Counter-Irishness in the Literature of the Irish Free State (1922-37): Yeats, Joyce, O'Connor, and F. Stuart

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K12327
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 02030:English literature and literature in the English language-related
• Research Institution: Jissen Women's University (2019-2022); Tokyo University of Agriculture (2018)
• Principal Investigator: SUWA Tomoaki 実践女子大学, 文学部, 講師 (30633408)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: W・B・イェイツ / アイルランド自由国 / ナショナリズム / ファシズム / 民主主義 / モダニズム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

A series of studies were undertaken on the alternative national images presented by writers during the Irish Free State period. In Yeats' view, the new nation was composed of people who held values that did not censor sexual expression and allowed for free creative activity. On the other hand, it was also seen as an entity that curtailed the freedom of the majority of Catholic citizens who supported such censorship, that recognized the rule of an authoritarian government akin to fascism, favoring the minority Anglo-Irish community to which Yeats himself belonged.

Several research outputs were produced within the period of study, including five peer-reviewed papers and four research presentations (three individual, one collaborative).

Free Research Field

英文学および英語圏文学関連

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまでアイルランド史において真剣には見てこられなかったアイルランドのファシズムを、近年の資料を参照しながら改めて研究の俎上に載せ、反政権と議会制民主主義批判で共通するイェイツとアイリッシュ・ファシズムの密接な関係を指摘した点は、アイルランド文学・文化研究上の成果だと言える。

戦間期のファシズムは民主主義が不安定化するなかで登場した。民主主義の不確定性が増す現代にも通じる20世紀前半の民主主義の危機に対して、アイルランドの作家が示した応答を議論することは、文学と民主主義の関係をめぐる問題の解明に貢献するものである。