Cambridge Scholars Publishing Ireland's Cultural Empire: Contacts, Comparisons, Translations

The volume highlights Ireland’s cultural and linguistic influence in the world. It springs from research carried out on the relationship between Ireland and England, and pays special attention to the concept of “colony”. Traditional adjectives like “colonial” and “post-colonial” have been purposely avoided in the title of the book. When referring to Ireland, they reinforce a prejudicial perspective and blur the relevant influence of its cultural heritage and identity. In the decades after independence, Ireland was predominantly defined in terms of separatism and isolation, and in a contrasting, antagonistic relationship with Britain. Recent studies have instead explored the essential connectedness of Irish culture. The concept of an Irish cultural empire counterbalances this bias, and this publication will advance the reader’s understanding of international strands in Irish identity. The wide-ranging choice of authors and topics sets the essays here in a broader context which outlines a chronological thread starting by dealing with Ireland’s major cultural impact in Europe during the Middle Ages and the influence of classic motifs in Anglo-Irish culture. Contributions focus on 18th, 19th and 20th century Irish writers who export their legacy abroad. In addition, the volume offers new perspectives on Irish emigration to Australia and the USA. About the Author Giuliana Bendelli teaches English Literature at the Catholic University in Milan. Her main focus is modernist authors and her doctoral thesis dealt with literary experimentation in post-Joycean Irish fiction. She attained a Master of Philosophy in Anglo-Irish Literature from Trinity College Dublin. Her thesis, “Patrick Kavanagh's Dublin”, was supervised by Brendan Kennelly, whose two novels, The Crooked Cross and The Florentines, she edited and translated into Italian. Additionally, she recently edited and translated his main collection of poems, Brendan Kennelly: The Essential (2017). She has published many articles on different topics in various prestigious international literary journals, and is the author of the books La Veglia di Joyce (2012), Joseph Conrad: la figura del mare (2012), and Leggere l'Ulisse di Joyce (2017). Her current projects deal with Ezra Pound’s reception in Italy, and Shakespeare’s fortune in contemporary Italian theatre and influence on modern Irish theatre and literature.