Middlebrow Modernity: Irish Writers and The New Yorker in the Mid-Twentieth Century

Informazioni relative al progetto

IWandTNYinMID20thC

ID dell’accordo di sovvenzione: 101060007

DOI

10.3030/101060007

Progetto concluso il 28 Luglio 2024

Data della firma CE 30 Giugno 2022

Data di avvio 1 Ottobre 2022

Data di completamento 30 Settembre 2024

Finanziato da

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Costo totale

Nessun dato

Contributo UE

€ 175 920,00

Coordinato da

KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - IWandTNYinMID20thC (Middlebrow Modernity: Irish Writers and The New Yorker in the Mid-Twentieth Century)

Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-10-01 al 2024-09-30

Sintesi del contesto e degli obiettivi generali del progetto

The main objective of the project to provide a cultural history of Irish writers' connections with The New Yorker in the mid-twentieth century. I will first conduct a comprehensive survey of Irish writers' contributions in The New Yorker from 1940 to 1980. Based on this survey, I will offer fresh readings of the Irish stories within the publishing context of the magazine. This close reading will be guided by the methodologies of periodical studies, the new modernist studies, and middlebrow culture studies. In addition, I will conduct archival research to look at contracts, payments, and editorial letters to establish the financial and editorial relationships between the Irish writers and The New Yorker.

Telling the cultural history of Irish writers' connections with one of the most important American magazines, this project will contribute to a better understanding of the transatlantic dimension of Irish literary production in the mid-twentieth century. This understanding will in turn provide an important historical account to position Irish literature in the global literary marketplace from the twentieth century to our present time.

Lavoro eseguito dall’inizio del progetto fino alla fine del periodo coperto dalla relazione e principali risultati finora ottenuti

I used The New Yorker's digital archive to carefully document Irish writers publishing in the magazine from 1940 to 1980. I also conducted archival research and consulted secondary references (individual writers' bibliographies, memoirs, and collections of letters) to ensure the accuracy of the record. This survey is published as a digital dataset via KU Leuven's digital repository RDR.

Based on this survey, I performed close reading of the Irish texts, using the methodologies and critical frameworks of periodical studies, the new modernist studies, and middlebrow culture studies. This critical engagement of the texts resulted in two journal articles: one in the Irish University Review, the other in the Journal of Modern Periodical Studies. These two journals are leading publications in the fields of Irish studies and periodical studies. I have also submitted an article for an edited volume, the Edinburgh Companion to Irish Literature and Periodical Culture, which is forthcoming in 2025/2026.

I submitted a book proposal, along with a sample chapter, to Liverpool University Press. The proposal is still under review.

Progressi oltre lo stato dell’arte e potenziale impatto previsto (incluso l’impatto socioeconomico e le implicazioni sociali più ampie del progetto fino ad ora)

Irish writers' remarkable presence in The New Yorker has been noticed by critics, but no extensive research has been done on this topic. This MSCA project will fill in this critical gap. It will also provide an important reference point for further investigation of Irish writers publishing in other American magazines during the mid-twentieth century. In addition to The New Yorker, Irish writers published widely in other American commercial magazines, including the Saturday Evening Post, the Ladies' Home Journal, Esquire, Vogue, Mademoiselle, and Harper's Bazaar, etc. How extensive was this Irish presence in comparison to other foreign national groups? What were the driving forces of Irish writers seeking publishing opportunities in the US? How did the US magazine market shaped the Irish literary production in the mid-century and beyond? These questions await further critical investigation.