Unexpected landscapes : literature and revolution in modern Ireland and Spain - 1913-39

Abstract

In this study I examine the inter-relationship between literature and revolution in modern Ireland and Spain. I concentrate on the period 1913 to 1923 in regard to Irish affairs, a decade that saw the re-emergence of the militant politics in 1913, the 1916 Easter Rising, the Anglo-Irish War and subsequent internecine conflict, as well as the European War of 1914-18. My analysis of revolutionary literature in Spain focuses on the years 1930 to 1939, which encompasses the collapse of the Primo de Rivera military dictatorship and concomitant rise of the Second Spanish Republic in 1930, the workers' rising in the Asturias in October 1934, and the Civil War of 1936-39. In examining the literature of these revolutions I deal primarily with the work of four writers: Patrick Pearse and JE (George Russell) in relation to the Irish revolution, and Manuel Azana and Rafael Alberti in regard to events in Spain during the period under discussion. These writers were all leading figures in the cultural and political developments of their day and, as such, exerted an important influence on the development of their countries’ respective revolutions. As well as presenting a detailed analysis of their writings, therefore, my analysis also considers how their work impinged upon the broader literary and social events of their time.