1st Edition

A Critical Reappraisal of the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony

By Fergus Dunne Copyright 2019
    298 Pages
    by Routledge

    298 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book resituates Francis Sylvester Mahony in an early nineteenth-century literary-historical context, counteracting the efforts of twentieth-century literary historians to obscure his contribution to the emergence of a distinctive Irish Catholic fiction in English. This volume re-explores his ambivalent role as a Catholic unionist contributor to the progressive Tory London periodical, Fraser’s Magazine, examining his use of translation to map out an alternative literary aesthetic of the peripheries. The book also traces the development of his political thinking in his Italian journalism for Charles Dickens’ Daily News, in which he responded to the events of the Famine by finding common cause with Young Ireland, and looks afresh at his final incarnation as a British Liberal commentator on Irish and European affairs for the Globe newspaper. More broadly, the book seeks to re-evaluate Mahony’s cosmopolitan writings in relation to the multifaceted, transnational perspectives on Irish, British, and European affairs presented in his essays and journalism.

    Table of Contents



    Introduction





    Biographical Overview





    Section 1.





    1. Centrally Peripheral, Peripherally Central: The "Prout Papers" of Francis Sylvester Mahony





    William Maginn, Cork, and Fraser’s Magazine



    The "Prout Papers"



    Mahony and O’Connell



    Classicism and Cultural Continuity



    Peripheral Considerations?



    Conclusion





    2. "Oppression Makes a Wise Man Mad": Representations of Jonathan Swift in the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony





    Economic Patriot?



    Fictional Considerations: Sincerity and Irony



    Conclusion





    3. "Attaining Majority" in the Celtic Peripheries: Francis Sylvester Mahony, Walter Scott, and "The Groves of Blarney"





    "A Plea for Pilgrimages"



    Antiquarianism and Narrative History



    "The Groves of Blarney"



    Conclusion





    4. The Politics of Translation in "The Rogueries of Thomas Moore"





    Moore as Nationalist Commentator



    (Mis)representing the Irish Past



    The Politicization of Historical Discourse



    Equivalence and Politicized Translation



    Conclusion



    5. "Custom Doth Make Dotards of Us All": Peripheral Perspectives on the Center in the "Prout Papers" and Sartor Resartus





    Mahony, Carlyle, and Sartor Resartus



    Intercultural Dialogue: Scottish and Irish Correlations



    Translating the Center and Periphery



    Cultural Translation



    Conclusion





    Section 2.





    6. "From Cork […] to St. Peter’s Cupola": The Idea of Italy in the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony





    Mahony and The Daily News



    Allegorizing Italian History



    "The Fag End of an Old Reign"



    "Unfurling the Banner of Reform"



    Mahony, Young Ireland, and Roman Republicanism



    Conclusion





    7. "The Independent Expression of Public Opinion": The Paris Correspondence of Francis Sylvester Mahony





    The Globe Correspondence in Context



    Parisian Letters



    Ultramontanism in France



    Mahony and Archbishop Cullen



    Progressive Liberalism and Fenian Republicanism



    Conclusion





    Section 3.





    8. Fragments, Politics, and "The Bells of Shandon"





    Literary and Local Contexts



    "The Bells of Shandon"



    Critical Reception



    Conclusion



    9. "Shameful Literary Traditions": Daniel Corkery and the Literary Reputation of Francis Sylvester Mahony





    Nineteenth-Century Perspectives



    Irish-Ireland, Daniel Corkery, and Literary Expatriation



    Interpreting Mahony after Synge and Anglo-Irish Literature



    Conclusion





    10. Cosmopolitanism in the Margins: Francis Sylvester Mahony, James Clarence Mangan, and the Author-Translator in Nineteenth-Century Irish Literature





    Mahony and Mangan as Irish Catholic Magazinists



    Indirection and Pseudonymous Authorship



    Parodic Translation and Literary Paternity



    Conclusion

    Biography

    Fergus Dunne received his Ph.D. in Anglo-Irish literature at the University of Sussex. His dissertation presented a critical reappraisal of the texts and contexts of Francis Sylvester Mahony. He has published several articles on various aspects of Mahony’s literary and journalistic careers in international peer-reviewed journals.