This book meticulously analyzes Cruiskeen Lawn, a popular column published in The Irish Times by Irish writer Myles na gCopaleen (real name Brian O'Nolan, though also known as Flann O'Brien), from 1940 to 1966. Cruiskeen Lawn was a comic literary column devoted to offering a sharp and incisive portrait of mid-twentieth century Ireland. Conscious of the historical significance of twenty-six years worth of political commentary by a renowned intellectual figure such as O Nolan, this book examines the total of 4,032 newspaper articles that compose Cruiskeen Lawn with a twofold aim: firstly, to understand Myles na gCopaleen s Cruiskeen Lawn as a work of political commentary and to view the column as a historical account of mid-twentieth century Ireland; and secondly, to determine O Nolan s own political philosophy through a close reading of his opinions on the political events discussed throughout the book.
1. Introduction.- 2. Historical Background.- 3. Cruiskeen Lawn and the Emergency.- 4. Cruiskeen Lawn and the Years of Stagnation (1945-54).- 5. Cruiskeen Lawn and the Years of Expansion (1954-66).- 6. Afterword.
Germán Asensio Peral is a lecturer in the Department of Philology at University of Almeria, Spain, where he teaches courses on 16th-century, 19th-century, and 20th-century literature, as well as introductory courses on general and applied linguistics.
