Modern literature in Irish

The Irish-language literature is the part of Irish literature, which was written in the Irish language. They range in date from the early Middle Ages to today.

Old Irish

When the first written record on Irish Ogham inscriptions have to apply, but they are difficult to describe as literature. The written texts on the stones consist only of personal names in the genitive ( Stone / field? / Possession? For ...), which are occasionally supplemented by brief information.

From the 7th century there are the first sources in Latin script. In particular, the glosses are mentioned, usually short, sometimes long Irish-language comments to Latin main texts in manuscripts. These are now preserved mainly in St. Gallen, Würzburg and Milan and are language historically very important. In addition, literary monuments have been preserved from that time, first in the form of poems. A certain notoriety has probably originated in southern Germany poem ocus Pangur Bán fair ( "I and my white Pangur " ) obtained in which an Irish monk sings the togetherness of the monastic cell with his white cat. It has remained on the margins of a manuscript. Glosses and some poems are the only surviving direct sources of the Old Irish period ( Sean Ghaeilge, Old Irish, about 600-900 ).

Middle Irish

In the following centuries (Middle Irish, mean- Ghaeilge, Middle Irish, about 900-1200 ), however, the Irish literature experienced a huge boom. It forms the most extensive preserved medieval text corpus in Western Europe. Especially in the monasteries new works were created. However, one also older texts have been meticulously copied, recompiled, and thereby often modernized language and / or content or corrected supposedly. (The language had evolved, and older spellings or inflectional endings were often viewed as wrong or outdated ).

Originated in this period, among other many intermixed with poetry prose narratives parts, which ( The Cattle Raid of Cuailgne / Cooley ) is the Táin Bó Cuailgne probably the most famous and important. Many of the legends of the hero Cú Chulainn still form a basis of Irish mythology and folklore. The Táin is the central part of the Ulster Cycle, one of the four narrative cycles, in the Central Irish sagas are divided by today's science. In addition to this cycle of the Mythological Cycle, the later Finn cycle and the Historical cycle are significant.

Even poetry, genealogies, medical treatises, places and persons legends arose. Also worth mentioning is the extensive corpus of legal texts (partly in Irish and partly Latin). The latter is mainly used for the reconstruction of the Old Irish meaning, since the texts often resorted to the elderly and the scribes in copying an old legal text apparently reluctant introduced changes than in other texts.

Frühneuirisch / Classic Irish

In the centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1169 ( Frühneuirisch, Nua - Ghaeilge Chlasaiceach, Early Modern Irish, about 1200-1600 ), the literary and copying activity gradually shifted from the monasteries on a number of private, wealthy families over. The nature of the resulting texts corresponds by and large, however, the language of the previous stage. There was a variety of new works, as more or less new genus especially eulogies and elegies, which were mostly written on behalf of local rulers. But it was still very extensively copied.

It should be emphasized living on the finale of the classical period Seathrún Céitinn ( Geoffrey Keating ), whose language and style formative to the revival of the Irish remained as a literary language, especially its historical work Fios Feasa ar Éirinn.

Neuirisch

1600 is considered the beginning of the period neuirischen ( Nua - Ghaeilge, Modern Irish ). 1607 the remnants of the native nobility are sold. The most serious consequence for the literature is that with it the existing institutionalized system of contract and employers or patrons on the one hand and poets and scribes on the other hand disappeared and several poets were unemployed, as bards went on tour and had to hire. By the end of the 19th century Irish literature came slowly but surely to a halt. While even older manuscripts were copied to a limited extent and reassembled, but little has been sealed. Worth mentioning is the romantic Aisling lyrics ( "Vision" ), in which the recurrence of an old time was summoned, as well as some individual works as the mourning poem Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire ( The Lament for Art Ó Laohaire ) and the longer poem Cúirt to Mheán Oíche are ( The midnight Court ).

Revival

End of the 19th century there was a renaissance of Irish. In this movement though was ultimately only a small part of the population involved ( by far not only Catholics! ), But he captured almost all areas of public life, even sports. From this boom benefited up to now the literature.

Séadna Peadar Ua Laoghaire Father: In 1900, the first two Irish novels, in 1904 the first novel of lasting importance published. In the following years, a fairly high number of Erzählungs and volumes of poetry as well as novels and plays, was born. Until the Second World War, to a lesser extent until the 1960s, various literary conventions were tested, which results in a pretty rain and lively literary scene since the 1970s. As the most important book in the Irish language is still Cré na Cille ( Graveyard Earth, 1949) by Máirtín Ó Cadhain, a native of Connemara, but spent most of his life as an Irish teacher in Dublin. The English translation of difficult to translate the book is apparently no longer installed, otherwise there is only one Norwegian edition. Only a few other important authors: Eoghan Ó Tuairisc ( Fwd prose ), Diarmaid Ó Súilleabháin ( Fwd prose ), Máire Mhac to tSaoi ( poetry), Máirtín Ó Direáin ( poetry), Seamas Mac Annaidh ( prose ), Pádraic Breathnach ( prose ), Micheál Ó Conghaile ( both), Alan Titley ( prose and reviews ), Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill ( poetry), Gabriel Rosenstock ( poetry).

Especially numerous works of Irish literature fall into the category of autobiography. Many residents of the Gaeltacht and other rural areas, partly under the guidance of linguists or anthropologists, written and published their life stories. Since about the 1960s, this species is less common. For a long time this body was formed under predominantly linguistic aspect of a central field of literary criticism. In recent times, however, these works are considered in literary terms as peripheral. Particularly well known are the so-called Blasket Biographies, which were laid in Germany.

Given the low numbers of parent and Erstsprachlern the number of published books in Irish is surprisingly high. Be read but mostly by the same group of people, who also wrote this: educated citizens with cultural interest. Early to mid- 20th century there were such a thing as farming and fishing literature, the value of which is now, however, often viewed more as a sociological or linguistic rather than as literary.

Translations

In German published works of Irish language ( usually translated via the detour of English ):

• Breandán Ó hEithir: Lead us not into temptation ( Lig sense i gCathú, 1976). Kiepenheuer, Leipzig 1985.
• Flann O'Brien: The Barmen or Irish CV (An Béal Bocht under the name Myles na gCopaleen, 1941). Suhrkamp, most recently in 2001.
• Dónall Mac Amhlaidh: The Alphabetagam ( Schnitzer Ó Sé, 1960). Red Book, most recently in 2001.
• Pádraig Standún: The cattle (An tAinmhí, 1992). Pendragon 1999.
• Tomás Ó Criomhthain ( Tomás O'Crohan ) Boats depart not from (An tOileánach, 1929). Lamuv 1983.
• Peig Sayers: So Irish I ( Peig, 1936). Lamuv 1996.
• Muiris Ó Súilleabháin: island home ( Fiche Bliain ag Fás, 1933). Manesseplatz 1956.
• Jürgen Schneider ( eds.): Irrlandt Ireland Ireland. Special Band Edition Print House 11 Galrev 1993.