Irish Poetry and the Construction of Modern Identity: Ireland Between Fantasy and History

The emergence of literary Modernism in Ireland is intricately linked to influential figures like James Joyce, W. B. Yeats, and Samuel Beckett, who navigated the complexities of a nation slow to embrace modernity. Following the pivotal Easter 1916 insurrection, Ireland's writers faced a cultural and political landscape resistant to modernization, leading many to become 'inner migrants.' The second generation of Irish Modernists, including Beckett and others, sought to break free from the restrictive norms of 1930s Ireland, challenging the artistic legacy of Yeats.