Villanova English: The Referent of Ireland Conference -- February 21

Sunday, March 8, 2020

The Referent of Ireland Conference -- February 21

"The Referent of Ireland" conference was held at Villanova on Friday, February 21. Panelists read and responded to a series of shared articles with short papers, and will reconvene over the summer in Galway to continue their work. The conference was designed to build "on fresh work on reference—or how the text refers to a world outside of the text—in order to rethink the aesthetics and politics of nineteenth-century Irish literature."

Panelists considered questions such as: "What does literature about nineteenth-century Ireland refer to, and what are its habits of reference? Does the referent change for readers across time? Now that old saws about Ireland’s failed realism have been put to bed, what purposes might be served by thinking about Irish referential habits? Does thinking about Ireland and reference strand nineteenth-century Ireland in old paradigms of representation that preclude us from thinking about mediation? How does the nineteenth-century literature and culture of Ireland refer to our own culture and moment?"

Anne Jones, a current English graduate student, said: "Most interesting to me was how the texts discussed included both conventionally recognized 19th century Irish realist novels and 'texts' as defined more broadly—such as, for example, the analysis on the Irish Villages in the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and how Brexit influences references to Ireland. I also found generative the exploration of the very term 'realism'—one that is often taken for granted—and the vibrant conversations regarding its functionality or lack thereof."

Zac Richards, another current English graduate student, mentioned Simon Joyce's talk, "Nineteenth-Century Ireland After Brexit," and said, "I felt his analysis of Brexit as informing how we view 19th century Irish literature particularly resonant. He argued for a new model of analysis, one that turns away from anglocentrism as the paradigm of what constitutes high literature and I feel that such a model could have a major impact for future literary studies as it makes the case for looking toward the periphery as not deficient in any way but rather perhaps more provocative and generative than what the British were producing."

Many panels were chaired by Villanova graduate English students, including Matthew Ryan, Kristen Sieranski, and Avni Sejpal. The conference boasted over 40 attendees, many of whom are also planning to attend the book launch party of Villanova's own Mary Mullen, to take place this weekend.