Investigates the role of literary criticism in the process of Irish decolonisation since the late eighteenth century, with special emphasis on the 1950s. This book sets the analysis against a modular theory of decolonisation based on a reading of Irish history from the perspective of contemporary postcolonial and post-structural theory.

"Decolonisation and Criticism" investigates the role of literary criticism in the process of Irish decolonisation since the late eighteenth century, with special emphasis on the 1950s. Drawing on the work of both Irish and international commentators, including Edward Said, David Lloyd, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Luke Gibbons, Gerry Smyth seeks to reconfigure the established relations between literature and criticism. Smyth then sets his analysis against a modular theory of decolonisation based on a reading of Irish history from the perspective of contemporary postcolonial and post-structural theory. Engaging with debates in a number of current fields, "Decolonisation and Criticism" challenges many assumptions and practices of Irish literary history.

IntroductionPart 1 Decolonisation and Criticism 1. The Modes of DecolonisationNationalism and DecolonisationLiberal and Radical DecolonisationDecolonisation and PoststructuralismDecolonisation in Ireland 2. Culture, Criticism and DecolonisationCriticism and CrisisThe Institution of Criticism Decolonisation and Criticism 3. Critical EncountersNeo-Classicism and Celticism Anglo-Ireland Under Pressure Irish Politics, English Culture Challenges to Cultural Nationalism Part 2 Literary Criticism in Ireland 1948-584. Criticism in the Thin Society 5. The PeriodicalThe Moment of Kavanagh's Weekly Variations on the Bell The Professionals Affiliated Periodicals 6. The Scope of Literary CriticismA Note on Censorship A-The University A-Anthologies 7. The BookThe Life and Culture in Ireland Series A-Truth and Method A-An Irish Tradition? Notes Bibliography Index