The Cambridge History of Welsh Literature

This book is a comprehensive single-volume history of literature in the two major languages of Wales from post-Roman to post-devolution Britain.

Geraint Evans (Edited by), Helen Fulton (Edited by)

9781107106765, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 April 2019

854 pages, 8 maps
23.4 x 15.5 x 5 cm, 1.33 kg

'… medieval literature is well served, the essays, citations, and bibliography offering a reliable and informative guide.' Jenny Rowland, Cambrian Mediaeval Celtic Studies

The literature of Wales is one of the oldest continuous literary traditions in Europe. The earliest surviving poetry was forged in the battlefields of post-Roman Wales and the 'Old North' of Britain, and the Welsh-language poets of today still write within the same poetic tradition. In the early twentieth century, Welsh writers in English outnumbered writers in Welsh for the first time, generating new modes of writing and a crisis of national identity which began to resolve itself at the end of the twentieth century with the political devolution of Wales within the United Kingdom. By considering the two literatures side by side, this book argues that bilingualism is now a normative condition in Wales. Written by leading scholars, this book provides a comprehensive chronological guide to fifteen centuries of Welsh literature and Welsh writing in English against a backdrop of key historical and political events in Britain.

Introduction Geraint Evans and Helen Fulton
Part I. Britain, Wales, England: 1. Britain, Wales, England, c. 600–1450 Euryn Rhys Roberts
2. Britons and Saxons: the earliest writing in Welsh Helen Fulton
3. Magic and marvels Mark Williams
4. Commemorating the past after 1066: tales from the Mabinogion Diana Luft
5. Court poetry and historiography before 1282 Catherine McKenna
6. The aftermath of 1282: Dafydd ap Gwilym and his contemporaries Dafydd Johnston
7. Literary networks and patrons in late medieval Wales Helen Fulton
Part II. After the Acts of Union: 8. The Acts of Union: culture and religion in Wales, c. 1540–1700 Katharine K. Olson
9. Welsh humanism after 1536 Angharad Price
10. Drama and performance in medieval and early modern Wales David N. Klausner
11. Tudor London and the origins of Welsh writing in English Geraint Evans
12. Bibles and bards in Tudor and early Stuart Wales Gruffydd Aled Williams
Part III. Revolution and Industry: 13. Revolution, culture, and industry, c. 1700–1850 Paul O'Leary
14. Antiquarianism and Englightenment in the eighteenth century Mary-Ann Constantine
15. Romantic Wales and the Eisteddfod Elizabeth Edwards
16. Popular poetry, methodism, and the ascendancy of the hymn E. Wyn James
17. Travel, translation, and temperance: the origins of the Welsh novel Katie Gramich
Part IV. The Transition to Modernity: 18. The modern age, c. 1850–1945 Chris Williams
19. T. Gwynn Jones and the renaissance of Welsh poetry Robert Rhys
20. Industrial fiction Stephen Knight
21. From nonconformist nation to proletarian nation: writing Wales, 1885–1930 M. Wynn Thomas
22. The short story in the twentieth century Michelle Deininger
23. Welsh modernist writing in Wales and London Geraint Evans
24. The poetry revolution: Dylan Thomas and his circle William Christie
Part V. The Path to Nationhood in the Late Twentieth Century: 25. Debating nationhood, c. 1945–2000 Seán Aeron Martin and Mari Elin Wiliam
26. The legacy of Saunders Lewis Tudur Hallam
27. R. S. Thomas, Emyr Humphreys, and the possibility of a bilingual culture Andrew Webb
28. Inventing Welsh writing in English Diana Wallace
29. Exile and diaspora: Welsh writing outside Wales Melinda Gray
30. Literary periodicals and the publishing industry Lisa Sheppard
31. 'Beyond the Fields We Know': Wales and fantasy literature Susan Aronstein
32. Theatre, film, and television in Wales in the twentieth century Jamie Medhurst
Part VI. After Devolution: 33. The dragon finds a tongue: devolution and government in Wales since 1997 Kevin Williams
34. 'Amlhau Lleisiau'n Llên': birth and rebirth in Welsh-language literature, 1990–2014 Ll?r Gwyn Lewis
35. Writing the size of Wales Alice Entwistle
Afterword Geraint Evans and Helen Fulton.

Subject Areas: Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB], Literature: history & criticism [DS]