Was Dylan Thomas the beginning (and end?) of Welsh writing in English? If not, then when did it begin? And does it make any difference as to when we suppose it does? What, in any case, is meant by speaking of a Welsh literature in English? What definition of it can one offer, and what model of such a body of work can one construct? These are the kinds of issues to be considered in this course. It is accordingly subdivided into two sections. The first is concerned with the range of responses to Thomas’s writings in Wales itself, and the ways in which he was made to represent the Anglophone literature of Wales in England and the United States. The second considers other possible ‘beginnings’ for Welsh writing in English (ranging from the Middle Ages to the First World War and to the thirties generation of genius). We conclude by discussing some of the theoretical and cultural issues involved in constructing a literary tradition. Syllabus: Outside the field of specialists, Welsh Writing in English is easily reduced to the phenomenon of Dylan Thomas. Beginning with that ‘phenomenon,’ this course will map out a more complex picture of this body of writing in an attempt to foster a better-informed and more sophisticated understanding of what may be meant Wby claiming that Wales has produced a distinctive literature in English. The course will be subdivided as follows, with a single two-hour session being dedicated to each of the topics identified as bullet points:

A: To Begin at the Beginning?

• Dylan Thomas and the thirties generation Thomas, poems, stories and the ‘Kardomah Gang’; Vernon Watkins; Glyn Jones; Alun Lewis; Keidrych Rhys’s Wales.
• Thomas’s influence. A Garland for Dylan Thomas. Dannie Abse, T.H. Jones, John Ormond.
• Thomas and the Welsh Language tradition Saunders Lewis on Dylan Thomas, T. James Jones on translating Thomas. Euros Bowen’s poetry in translation.
• Thomas and stereotypes of ‘Welshness’ George Orwell and David Holbrook on Welsh childishness. John Malcolm Brinnin and John Ashbery on Thomas in America. Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils.

B: Alternative Beginnings

• English language writing from Wales, Medieval to Modern. T.J. Llywellyn Prichard Twm Sion Catti; Garlick and Mathias, Anthology of Anglo-Welsh Poetry.
• Victorian ‘beginnings’? the cases of Allen Raine and Ernest Rhys: Queen of the Rushes; Welsh Ballads
• The Roots of ‘Kulturkampf’? Caradoc Evans, My People. J.O. Francis, Selected Plays.

C: Conclusion: Constructing the Canon

• Glyn Jones, The Dragon Has Two Tongues Tony Conran, The Cost of Strangeness Emyr Humphreys, The Taliesin Tradition M.Wynn Thomas, Internal Difference M. Wynn Thomas ed., Welsh Writing in English

Learning Outcomes:

• a grasp of the diversity of Welsh writing in English
• an understanding of the issues relating to the construction of a national ‘canon’
• an ability to read the contextual dimensions of literary texts
• an ability to apply several different approaches to literature
• a broad awareness of literary and cultural developments in modern Wales

Transferable skills:

Students should become more proficient in:

• critical discernment and analytical grasp of theoretical models and their application to texts and discourses
• verbal and written communication at advanced (postgraduate) level
• structured thought and analytical argument
• experience with team work, communication skills and presentation techniques

Main recommended texts:

Actual selection of texts will be dependent on availability. The following is merely an indicative listing.
Dannie Abse, Selected Poems
Tony Conran, The Cost of Strangeness
Caradoc Evans, My People
Firmage ed., A Garland for Dylan Thomas
J.O. Francis, Selected Plays
Raymond Garlick and Roland Mathias, An Anthology of Anglo-Welsh Poetry
Emyr Humphreys, Conversations and Reflections
Glyn Jones, The Dragon Has Two Tongues
Glyn Jones, selected poems and stories
Saunders Lewis, selected poems in translation
T.J. Llewelyn Pritchard, Twm Sion Catti (available on-line at www.booksfromthepast.org)
Leslie Norris, selected poems and stories
Allen Raine, Queen of the Rushes
Dylan Thomas, selected poems and stories
M.Wynn Thomas, Internal Difference
M. Wynn Thomas ed., Welsh Writing in English
R.S.Thomas, selected poems
Ned Thomas, The Welsh Extremist
Vernon Watkins, selected poems
Raymond Williams, Who Speaks for Wales?

Secondary Reading
A twelve-page bibliography divided into sections is issued for the MA in Welsh Writing in English. The attention of the students following this module will be drawn to the most immediately relevant texts

Dylan Thomas and the Idea of Welsh Writing in English

Locating Wales: Comparative Perspectives

Women Writing Modern Wales

‘American Wales’: Writing the Transatlantic

Welsh Identities: literature and nationhood

Click here to read the CREW Bibliography