Yeats, Joyce, Beckett and Lady Gregory were particularly brilliant at, and it’s one of many reasons why a fascination with the bloody yet beautiful history of Ireland endures.

In perhaps the most famous of the Dubliners stories, ‘The Dead’, Joyce writes, “snow was general all over Ireland […] His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe […] upon all the living and the dead.”

The symbolic ephemerality of the snow in this story – intrinsically beautiful yet representative of death – covers not just Ireland but the entirety of the universe. Though it is a small nation, Irish history is a synecdoche of a universal, fighting spirit. The islands of Éire shroud itself and its immortal inhabitants in a blanket of cool snow: protective, temporal, comforting and mournful.

From the origins of the Irish language to intimate, personal histories of Ireland’s darkest periods, these are some of the best books about Irish history. Discover the context behind your favourite pieces of Irish literature and poetry below.

Modern Ireland 1600-1972 by R.F. Foster

Originally published in 1988, Professor R.F Foster’s history of modern Ireland examines how recent events have come to shape the ‘Irish Nation’ that we know today. Rather than presenting us with facts alone, Foster weaves a fascinating narrative which details the significant events of the last four centuries that have shaped its people.

Buy now £13.43, Amazon

We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958 by Fintan O’Toole

O’Toole’s personal history of Ireland begins the year that he was born, 1958. It is the story of how the author’s life coincided with the greatest series of changes in Irish history, and the power of memory in shaping collective identity. Anyone wishing to comprehend the sociological anatomy of contemporary Ireland simply must read this book.

Buy now £10.75, Amazon

An Unconsidered People: The Irish in London by Catherine Dunne

A common theme throughout contemporary Irish literature – contrary to the supporters of the Celtic revival – is the notion that to be successful, one must leave Ireland. Indeed, in the 1950s, half a million Irish men and women left Ireland to make lives for themselves elsewhere. One of these elsewheres was England. In An Unconsidered People , Dunne delves into the Irish immigrant’s experience in London through a series of wonderfully vibrant interviews.

Buy now £10.69, Amazon

Making Sense of the Troubles: A History of the Northern Ireland Conflict by David McKittrick and David McVea

Fully revised and updated since its publication over two decades ago, Making Sense of the Troubles does exactly what it says on the tin. Written by Belfast-born David McKittrick and teacher of Northern Irish history, David McVea, the non-fiction work traces the roots of the Troubles from the 1920s, the violence of the 1960s and the three decades of destruction which followed.

Buy now £13.45, Amazon

Milkman by Anna Burns

This celebrated work of psychological historical fiction by Anna Burns takes place during the troubles in Northern Ireland. We follow the life of an unnamed 18-year-old protagonist who is simply referred to as “middle sister” and the harassment she endures at the hands of “the milkman”. The story draws on themes of hearsay, silence and the consequences of inaction.

Buy now £6.53, Amazon

The Good Friday Agreement by Siobhan Fenton

The Belfast Agreement, otherwise known as The Good Friday Agreement, was signed on April 10, 1998, and brought an end to the decades of violence that had engulfed Northern Ireland. While the agreement was largely lauded as an admirable peace accord, Siobhan Fenton re-evaluates the highly volatile nature of the ‘peace’ that this historical event brought. The author re-evaluates the history and legacy of The Good Friday Agreement, analysing its successes and failures in poignant, clear and concise detail.

Buy now £8.33, Amazon

War and an Irish Town by Eamonn McCann

Another highly personal history of the Troubles, Eamonn McCann’s War and an Irish Town was first published in 1974 and covers the story of his childhood as a Catholic growing up in a Northern Irish ghetto. The book is widely considered a fascinating reference point for the Northern Irish perspective on British rule, and how Irish nationalism turned violent.

Buy now £19.99, Amazon

The Graves are Walking by John Kelly

Though the exact number is unclear, it is estimated that approximately one million people died from starvation in Ireland between 1845 and 1851 while a further one million people emigrated. This resulted in Ireland losing a third of its population.

John Kelly retells the gruesome story of the famine which represented one of the 19th century’s most devastating disasters, which began with a bacterial infection on the potato crop on which the impoverished depended, and which was made all the worse by the brutality of British rule.

Buy now £11.75, Amazon

Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America by Kerby A. Miller

Drawing on an immense trove of personal research, Miller delivers a fascinating insight into the emigration of the Irish to America both before and after the famine, and the resulting complicated culture of exile.

