Richard Pine: Identity after History

The Centre for Irish Studies of the Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures invites you to a seminar by Richard Pine (author of “The Disappointed Bridge: Ireland and the Post-Colonial World”, 2014): Identity after History.

This seminar will discuss the theme: “WHAT HAPPENS TO AN EMERGING COUNTRY AFTER IT HAS EMERGED?” (Brian Friel) and will examine the formation of cultural nationalism, the relation of culture to politics, the symbiosis of coloniser and colonised before and after independence, and the exploration of cultural freedom. The principal topics are: the literature of difference; the literature of resistance; post-colonial identity.

Examples will be discussed from: IRELAND (Joyce, Denis Johnston, Barbara Fitzgerald, Brian Friel), INDIA (Salman Rushdie), NIGERIA (Chinua Achebe), CZECHOSLOVAKIA/CZECH REPUBLIC (Havel, Gruša, Vaculík).

A distinguished scholar, cultural commentator, and broadcaster, Richard Pine is the author of books on Dublin’s Gate Theatre, Brian Friel, Oscar Wilde, Lawrence Durrell, and on music in Ireland. He was a consultant for the Council of Europe on cultural development programmes, worked extensively for the Irish national radio and TV station RTÉ, was a concert manager of the National Symphony Orchestra, and a music critic for the Irish Times. He has written articles for all major Irish newspapers and for the Guardian, was co-editor of the US-based Irish Literary Supplement, and has written and appeared in numerous RTÉ and BBC programmes. He is the founding director of The Durrell School of Corfu. Richard Pine’s latest book is Greece through Irish Eyes (2015).

The seminar has been kindly supported by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland.