From aithirne the importunate to Robert McLiam Wilson: a preliminary overview on the Irish satiric tradition

Abstract

Among the multiplicity of genres and modes Irish authors have cultivated, it seems that satire has prevailingly flourished throughout the history of Irish literature. From the first invectives of Aithirne the Importunate to the works of contemporary authors such as Robert McLiam Wilson or Colin Bateman, satire has been an indissoluble component of the social, political and religious life of Ireland. It is no wonder, thus, that some of the most prestigious Irish writers -namely Jonathan Swift, Richard Sheridan, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Austin Clarke, or even James Joyce- have been unanimously praised and recognised as satirists. My purpose in this paper will be to trace a preliminary overview on the role satire has played in the Irish literary tradition, focusing on several authors and on how their targets and rhetorical strategies have evolved from Aithirne's early invectives. Therefore, this paper will purport to analyse issues such as the tumultuous relationship between Ireland and Great Britain, the unquestionable authority exerted by the Church, and the way recent novelists envisage the so-called Northern Irish "Troubles"