Buy now £21.99, Amazon

A Short History of the Irish Revolution, 1912 to 1927: From the Ulster Crisis to the formation of the Irish Free State by Richard Killeen

Beginning with the Ulster crisis of 1912 and the Home Rule Act of 1914, Killeen traces the complicated history of the 20th-century Irish Revolution through the outbreak of the First World War, the Easter Rising of 1916 and beyond. The author writes of how, despite the establishment of two states on the island, the Ulster problem has never truly been resolved.

Buy now £10.19, Amazon

The Faithful Tribe: An Intimate Portrait of the Loyal Institutions by Ruth Dudley Edwards

Edwards explores the seemingly anachronistic habits of the Orange Order, the conservative, British unionist and Ulster loyalist organisation based in Northern Ireland in her non-fiction book The Faithful Tribe. Founded in Country Armagh in 1795, the Orange Order takes its name from the Dutch-born protestant king William of Orange who defeated the Catholic King James II in the Williamite-Jacobite war of the 17th century.

Considered a trusted and well-liked sympathiser (and criticiser) among Orangemen despite being a Catholic from southern Ireland, Edwards delivers a fascinating portrait of the loyalist institution.

Buy now £20.00, Waterstones

Atlas of Irish History by Sean Duffy (third edition)

Offering a brilliant cartographic history of Ireland in just 144 pages, Sean Duffy’s Atlas of Irish History is one for visual learners. Supported by concise, didactic explanations, it’s a best-seller for a reason. The newer, revised edition covers the boom and bust of the Republic’s economy and the political developments in Northern Ireland which resulted in the coalition between DUP and Sinn Féin.

Buy now £18.99, Waterstones

The Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish History

Scholars would be remiss not to add The Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish History to their personal libraries. The 800-page textbook offers discussions on a multitude of important events throughout Irish history, as well as easily digestible excerpts of some of the most respected scholarly works on each topic.

Buy now £32.49, Waterstones

The Táin: Translated from the Old Irish Epic Táin Bó Cúailnge by Ciaran Carson

Understanding Irish history requires an investigation into the nation’s literary past. The Táin , or Táin Bó Cúailnge is often referred to as the Irish Iliad and is the centre of the eighth-century Ulster Cycle of heroic tales – a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas.

Translated from Old Irish, the epic is set in the first century AD and tells the tale of a war against Ulster incited by Connacht queen Medb and her husband Ailill. The duo plot to steal the sacred Brown Bull of Cualige. The hero of the story is Cuchulainn, the Hound of Ulster.

Buy now £8.40, Amazon

Irish Fairy Tales and Folklore by W.B. Yeats

This beautifully bound hardback is a collection of Irish fairy tales and folklore written by the fierce proponent of the Celtic Revival, W.B. Yeats. The volume contains over 70 classic Irish stories including The Trooping Fairies, Changelings, Tir-na-n-óg and more.

Buy now £10.99, Waterstones

Ireland's Forgotten Past: A History of the Overlooked and Disremembered by Turtle Bunbury

Bunbury delves into the often forgotten elements of Irish history such as the distinct lack of Roman invasion in Ireland, the King of Spain giving his name to an Irish county, and the unexpected historical impact of brandy. Enjoy an impressive 36 lesser-known tales in Ireland's Forgotten Past: A History of the Overlooked and Disremembered.

Buy now £9.08, Amazon

The Celts: A Very Short Introduction by Barry Cunliffe

The Oxford University Press ‘Very Short Introduction’ series is a brilliant, concise way of digesting historical facts which are intended for all audiences and written by experts in the field. In The Celts , Barry Cunliffe offers insight into the fascinating world of the Indo-European people including stories of St Patrick, Cú Chulainn (The Ulster hero), and Boudica.

Buy now £7.79, Amazon

A History of the Irish Language: From the Norman Invasion to Independence by Aidan Doyle

A scholarly investigation into the history of the Irish language from the Norman Invasion in the 12th century right up to Independence in 1922, linguists will rejoice for this fascinating treatise which combines political, cultural and linguistic history.

Buy now £23.45, Amazon

Listen to the Land Speak (Hardback), Manchán Magan

In this work of historical non-fiction, Mangan weaves his way through the myth and folklore that has risen out of the ancient worship of nature. Taking us on a journey across Irish history, Manchan illustrates the power of myth in shaping an entire nation, and its people.

Magan’s novel is published by Gill & Macmillan, which was founded in 1968, and is responsible for the dissemination of the work of many great Irish writers, including Maureen Gaffney, Tom Garvin, Fintan O’Toole, and Éamon de Buitléar, to name but a few. As such, you can be sure that you’re in for an instant classic.

Buy now £21.99, Waterstones

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