Kevin Barry, Tom Dunne, Richard Kearney, Edna Longley and Clare O’Halloran.

CONTENTS

Dorinda Outram, ‘Holding the Future at Bay: the French Revolution and modern Ireland’, pp.1-6. Outlines a broad juxtaposition of Irish culture and politics with the period preceding the French Revolution, 1789, discovering many similarities in areas of secular and religious authority as well as individualism and collectivism; alludes to theories put forward by historians, Ernest May and Richard Neustadt, who advocate the analysis of past events by way of aiding political decision making in the present; presumes that the Irish equivilent of 1789 is yet to come.

Ailbhe Smyth, ‘The Floozie in the Jacuzzi’, pp.7-24. Analyses the multi-faceted characterisations of the Anna Livia monument in Dublin city centre, in terms of woman as image and as spectator, and perceived through the male gaze; incorporates the various interpretations of her which can be found in journals and books such as the Crane Bag, Irish Review, Krino and some selected poetry; highlights the overall message of references like ‘Floozie, Skivvy, Whore’ as meaning ‘all women are prostetutes’.

Michael D. Higgins, ‘Chile: Cracks in the Dictatorship’, pp.25-31. Charts the events leading up to the democratic liberation of Chile from dictatorship, the struggle to gain voting rights, losing jobs, the brutality of militarised policing and the attempts of the existing government to sabotage the voting procedures.

Seamus Dunn, ‘Multicultural Education in the North of Ireland’, pp.32-38. Discusses the ever-increasing difficulty people experience in understanding the role of churches, political parties, welfare state and the education system in the North of Ireland resulting in disillusionment with the established order; sketches the movement of the education system towards a more balanced teaching of social and cultural historical views while encouraging openmindedness and truth as the only way forward.

Harry White, ‘The Case for an Encyclopedia of Music in Ireland’, pp.39-45. Focuses on the absense of an encyclopedia of Irish music and the consequences on the Irish musicologist as well as the music industry at home; draws attention to the success of equivilent studies on the sociology and history of music carried out in other countries, while underlining the necessity to incorporate music into what he refers to as this ‘positivist impulse to acquire information’ which permeates twentieth century society.

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Caoimhín Mac Giolla Léith, ‘Contemporary Poetry in Irish: divided loyalties and the chimera of continuity’, pp.46-54. Explores the intricate inter-relationship of the ‘Innti’ generation of Irish, Anglo-Irish and Gaelic writers, where the problems of identity and continuity are the ‘shared inheritance of all contemporary Irish writers’; conflicting views are provided from poets such as Alan Titley, Gearóid Denvir, Sean O’Ríordáin, Liam O Muirthile and Michael Davitt, including extracts from their poetry.

John McGahern, ‘An tOileánach’, pp.55-62. Examines thr style of O’Crohan’s language in this book, which reveals a particular view of reality, providing the reader with a strong sense of life on the islands; offers insights into the family, morality, sexuality, religion, community and the island’s social structure.

Máirtín Ó Direáin, with Declan Collinge, ‘J. M. Synge’, pp.63-65. Dialogue on the dramatic world of Synge involving issues of religion, community, women, poverty and Anglo-Irish sensibility.

Patrick J. Quinn, ‘The Long and Evil Tide 1968-1988’, pp.66-87 [poem].

Paul Durcan, ‘The Murder of Harry Keyes’, pp.88-89 [poem].

Howard Wright, Two Poems, pp.90-91. ‘Sneddons Bees’ and ‘Another Day, Another Dollar’.

Sam Burnside, ‘Born Circa 75 A.D. (A Lough Neagh sequence)’, pp.92-94 [poem].

Thomas Kilroy, et al., ‘In Memorium: John Jordan’, pp.95-97. [1] Thomas Kilroy describes him as remote, mysterious, generous and brilliant though unfortunately, ultimately succumbing to alcohol. [2] James Liddy found him to be a ‘gorgeous literary man’ and recounts the comraderie of their experiences in Dublin together.

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Michael Bentley, ‘A sense of Style’, pp. 98-100, review of R. F. Foster, Modern Ireland (London: Allen Lane).Venerates Foster’s prodigious talent in historiography and acclaims this compendious account which covers four centuries of Irish history from the period of the plantation through to the cultural revival, the rebellion and the Civil war.

