A Critical Reappraisal of the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony PDF
Preview A Critical Reappraisal of the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony
A Critical Reappraisal of the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony This book resituates Francis Sylvester Mahony in an early n ineteenth- 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. To this end, it reexplores his ambivalent role as a Catholic unionist contributor to the progressive Tory London periodical, Fraser’s Magazine, examining, in particular, his use of translation to map out an alternative literary aesthetic of the peripheries. It also traces the development of his political thinking in his Italian journal- ism for Charles Dickens’s Daily News, in which he responded to the events of the Famine by finding a common cause with Young Ireland, and his final incarnation as a British Liberal commentator on Irish and E uropean affairs for the Globe newspaper. More broadly, the book seeks to reevalu- ate Mahony’s cosmopolitan writings in relation to the multifaceted, trans- national perspectives on Irish, British, and European affairs presented in his essays and journalism. It links his ironic reimagining of figures such as Swift, Scott, and Moore in his periodical fiction to the ascension of the reader in the post-Romantic period, reinterpreting his comic writings as a sustained, translation-based critique of the Anglo-Irish tradition that was part of a foundational moment in Irish literature. Fergus Dunne received his Ph.D. in Anglo-Irish Literature at the Univer- sity 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. Routledge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature 34 Melville and the Question of Meaning David Faflik 35 Inventing the Popular Printing, Politics, and Poetics Bettina Lerner 36 Writing Place Mimesis, Subjectivity and Imagination in the Works of George Gissing Rebecca Hutcheon 37 Wilde’s Other Worlds Edited by Michael F. Davis & Petra Dierkes-Thrun 38 Mark X Who Killed Huck Finn’s Father? Yasuhiro Takeuchi 39 Sensational Deviance Disability in Nineteenth-Century Sensation Fiction Heidi Logan 40 Gothic Peregrinations The Unexplored and Re-explored Gothic Territories Edited by Agnieszka Łowczanin, Katarzyna Małecka 41 A Critical Reappraisal of the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony Fergus Dunne For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com A Critical Reappraisal of the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony Fergus Dunne First published 2019 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Taylor & Francis The right of Fergus Dunne to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data CIP data has been applied for. ISBN: 978-0-367-00112-4 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-43998-8 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by codeMantra For Dolores and Frank, in gratitude Contents Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Biographical Overview 10 SeCtION 1 23 1 Centrally Peripheral, Peripherally Central: the “Prout Papers” of Francis Sylvester Mahony 25 William Maginn, Cork, and Fraser’s Magazine 26 The “Prout Papers” 28 Mahony and O’Connell 31 Classicism and Cultural Continuity 35 Peripheral Considerations? 38 Conclusion 43 2 “Oppression Makes a Wise Man Mad”: Representations of Jonathan Swift in the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony 49 Economic Patriot? 50 Fictional Considerations: Sincerity and Irony 59 Conclusion 68 3 “Attaining Majority” in the Celtic Peripheries: Francis Sylvester Mahony, Walter Scott, and “the Groves of Blarney” 73 “A Plea for Pilgrimages” 73 Antiquarianism and Narrative History 77 “The Groves of Blarney” 82 Conclusion 93 viii Contents 4 the Politics of translation in “the Rogueries of thomas Moore” 99 Moore as Nationalist Commentator 100 (Mis)representing the Irish Past 102 The Politicization of Historical Discourse 110 Equivalence and Politicized Translation 114 Conclusion 120 5 “Custom Doth Make Dotards of Us All”: Peripheral Perspectives on the Center in the “Prout Papers” and Sartor Resartus 125 Mahony, Carlyle, and Sartor Resartus 125 Intercultural Dialogue: Scottish and Irish Correlations 132 Translating the Center and Periphery 136 Cultural Translation 138 Conclusion 142 SeCtION 2 149 6 “From Cork […] to St. Peter’s Cupola”: the Idea of Italy in the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony 151 Mahony and The Daily News 152 Allegorizing Italian History 154 “The Fag End of an Old Reign” 157 “Unfurling the Banner of Reform” 160 Mahony, Young Ireland, and Roman Republicanism 163 Conclusion 174 7 “the Independent expression of Public Opinion”: the Paris Correspondence of Francis Sylvester Mahony 181 The Globe Correspondence in Context 182 Parisian Letters 184 Ultramontanism in France 186 Mahony and Archbishop Cullen 189 Progressive Liberalism and Fenian Republicanism 195 Conclusion 201 Contents ix SeCtION 3 207 8 Fragments, Politics, and “the Bells of Shandon” 209 Literary and Local Contexts 211 “The Bells of Shandon” 215 Critical Reception 219 Conclusion 225 9 “Shameful Literary traditions”: Daniel Corkery and the Literary Reputation of Francis Sylvester Mahony 230 Nineteenth-Century Perspectives 231 Irish-Ireland, Daniel Corkery, and Literary Expatriation 234 Interpreting Mahony after Synge and Anglo-Irish Literature 241 Conclusion 246 10 Cosmopolitanism in the Margins: Francis Sylvester Mahony, James Clarence Mangan, and the Author- translator in Nineteenth-Century Irish Literature 251 Mahony and Mangan as Irish Catholic Magazinists 253 Indirection and Pseudonymous Authorship 256 Maginn as Precursor and Literary Authority 261 Parodic Translation and Literary Paternity 263 Conclusion 269 Index 275
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