Irish Studies Research Centre
University of Pécs, Faculty of Arts and Humanities
I. General data
The Centre was established by the decision of the Faculty Council in December 2006. It started to work from 1st January 2007.
Co-ordinating department:
Department of English Literatures and Cultures, Institute of English Studies Director of the Centre: Prof. Dr. Mária Kurdi
Members of the Centre from Different Units of the University of Pécs:
1. Department of English Literatures and Cultures, Institute of English Studies Dr. Gabriella Hartvig associate professor
Dr. Gabriella Vöő, assistant professor Dr. Zsuzsanna Csikai, assistant professor
2. Department of English Linguistics, Institute of English Studies Dr. Irén Hegedűs, associate professor
3. Department of Modern Literature and Literary Theory Prof. Dr. Péter P. Müller
Prof. Dr. Antal Bókay
4. Department of History in the Modern Age Dr. Róbert Surányi, retired associate professor 5. Department of Tourism, Faculty of Sciences Dr. János Csapó, assistant professor
6. PhD students Anikó Bach Péter Görcsi
II. Academic Background
The teaching of various fields of modern Irish literature, culture and history (Irish Studies) began in the late 1980s at the English Department of Janus Pannonius University. Since then, we have offered one to four courses in Irish Studies subjects each term and, in many of the other courses, topics related to these areas play a significant part. Over the years there have been
produced a number of theses related to Irish Studies and a few “TDK” papers (undergraduate students’ conference papers). Having been inspired by our courses, some of our previous students have written or are working on their PhD dissertations in the field of Irish literature, culture or history. Since the 1990s, fundings granted by different bodies like the Pro Cultura Research Foundation as well as the generous donations of the Irish Embassy and the British Council have enabled us to acquire relevant books for our library, to invite visiting professors and professional writers, and to help staff members and students attend summer courses and conferences with Irish Studies topics. Colleagues have developed fruitful professional connections with universities in Ireland, for instance with University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, University College at Galway, Queen’s University Belfast.
Within the accredited BA Programme in English Studies (launched in 2006) we tend to advertise both introductory and elective courses in Irish Studies and supervise the writing of BA theses on writers like Yeats, Joyce, Flann O’Brien and Marina Carr.
Within the accredited MA Programme in English Studies (launched in 2009) we teach aspects of Irish literature and culture as part of the following courses:
-- Portraits of Canonical Authors (writers so far included: Jonathan Swift, W. B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney, Samuel Beckett)
-- Empire and Identity (selections include works by Yeats and Joyce)
-- Modern and Contemporary British and Irish Drama I-II (writers included: Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Oscar Wilde, G. B. Shaw, W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, J. M. Synge, Samuel Beckett, Brian Friel, Martin McDonagh, Conor McPherson, Marina Carr)
-- The Reception of British and Irish Authors in Hungary (writers included: Lawrence Sterne, Jonathan Swift, W. B. Yeats, J. M. Synge)
Some of the students choose Irish topics (so far aspects of the work of Yeats and Joyce) for their MA theses.
In 2009 our two-semester Postgraduate Programme in Irish Studies was accredited. Details about it are available at http://www.btk.pte.hu/
On occasion we teach courses on Irish Studies in the Doctoral School of Literary Studies at our university and supervise the writing of dissertations on related topics.
