Inventing Modernism: Synge, Joyce and Ibsen

Synge, Joyce and Ibsen in varying ways instigate literary modernism. But the Irish writers take up seemingly opposing stances on Ibsen, an essential predecessor. Where Joyce enthusiastically embraces him, learning Norwegian as a student and publishing a precocious review of When We Dead Awaken in 1900, Synge prominently distances himself in the Preface to The Playboy of the Western World in 1907 from his “joyless and pallid words”. This lecture will explore their varying relations to Ibsen and the points of contact between their work and his. It will be argued that their polemical positions on Ibsen mask ongoing debates in their writing on the nature of the modern Irish play and its political and literary underpinnings, the symbolic function of women in modernity, and the shaping role of the European in Irish identity. Where Synge’s plays subsume aspects of Ibsen’s themes and motifs, they also reveal a constellation of influences from other avant-garde European playwrights, especially Maurice Maeterlinck. By contrast, Joyce’s sole play, Exiles (1918), even though it may be read as a homage to Ibsen, seeks to deconstruct and move beyond his themes and influence.  

Participation 

If you are interested in participating in this online event, please sign up by sending an email with the subject line “SYNGE” to irishstudies@uni-wuerzburg.de by April 15, 2024. Please include your full name and affiliation. Online participants will receive a zoom link to the event in due time.