Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DIARIES (Textuality, Place, and the Self: Reimagining Life Writing through Women’s Diaries from Ireland, 1725-1810)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-04-01 do 2023-03-31
There has been an upsurge of scholarly research devoted to life writing in recent years, given the contemporary world’s fascination with ideas of self-presentation and curation. However, there is a dearth of work on the topic regarding Ireland and the long eighteenth century. This project challenged such oversight, simultaneously analysing diary writing in an explicitly Irish and European context, combining the national with the international. A broader Enlightenment context permitted analysis of how Irish diarists both engaged in and set wider literary and cultural trends, highlighting shared experiences and differences. The Irish perspective allows for the exploration of the effects of such geographically contingent issues as colonisation, religion, and improvement upon diary composition, as well as the exploration of national identity from a female perspective. The project has also identified generic intersections, experimentation, and innovation in evidence, showcasing literary and cultural cross-fertilization, and incorporating innovative methodology on paratext.
The primary research questions for this project were as follows:
O1- How can we better understand the self in a national context, informed by transnational, European developments? What is the significance and impact of an overriding sense of communal, collective identity versus individual identity?
O2- How do Irish diaries disrupt conventional understandings of the genre?
O3- What patterns can be identified within and across generations in the construction of the female self? Are many of the anxieties and preoccupations of young people in the 18c still recognisable today?
O4- How do diarists engage with other forms of writing? Can analysis of manuscript paratext permit a better understanding of the relationship between diaries and posterity and the strategies for the achievement of an audience?
O5- Why have women’s achievements in the public and private sphere been overlooked, and how can we better integrate their lives into a central narrative, expanding our corpus of material evidence?
O6- How best can women’s diaries be used to inform the public’s understanding of 18c literature and life in Ireland, and to better empower young people?
Diaries represented an underexplored resource for understanding elite life in eighteenth-century Ireland, and the project has now expanded the conventional corpus of material evidence for understanding Ireland’s literature and culture, contributing to changing public narratives. The project strived towards inclusivity, and the new corpus incorporates diaries by women of all ages, incorporating perspectives of both young people and the elderly, allowing access to cross-generational voices. The project aimed to reconceptualise the diary form and reinvigorate international concepts of the diurnal self, transforming the field of life writing through the production and dissemination of a ground breaking monograph, based on the project’s findings.
The primary research questions for this project were as follows:
O1- How can we better understand the self in a national context, informed by transnational, European developments? What is the significance and impact of an overriding sense of communal, collective identity versus individual identity?
O2- How do Irish diaries disrupt conventional understandings of the genre?
O3- What patterns can be identified within and across generations in the construction of the female self? Are many of the anxieties and preoccupations of young people in the 18c still recognisable today?
O4- How do diarists engage with other forms of writing? Can analysis of manuscript paratext permit a better understanding of the relationship between diaries and posterity and the strategies for the achievement of an audience?
O5- Why have women’s achievements in the public and private sphere been overlooked, and how can we better integrate their lives into a central narrative, expanding our corpus of material evidence?
O6- How best can women’s diaries be used to inform the public’s understanding of 18c literature and life in Ireland, and to better empower young people?
Diaries represented an underexplored resource for understanding elite life in eighteenth-century Ireland, and the project has now expanded the conventional corpus of material evidence for understanding Ireland’s literature and culture, contributing to changing public narratives. The project strived towards inclusivity, and the new corpus incorporates diaries by women of all ages, incorporating perspectives of both young people and the elderly, allowing access to cross-generational voices. The project aimed to reconceptualise the diary form and reinvigorate international concepts of the diurnal self, transforming the field of life writing through the production and dissemination of a ground breaking monograph, based on the project’s findings.
The fellowship enabled the experienced researcher, Dr Amy Prendergast, to undertake a fellowship at Queen’s University Belfast, under the supervision of Professor Moyra Haslett, an expert in eighteenth-century Irish and women’s writing. This project, Textuality, Place, and the Self: Reimagining Life Writing through Women’s Diaries from Ireland, 1725-1810, engaged with overlooked diaries by women across Ireland, particularly carrying out archival research in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
The research has led to high-impact dissemination, forming the basis of Prendergast’s second monograph. A full draft has been completed and the work is now under contract with Liverpool University Press. Forthcoming dissemination plans include a journal article and an invited conference paper in York.