III. Research History
1. Scholarly degrees in the field of Irish Studies Prof. Dr. Mária Kurdi
PhD dissertation (1993): Nemzeti önszemlélet a mai ír drámában 1960-1990 (National Self-portrait in Contemporary Irish Drama 1960-1990)
Habilitation (2000): title of classroom lecture: “The Theatre of Oscar Wilde”; title of scholarly lecture: “Fordítás, átdolgozás, intertextualitás a mai ír drámában” (“Translation, Adaptation and Intertextuality in Contemporary Irish Drama)
Work submitted as part of the application for the title Doctor of Sciences (2011):
Representations of Gender and Female Subjectivity in Contemporary Irish Drama by Women. Dr. Gabriella Hartvig
PhD dissertation (1997): Laurence Sterne Magyarországon 1790-1860 (Laurence Sterne in Hungary 1790-1860 -- supervisor: Bókay)
Dr. Zsuzsanna Csikai
PhD dissertation (2009): Irish Voices of Chekhov: Translations and Adaptations of Chekhov by Contemporary Irish Playwrights. (supervisor: Prof. Dr. Mária Kurdi)
Dr. János Csapó
PhD dissertation (2005): Turizmus Írországban és Magyarországon: öszehasonlító elemzések (Tourism in Ireland and Hungary: Comparative Analyses)
2. Membership in Scholarly Organisations
IASIL (International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures): Prof. Dr. Mária Kurdi International Swift Society: Dr. Gabiella Hartvig
Irish Society for Theatre Research: Prof. Dr. Mária Kurdi 3. Service on the advisory board of journals
Prof. Dr. Mária Kurdi
Estudios Irlandeses
4. Participation in European projects
Contributions to individual volumes of the series by Prof. Dr. Elinor Shaffer, gen. ed., entitled “The Reception of British and Irish Authors in Europe”
Dr. Gabriella Hartvig: respective articles on the reception of Lawrence Sterne and Jonathan Swift in Hungary
Prof. Dr. Mária Kurdi: article on the reception of Oscar Wilde’a drama in Hungary 5. Fields of research
Prof. Dr. Mária Kurdi: modern and contemporary Irish literature and culture, mainly drama; Irish- Hungarian-Central-European intercultural studies
Dr. Gabriella Hartvig: Anglo-Irish fiction and its reception in Hungary; Irish-Hungarian intercultural studies
Dr. Gabriella Vöő: the influence on modern Irish authors on Hungarian literature and culture; Irish-Hungarian intercultural studies
Dr. Zsuzsanna Csikai: adaptations of Chekhov on the Irish stage; Irish drama and translation
Dr. Irén Hegedűs: the English language as used in Ireland
Prof. Dr. Péter P. Müller: the drama of Samuel Beckett and Martin McDonagh, Hungarian productions of Irish plays
Prof. Dr. Antal Bókay: James Joyce in relation to spaces and discourses of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Dr. Róbert Surányi: 20th-century British-Irish relations; Northern Ireland’s political affairs Dr. János Csapó: the development of cultural tourism through parallel examples offered by
Ireland and Hungary
Anikó Bach: space in contemporary Irish drama; issues of gender in the work of Brian Friel és Tom Murphy
Péter Görcsi: the theatre and film of Martin McDonagh
IV. Aims of the Irish Studies Research Centre
1. In the field of teaching, the Centre strengthens and revises the presence of Irish Studies at all levels of education at the home university while fostering cooperation with other educational areas. It follows with attention and helps in developing and co-ordinating any work related to Irish Studies as carried out at the various faculties and departments of the University of Pécs. It also encourages relevant cooperation between departments and by offering lectures contributes to the enrichment of the wider educational programme of the faculty as well as the university. By applying for scholarships it invites guest lecturers, preferably from Ireland, for longer periods or short-term visits.
2. Together with participating scholars from other departments or institutions, the Centre launches a joint research project on Irish-Hungarian literary, cultural and historical relations, with special regard to the fields of reception, translation, literary influences, and cultural and historical parallels. It promotes publications related to these fields in various national and foreign forums, both in English and in Hungarian.
3. The Centre regularly organises programmes related to Irish Studies and invites guest lecturers. It also hosts book launches and international conferences. With the help of various financial resources, it plans to develop the holdings of the library, buy movie cassettes, and subscribe to new journals.
4. The Centre follows with attention the relevant applications, national and international, for the financial support of research work and opportunities for cooperation. It maintains professional relations and continuous communication with the Irish Embassy in Budapest and with departments and scholars at several universities in Ireland, most of all at University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, University College of Galway and Queen’s University Belfast. It aims to establish an exchange programme with one of these institutions. The Centre keeps in close touch and co-operates with similar research centres, scholars and teachers in Hungary, with the Hungarian Joyce Society, the Hungarian Yeats Society, the Hungarian Society for the Study of English, and with international Irish Studies organisations.
