Irish modernism and the machine

Abstract

This dissertation argues that John Eglinton, James Joyce, Elizabeth Bowen, W.B. Yeats, and Samuel Beckett depict machines in texts in order to interrogate the status of Ireland's modernity. Are trains, dynamos (power generators), and bicycles signs of Ireland’s progress? Instead of an affirmation, I posit that Irish modernists issue a qualification, suggesting that Ireland’s technological development must be accompanied by ideological advancement. Irish modernists thus cast machines as vehicles that operate beyond the bounds of their mechanistic functions. These machines serve also as engines from which to lobby for Ireland’s social, cultural, and ideological progress. With this premise in mind, these writers use images of machines to: 1) envision a cosmopolitan national literary revival movement; 2) redress negative stereotypes of Ireland and Irish people as being "backwards"; 3) reject the post-enlightenment belief in a disenchanted, merely rational world; and 4) counter traditional gender and sexual roles. In all of these instances, Irish modernists endorse outlooks that go against traditional social and cultural grains. Rather, they insist that modernization is a process that necessitates ideological, and not just technological, advancement. Moreover, Irish modernists show that it is only by pushing the boundaries of popular beliefs and practices—and not just the limits of scientific knowledge—that Ireland will embrace a modern identity that engages meaningfully with the complexities of the age.