Philip Edwards, ‘Rewriting Cultural History’, pp. 101-02, review of Terence Brown, Ireland’s Literature: Selected Essays (Mullingar: The Lilliput Press; Totava, New Jersey: Barnes and Noble 1988). Values this vast re-assessment of the Irish intellectual scene, probing the politics of individual writers such as Austen Clarke, Brian Moore and C. S. Lewis.

Kevin Barry, ‘Far Foreign Field Days’, pp.102-04, review of Terry Eagleton, Nationalism: Irony and Commitment; Fredric Jameson, Modernism and Imperialism; Edward W. Said, Yeats and Decolonisation, All published as Field Day pamphlets, 13, 14 & 15, on Nationalism, Colonisation and Literature (Dublin 1988). Excoriates the inconsistency and contravention of these three articles in their examination of comparative studies on Nationalism, carried out in other continents.

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Shaun Richards, ‘O’Casey and the Insufficiency of Self’, pp.105-07, review of Michael Kenneally, Portraying the Self: Sean O’Casey and the art of autobiography (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe 1988). Appreciates Kenneally’s theories on reading an autobiography as a literary text, independent of history as well as his investigation of the inter-relationship of self and moment in autobiographical writing.

Angela Crean, ‘Non-vintage O’Flatherty’, pp.107-08, review of Liam O’Flatherty, The Assassin; Insurrection; Skerrett (all Dublin: Wolfhound Press). Welcomes the reprinting of O’Flatherty’s works though disapproves of the choice of texts, rating Insurrection as one of his worst books and Assassin as not much better, faulting both for their preoccupation with violence, clichéd sexism and incredible characterisation; conversely applauds the excellent portrayal of the island people, the powerful imagery and the genuine emotions which can be found in Skerrett.

Eamonn Hughes, ‘Where is the Novel?’, pp.109-11, review of Michael Kenneally (ed.), Cultural Contexts and Literary Idioms in Contemporary Irish Literature (Gerrards Crass: Colin Smythe 1988). Judges there to be a lack of focus in this introductory collection on poetry, drama and fiction, deeming it a worthy project but remaining dubious about the forthcoming series.

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Angela Bourke, ‘Hammering a Unity’, pp.111-13, review of Frank Kinahan, Yeats, Folklore and Occultism: Contexts of the Early Work and Thought (Boston: Unwin Hyman). Gladly receives this extensive study by Kinahan as it provides a clear insight to both Yeat’s prevailing attitude during his early career as well his unique system of thought.

Ciaran Carson, ‘Against Oblivion’, pp.113-18, review of C.K. Williams, Poems 1963-1983 (U.K.: Bloodaxe 1988); Flesh and Blood (U.K.: Bloodaxe 1988). Remarks on the influence the Japanese ‘haiku’ poetry has had on William’s later work and his treatment of themes of love, loss, sexuality and death, citing several examples from these books.

Barbara Hayley, ‘Sourceless Biography’, pp.117-18, review of Michael Holroyd, Bernard Shaw: the Search for Love (London: Chatto and Windus). Castigates Holroyd’s privation of annotated references to source material, pinpointing future repercussions if all researchers were to follow his example.

Pádraigín Riggs, ‘Parody as Meta-fiction’, pp.118-19, review of Alan Titley, Eiriceachtaí agus Scéalta eile (Baile Atha Cliath: An Clóchomhar Tta). Extols Titley’s parodied tales and his fervent use of puns, literary quotations and biblical references.

Liam Mac Mathúna, ‘Bilingualism or Benign Assimilation?’, pp.120-22, review of An Coiste Comhairleach Pleanála / The Advisory Planning Commitee, Bord na Gaeilge, The Irish Language in a Changing Society: Shaping the Future (Baile Atha Cliath: Bord na Gaeilge). Esteems this research on the Irish language which entails a breakdown of the chief sociolinguistic studies and examines the bilingual position of the Irish state, applying the results of both to future language planning techniques.

Jennifer Todd, ‘A Loyalist Videa’, pp.123-24, review of Desmond Bell, We’ll Fight and No Surrender! Ulster Loyalism and the Protestant Sense of History - A Video Document (Running time 56 mins., Available from IFI). Values the perspicacity of this film into Loyalism, the related annual marches and commemorations as well as the celebrations on the 12th of August.