V. A Chronological List of Book-length Publications by the Scholars and PhD Students who Participate in the Work of the Centre
(additional lists of over two hundred Irish-related essays, interviews, bibliographies, reviews and translations are not included here, they are available through the MTMT system)
P. Müller, Péter. Central European Playwrights Within and Without the Absurd. Pécs: University Press Pécs, 1996. 114 pp. (Samuel Beckett is a point of reference in the book).
Kurdi, Mária. Nemzeti önszemlélet a mai ír drámában (1960-1990). (National Self-portrait in Contemporary Irish Drama). Budapest: Akadémiai, 1999. 228 pp.
70. Special issue of the Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies 5.1 (1999): 272 pp. (includes an essay by Mária Kurdi)
Hartvig, Gabriella. Laurence Sterne Magyarországon: 1790-1860. (Laurence Sterne in Hungary). Budapest: Argumentum, 2000. 198 pp.
Kurdi, Mária. Codes and Masks: Aspects of Identity in Contemporary Irish Plays in an Intercultural. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag, 2000. 160 pp.
Bókay, Antal, Mária Kurdi, eds. Focus: Papers in English Literary and Cultural Studies. Special Issue on James Joyce. Department of English Literatures and Cultures, University of Pécs, Pécs, 2002. 149 pp. (Contributions include an essay by Zsuzsa Csikai, member of the Centre)
Hartvig, Gabriella, Gabriella Vöő, Mária Kurdi, eds. Mandulavirágzási Tudományos Napok
2002: Az irlandisztika nemzetközisége. (Almond-blossom Scholarly Days 2002: the Internationalism of Irish Studies). Pécs: Pécsi Tudományegyetem, 2002. 66 pp.
(the volume includes contributions by Antal Bókay, János Csapó, Róbert Surányi). Kurdi, Mária, ed. Filológiai Közlöny. Special issue on James Joyce and modernity. 48.3-4
(2002): 137-295. (essays incude one by Antal Bókay)
Kurdi, Mária, ed. Critical Anthology for the Study of Modern Irish Literature. Budapest: Tankönyvkiadó, 2003. 353 pp.
Kurdi, Mária. Otthonkeresés a színpadon: Beszélgetések ír drámaírókkal. (Search for Home on the Stage: Talks with Irish Playwrights). Debrecen: Kossuth Egyetemi Kiadó, 2004. 296 pp.
Kurdi, Mária, ed. Selection from Contemporary Northern Irish Literature. Magyar Napló 17. 1 (2005): 52-69.
Morse, Donald E., Csilla Bertha, and Mária Kurdi, eds. Brian Friel’s Dramatic Artistry: “The Work Has Value.” Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2006. 342 pp. (an interview in it is by Mária Kurdi)
Kurdi, Mária, ed. Literary and Cultural Relations: Ireland, Hungary, and Central and Eastern Europe. Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2009. 263 pp. (the volume includes papers by members of the Centre: Zsuzsa Csikai, Gabriella Hartvig, Péter P. Müller, Gabriella Vöő)
Kurdi, Mária, ed. “Irish Literature and Literary Encounters from Swift to the Present.” Special section of the Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies 15.2 (2009): 329-415. (one of papers is by a member of the Centre, Gabriella Hartvig) Kurdi, Mária. Representations of Gender and Female Subjectivity in Contemporary Irish
Drama by Women. Lewiston, Queenston, Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2010. 249 pp.
Gula, Marianna, Mária Kurdi, István D. Rácz, eds. The Binding Strength of Irish Studies. Festschrift in Honour of Csilla Bertha and Donald E. Morse. Debrecen: Debrecen University Press, 2011. 309 pp. (includes papers by members of the Centre: Gabriella Hartvig, Zsuzsa Csikai)
Kurdi, Mária. Kultúrák között. Magyar és más közép- és kelet-európai emigránsok a kortárs ír prózában és színpadon. (Between Cultures: Hungarian and Other Middle- and East-European Immigrants in Contemporary Irish Prose and Theatre). Budapest: Lucidus, 2011. 168 pp.
Vöő, Gabriella. From the East Looking West: British and Irish Culture and National Self-Definition in Interwar Hungary. Pécs: Institute of English Studies, University of Pécs, 2010. 116 pp.
