ENGL 4301 Outcast Ireland: Paupers, Penitents, Patients

This course considers the roles played by institutions in Irish society since the formation of the State (1922). We study the history of institutional provision, both as a legacy of empire and an apparatus of social control throughout the twentieth century, e.g., Industrial Schools, Magdalene Laundries, Mother and Baby Homes, and "Mental Hospitals." We examine legislation and social policy informing social phenomena contained by these institutions, e.g., poverty, illegitimacy, single motherhood, deviancy, illness, etc. We analyze how literary and cultural representations (e.g., fiction, drama, poetry, film, memoir, journalism, and testimony) contribute to making visible aspects of Irish society typically hidden from view. And, we evaluate the significance of human rights advocacy campaigns, survivor organizations, and the State's response to demands for justice, redress, and memorialization.