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The Vanishing World of The Islandman pp 103–118Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

A Continental Epic

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Literary Anthropology ((PSLA))

Abstract

The appeal of a simple, peasant lifestyle that was disappearing in the wake of industrialisation and urbanisation prompted European contemporaries of Tomás Ó Criomhthain (such as Knut Hamsun and Hermann Hesse) to pen novels highlighting the relationship between humans and the natural environment. This continental nostalgia for a pre-industrial society may have sparked European interest in Tomás’s memoir, which was translated into English, Swedish, Danish, French, German, Italian and (partly) Spanish. In this chapter, Nic Craith explores the universality of The Great Blasket Island memoir in the broader European context. She looks at translators such as Heinrich Böll and considers the reaction and consumption of translations of The Islandman in the wider European context.

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  1. Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK

    Máiréad Nic Craith

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  1. Máiréad Nic Craith
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Correspondence to Máiréad Nic Craith .

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Nic Craith, M. (2020). A Continental Epic. In: The Vanishing World of The Islandman. Palgrave Studies in Literary Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25775-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25775-0_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25774-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25775-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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