This course aims to develop comparative approaches to the study of Welsh writing in English. Whereas literary studies have traditionally taken place within national boundaries, this course aims to foster comparative analyses of literatures and cultures in the hope that such an approach will shed a new and illuminating light on Welsh literature and culture. We begin by discussing the methodology and implications of comparative literary studies, before proceeding to look at the strengths and weaknesses of a ‘postcolonial’ approach to Welsh literature. We will explore cases of interaction between Welsh writers and postcolonial literary traditions. We will then proceed to look at two case studies : Wales and Ireland, and Wales and Afro-America. While the course centers on two case studies, students will be encouraged to pursue their own interests.

1. The challenge of comparative literature. (Classes 1 and 2) We will begin by discussing the strengths and limits of comparative literary studies with particular reference to the writings of Susan Bassnett, Edward Said and Marc Shell.

2. Wales and the Postcolonial. (Classes 3 and 4) Here we explore the strengths and limits of applying postcolonial theories to Welsh literature. We will discuss a range of contemporary theorists along with the following comparative examples: Early primitivism: Ernest Rhys and Rabindranath Tagore. Encountering otherness: Alun Lewis’s Indian poems. Dylan Thomas and Amos Tutola Political radicalisms: Harri Webb and Frantz Fanon. Raymond Williams and C.L.R. James.

3. Wales and Ireland Classes (5 and 6) The Celtic Twilight. Ernest Rhys, W.B. Yeats and others. An Emergent Modernsim: Caradoc Evans, My People. James Joyce, Dubliners. Language and Identity: Brian Friel: Translations. R.S. Thomas, Welsh Airs. Contemporary Poetics: Menna Elfyn, Gillian Clarke, Eavan Boland, Medbh McGuckian

4. Wales and Afro-America (Clases 7 and 8) The Welsh and Harlem Renaissances: Saunders Lewis, Selected Writings. W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk. Langston Hughes and Idris Davies Cultural Invisibility: Ralph Ellison and Emlyn Williams. Vernacular Poetics: Mike Jenkins, Harri Webb, Lloyd Robson, Robert Hayden, Michael Harper, Gwendolyn Brooks.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

• a grasp of contemporary theories of comparative literature
• an ability to draw comparisons between different literary traditions
• an ability to apply, and to discuss the merits of, several different approaches to literature
• a broad awareness of literary and cultural developments in Welsh, Irish and African American literature.
• a sensitivity to significant cultural, linguistic and aesthetic differences.

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:

Final choice of texts for study will be determined, in part, by availability, since much of the work is out of print. The following list of texts is therefore indicative only: Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities.
Susan Basnett, Comparative Literature
Grahame Davies ed., Oxygen
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison , Flying Home
Caradoc Evans, My People The Faber Book of Irish Poetry
Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth
Frantz Fanon, Black Skins, White Masks.
Brian Friel, Translations
Paul Gilroy, The Black Atlantic
Katie Gramch ed., Welsh Women’s Poetry 1460 – 2001
Emyr Humphreys, Conversations and Reflections
C.L.R.James, The C.L.R. James Reader
James Joyce Dubliners
Saunders Lewis, ‘Is there an Anglo-Welsh Literature?’ The Norton Anthology of African American Literature
Ernest Rhys, Welsh Ballads
Edward Said, The World, The Text and the Critic
Marc Shell, Children of the Earth
R.S. Thomas, Welsh Airs
Raymond Williams, Border Country
Raymond Williams, Who Speaks for Wales?
W.B. Yeats, Collected Poems

Secondary Reading:

A twelve-page bibliography, divided into sections, is issued for the MA in Welsh Writing in English. The attention of the student 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