Kurdi, Mária, ed. Focus: Papers in English Literary and Cultural Studies VIII. Issue on Interfaces between Irish and European Theatre. University of Pécs: Department of English Literatures and Cultures. Pécs, 2012. 144. pp. (the volume includes papers by members of the Centre: Péter P. Müller, Anikó Bach)
Kurdi, Mária, Miriam Haughton guest eds. Irish Theatre International issue: “Perform of Else.” 3.1 (2014). 113. pp.
VI. Programmes and Events Organised by the Centre
2007
May. Invitation of HE Dr. Martin Greene, ambassador of Ireland to the university. He met members of the Centre and gained information about its work, then gave a lecture under the title “Ireland and Postcolonialism.”
September. Organisation of HUSIS I Conference, a two-day event with the participation of scholars from Ireland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and the USA. Invited plenary speakers were: Prof. Dr. Bill McCormack and Dr. Patrick Lonergan. The conference was opened by the ambassador. The following members of the Centre gave papers: Péter P. Müller, Gabriella Hartvig, Zsuzsanna Csikai, Zsuzsanna Zarka, Mária Kurdi, Gabriella Vöő. 2008
June--August. Editing a volume from selected papers of the HUSIS I Conference under the title Literary and Cultural Relations: Ireland, Hungary, and Central and Eastern Europe; talks and work with Carysfort Press, Dublin about its publication.
September. Antal Bókay és Mária Kurdi jointly conducted an undergraduate seminar for students of Hungarian and English on Yeats’s modernist poetry.
2009
January. HUSSE 9 (Hungarian Society for the Study of English) Conference at the University of Pécs, organised by the Institute of English Studies. The Centre contributed to the event by inviting Prof. Dr. Christopher Murray (University College Dublin), who gave a plenary lecture about playwright Brian Friel in honoue of his 80th birthday. At the conference Mária Kurdi received the Országh László Award, which she earned mainly for her scholarly work in the field of Irish Studies. At the event the Ambassador of Ireland to Hungary was also present.
December. The volume Literary and Cultural Relations: Ireland, Hungary, and Central and Eastern Europe was launched at the Arts’ House in Pécs. The book launch was conducted by Irish literature expert Dr. Ferenc Takács from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest.
November. The Centre invited HE John Deady, the newly appointed Irish Ambassador to visit the Institute of English Studies. He had discussions with members of the Centre and other colleagues, then gave a talk on the topic “The Current Economic Situation in Ireland.” 2011
April 29-30. ISTR (Irish Society for Theatre Research) 6 Conference, jointly hosted by the Centre and the Institute of English Studies. Papers were gvien by Irish, Hungarian, British, American and Czech scholars as well as PhD students on the general theme “Interfaces between Irish and European Theatre.” The invited plenary speakers were Prof. Dr. Marvin Carlson and Dr. Paul Murphy. The following members of the Centre gave papers: Péter P. Müller, Gabriella Hartvig, Anikó Bach, Miklós Nyisztor.
November. Invitation of Dr. Tamás Péterváry (Galway) to give a lecture on “Sociolinguistics of the Irish Gaelic language, developing an ethnolinguistic approach.”
2012
January-February. Publication of a collection of papers from the ISTR 6 Conference. Launching of the collection at Projects Arts Centre, Dublin by Dr. Melissa Sihra, president of the organisation. (the collection contains respective papers by the following members of the Centre: Péter P. Müller, Anikó Bach)
2013
April. Hosting northern Irish poet Medbh McGuckian, who gave a poetry reading moderated by Dr. Borbála Faragó (Dublin).
2014
May. His Excellency, Kevin Dowling visited the Centre and the Institute of English Studies. He gave a lecture entitled “The Irish Contribution to English Literature.” Int he Library of the Faculty of Humanities and Sciences he opened an exhibition about the work of W. B. Yeats, in honour of the approaching 150th anniversary of the poet’s birth.
June-Sept. Advertizing a translation competition of W. B. Yeats’s works, in honour of the approaching 150th anniversary of the poet’s birth.