Paul Arthur, ‘Alternative Britains’, pp.125-27, review of Tom Nairn, The Enchanted Glass: Britain and its Monarchy (Radius 1988); John Osmond, The Divided Kingdom (Constable 1988). Compliments Nairn on his well researched commentary on the British Monarchy, especially in view of the lack of relevent source material; Calls Osmond to account for his distraction with the influence of class divisions on mainland Britain.

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David Gwynn Morgan, ‘Nationalisms and O’Brien’, pp.128-30, review of Conor Cruise O’Brien, God Land: Reflections on Religion and Nationalism (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U.P.); The Siege: the Saga of Israel and Zionism (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson); Passion and Cunning and other essays (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson). Registers the subject of the four Harvard lectures incorporated in God Land to be the inter-relationship of religion and nationalism; Comments on O’Brien’s diplomacy in The Siege when analysing Zionism, politics and history and the Jewish religion, in Israel; Notes nationalism as the consolidating theme in Passion and Cunning which deals with diverse topics such as Yeats, terrorism, South Africa and Thatcherism.

Angela Ryan, ‘The Irish Feminist Experience’, pp.131-32, review of Women’s Studies International Forum: Feminism in Ireland, Vol.11, no.4 1988 (Pergamon Press; Attic Press: Dublin). Regards this as an ambitious project which attempts to unify academic studies with creative and political work, ultimately forming a joint, balanced perspective of the women’s movement and women’s art.

Helen Meany, ‘Emigrant Women’, pp.132-34, review of Mary Lennon, Marie McAdam and Joanne O’Brien, Across the Water: Irish Women’s Lives in Britain (Virago 1988). Considers the low morale and self-esteem resulting from Ireland’s colonial heritage, exploring nationalism, religion and language in terms of gender and dealing specifically with the plight of the working class.

Cliona Murphy, ‘Still on the Margins’, pp.134-37, review of Mary Jones, These Obstreperous Lassies, a history of the Irish Women Workers’ Union (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan). Flaws this study for skimming the surface of a complex and problematic issue, failing to proffer a personal portrayal of the women involved, as well as the scant treatment of clashes with socialists, discrimination, and the Catholic and Protestant ideologies.

William J. Smyth, ‘A Model History’, pp.137-40, review of Kevin Whelan, William Nolan (eds.), Wexford: History and Society - Interdisiplinary Essays on the History of an Irish County (Dublin: Geography Publications,1987). Acknowledges the benefit of this series which provides an understanding of regional people, their attitudes to the land and their history; of particular interest is the interaction of the Irish, the Old English and the New English and the evolution of the Irish Catholicism.

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L. M. Cullen, ‘Rich Harvest’, pp.140-42, review of William J. Smith, Kevin Whelan (eds.), Common Ground: Essays on the Historical Geography of Ireland (Cork: U.P.). Pays tribute to the fresh approach and detailed annotation of these individual essays covering areas of urban geography, flax cultivation and an examination of the maturation of Dublin City, paying particular attention to the massive contributions Professor T. Jones Hughes has made in this field.

Bernadette Cunningham, ‘Keyhole Glimpses’, pp.142-43, review of Brendan Fitzpatrick, Seventeenth - century Ireland: the war of religions (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan 1988). Cunningham is disappointed with the deficiency of concentration and objectivity in this production, which only haphazardly fulfils the requirements for either a student textbook, an accessable narration for the general reader or as a specific analysis of religious conflict.

Aidan Clarke, ‘Problems of Definition’, pp.143-44, review of Nicholas Canny, Kingdom and Colony: Ireland in the Atlantic World, 1560-1800 (Baltimore and London: John Hopkins U.P.). Praises the description of the relationship between the colonisers and the colonised though faults the random nature of his lectures and his over simplification of the issue.

John O’Brien, Testing the MacDonagh Thesis’, pp.144-45, review of Roy MacLeod, Government and Expertise (Cambridge: U.P.). Applauds this reassessment of Oliver MacDonagh’s thesis on the expertise involved in the governing, and the civil service structures, of nineteenth century Britain.

