The German Irish Studies Itinerary: Great Irish Novels of the Twenty-First Century celebrates contemporary Irish culture through a lecture series innovative in its format and execution: EFACIS-related experts in the field of Irish Literary Studies collaborate to connect eleven German universities which feature a substantial Irish Studies component. Each of the fifteen experts will be travelling (if – alas! – only digitally in these times of Corona) to several different universities in Germany to talk about their favourite Irish novels of the twenty-first century. The project addresses the challenging situation of Irish Studies in Germany, and supports individual scholars in their endeavours to put Irish Studies back on the map of their institutions and regions.

The lectures introduce students, scholars and interested citizens to internationally celebrated and award-winning Irish fiction. In their analyses and interpretations, leading experts from across Europe will be demonstrating how these novels build on a rich heritage and contribute to discussing traditional, as well as to fashioning contemporary, Irish identities at the intersections of class, gender, race, religion and sexuality, while also intervening in (pre- and post-Brexit) political and cultural debates. Q&A sessions will engage the audiences in discussions and create a deeper understanding of the Irish heritage and contemporary debates in and about Ireland, Northern Ireland and the global Irish.

A collection of articles based on the lectures will further address an international academic audience by reflecting on theories and practices of analysing, interpreting and evaluating contemporary fiction.

The project is funded by the Emigrant Support Programme of the Government of Ireland, administered by the Irish Abroad Unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Embassy of Ireland, Berlin. We work in close cooperation with the European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies (EFACIS). The Center for Narrative Research / Zentrum für Erzählforschung (CNR/ZEF) is an important partner at the University of Wuppertal.

For more information contact the project manager Prof. Dr. Katharina Rennhak (rennhak@uni-wuppertal.de). If you would like to attend a lecture, please contact the local organisers.

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