Title: Dialogues with Classics: A Glimpse at Contemporary Irish Literature

Abstract: With its ongoing richness, contemporary Irish literature deserves more critical attention. This article focuses on the trend of modern adaptations by Irish writers of classic texts, using it to showcase the basic features and prosperity of contemporary Irish literature, and exploring possible reasons for the existence of such a trend. Besides others, two forceful drives might be the need to depoliticize literary subjects after the alleviation of the political tensions in Northern Ireland and the cross-border artistic expression and cooperation in an age of globalization.

Keywords: contemporary Irish literature, modern adaptation of classic texts, Irish studies

Author: Li Chen, Professor, English College, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China.