John Horne, ‘Labour Militancy’, pp.145-47, review of Emmet O’Connor, Syndicalism in Ireland 1917-1923 (Cork: U.P.); Dan Bradley, Farm Labourers. Irish Struggle 1900-1976 (Belfast: Athol Books). Believes there will be a significant impact on contemporary unionist working class studies as a result of O’Connor’s investigation of militarised trade unions during the period of W.W.2, as it offers ample economic, social and cultural views and examines the influence of ‘Larkinism’, ‘syndicalism’ and the role of the ITGWU.

Eunan O’Halpin, ‘A Savage Chaos’, pp.147-49, review of Michael Hopkinson, Green against Green: the Irish Civil War (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan 1988). Laudates Hopkinson’s impartial pioneering analysis of the position of Irish politics in pre-Civil War years, demonstrating the diversity between the political ideals and the chaotic reality.

Deirdre McMahon, ‘De Valera’s Legacy’, pp.149-50, review of Brian Farrell (ed.), De Valera’s Constitution and Ours (Thomas Davis Lectures, Dublin: Gill and Macmillan). Esteems these assessments of the constitution, welcoming information from past and present viewpoints on issues such as the conservatism and controversiality of the Constitution, women’s position and Church - State relations.

Patrick Keatinge, ‘The Making of Foreign Policy’, pp.150-51, review of Dermot Keogh, Ireland and Europe 1919-1948 (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan). Praises Keogh’s authority on subjects like the Spanish Civil War, the relationship with the Vatican and the approach taken with refugees while pointedly emphasising the democratic features of Irish foreign policy.

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Andrew Gailey, ‘In Pursuit of Power’, pp.151-54, review of W.C. Lubenow, Parliamentary Politics and the Home Rule Crisis (Oxford: Clarendon Press); T.W. Moody and R.A.J. Hawkins with Margaret Moody (eds.), Florence Arnold-Forster’s Irish Journal (Oxford: Clarendon Press); Catherine B. Shannon, Arthur J. Balfour and Ireland 1874-1922 (Washington D.C.: Catholic Univ. of America Press). Acknowledges the importance of Lubenow’s studies of late victorian British culture, politics and society, and includes evidential extracts from letters and diaries of contemporary M.P.’s; Believes one gains a more focused vision from Arnold-Forster’s experiences which provide a personal slant to the portrayals of Gladstone, T. H. Burke and W. E. Forster, to name but a few; Finds Shannon guilty of partiality in her interpretations of the man nicknamed ‘Bloody Balfour’ and criticises her unwillingness to seriously consider his own politics and contemporary Irish policy making, thus shedding little new light on this enigmatic character.

Tom Dunne, ‘Bearing Witness’, pp.154-56, review of Hubert Butler, The Children of Drancy (Mullingar: Lilliput Press); Neal Ascherson, Games without Shadows (London: Radius). Acclaims the high standard of both productions, noting particularly Ascherson’s treatment of European heritage and Butler’s travel pieces on Riga Strand 1930, Russia 1956 and China in the 60s.

Tom Clyde, ‘The Teeming Pond’, pp.157-59, review of New Welsh Review, Vol.1, No.2, Autumn 1988 (Dept. of English, St. David’s Univ. College, Lampeter, Dyfed); Poetry Ireland, Nos 22 & 23, Summer 1988 (Upper Mount St., Dublin 2); Irish University Review, Brian Moore issue, Vol.18, No.1, Spring 1988 (Dept. of English, U.C.D., Dublin 4); Gown, Literary Supplement, January 1989 (No Address); Linen Hall Review, Vol.5, No.4, Winter 1988 (17 Donegall Sq. Nth., Belfast, BT1 5GD); Graph, No.5, Autumn 1988 (34 Bellevue Park Ave., Booterstown, Co. Dublin); KriNo, No.6, Autumn 1988 (Glenrevagh, Corrandulla, Co. Galway); Review, Sep/Oct 1988 (117 Fitzroy Ave., Belfast 7); Theatre Ireland, No.17, Dec 1988/Mar 1989 (16b Adelaide Park, Belfast BT9); Passages, No. 4 (49 Botanic Ave., Belfast, BT7 1JR); Salmon, No.19, Autumn 1988 (Auburn, Upper Fairhill, Galway); Borderlines 1988 (75 Carlisle Rd., Londonderry); RhiNoceros, No.1 1989 (120 Soudan St., Belfast, BT12 6LD). Compares and contrasts the editorial format of layout and presentation of varying review journals.

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