Exploring the creative potentials of exchange between university and practitioner organisations, the project also allowed for the establishment of a relationship with the National Trust, initiating research collaboration with Castle Ward in particular.
The pioneering research generated was innovatively disseminated for diverse audiences within and beyond the academy, prioritising engagement across generations. In addition to 3 conference papers within QUB and 2 to external audiences, in London and Oxford, Prendergast’s participation in International HERstory Makers virtual events, as part of Explorathon, European Researchers’ Night, was aimed directly at second level students.
Working at QUB gave Prendergast the chance to develop a range of networks across the island of Ireland as well as across the United Kingdom. Prendergast was invited to present papers across Ireland and England as well as to become section editor for a prestigious online resource (Elizabeth Montagu Collection Online), based in the University of Swansea. Prendergast was invited – and accepted – to become Secretary for the interdisciplinary scholarly community, the Eighteenth-Century Ireland Society, and joined the Committee for the Centre for Eighteenth-Century Studies. In this latter position, she played a full role in planning and organising CECS events.
These achievements were recognised by Queen’s University Belfast when Prendergast was nominated and subsequently received a high commendation for the AHSS Postdoc awards (Research Category).
The fellowship augmented and advanced Prendergast’s international reputation as a leading scholar of Eighteenth-Century Studies and an emerging expert in life writing, enabling her to realise her outstanding potential. It positioned her to secure a permanent lectureship in a prominent European University. The project was ended early as Prendergast is now Assistant Professor in Eighteenth-Century Studies at Trinity College Dublin.
The research has led to high-impact dissemination, forming the basis of Prendergast’s second monograph. A full draft has been completed and the work is now under contract with Liverpool University Press. Forthcoming dissemination plans include a journal article and an invited conference paper in York.
Exploring the creative potentials of exchange between university and practitioner organisations, the project also allowed for the establishment of a relationship with the National Trust, initiating research collaboration with Castle Ward in particular.
The pioneering research generated was innovatively disseminated for diverse audiences within and beyond the academy, prioritising engagement across generations. In addition to 3 conference papers within QUB and 2 to external audiences, in London and Oxford, Prendergast’s participation in International HERstory Makers virtual events, as part of Explorathon, European Researchers’ Night, was aimed directly at second level students.
Working at QUB gave Prendergast the chance to develop a range of networks across the island of Ireland as well as across the United Kingdom. Prendergast was invited to present papers across Ireland and England as well as to become section editor for a prestigious online resource (Elizabeth Montagu Collection Online), based in the University of Swansea. Prendergast was invited – and accepted – to become Secretary for the interdisciplinary scholarly community, the Eighteenth-Century Ireland Society, and joined the Committee for the Centre for Eighteenth-Century Studies. In this latter position, she played a full role in planning and organising CECS events.
These achievements were recognised by Queen’s University Belfast when Prendergast was nominated and subsequently received a high commendation for the AHSS Postdoc awards (Research Category).
The fellowship augmented and advanced Prendergast’s international reputation as a leading scholar of Eighteenth-Century Studies and an emerging expert in life writing, enabling her to realise her outstanding potential. It positioned her to secure a permanent lectureship in a prominent European University. The project was ended early as Prendergast is now Assistant Professor in Eighteenth-Century Studies at Trinity College Dublin.
Textuality, Place, and the Self: Women’s Diaries from Ireland, 1760–1810 is under contract with Liverpool University Press and due for submission Summer 2023. The book represents path-breaking research in women’s manuscript writing from the eighteenth century. Engaging with overlooked archival diaries by women across Ireland from 1760 to 1810, this book reconceptualises the diary form and reinvigorates the field of life writing. It opens new avenues concerning authorship and female agency, transforming our understanding of women’s contributions to literature and cultural movements. The entirely new corpus allows for the emergence of new perspectives on the self during the period and prompts a re-evaluation of the contours of Irish writing, and changing public perceptions of the period.
The project’s commitment to open access publication means that the book will be produced as a monograph that will be available to all to read, further accelerating its impact, strengthening the public’s understanding of life writing, eighteenth-century women’s lives, and Irish literature in line with the project’s core objectives.
The project’s commitment to open access publication means that the book will be produced as a monograph that will be available to all to read, further accelerating its impact, strengthening the public’s understanding of life writing, eighteenth-century women’s lives, and Irish literature in line with the project’s core objectives.