Randall has already written about the importance of Easter Rising members in contemporary Dublin, and I am going to leapfrog off of his idea.  While walking around Dublin yesterday and interacting with people, what really struck me was how much literature, especially Joyce and Yeats, means to Dubliners and how intrinsic it is in Irish identity.  The Dubliners walking tour was really interesting and enjoyable, despite the rain.  And perhaps it gave me a skewed view of how much the average person likes Joyce, but I don’t think so.  I thought it was really interesting how many of the members of our tour were Irish.  I expected that it would mostly be a tourist attraction, but it wasn’t.  Later we went to O’Connell street where we saw the James Joyce statue.  This showed that in Ireland, Joyce is not a niche enjoyment for one small group on a walker tour but that his writing is important to the general public and the city.  Finally, last night while we were out, it was very refreshing to talk to locals and see how interested they were in literature.  At home, I often have the same discussion about my academic program.

Me: I’m getting my PhD

Other: Oh wow!  That’s great! What are you getting it in?

Me: English Literature! I’m really excited.

Other: [eyes glaze over] Oh. [deflated.] What to plan to do with that?

There is very little literary culture in contemporary America.  Ask an American who the literary icon of the nation is, and what answer will you receive?  Mark Twain, maybe?  Whatever i
t is, one is not likely to get a lot of enthusiasm.  Here, in contrast, when I tell someone that I am studying literature they respond, “Oh! Great! Joyce! Yeats!”  In the short time we have been here, I have already had more conversations about national literature that I do in a month at home.  To me, this speaks to the importance of these writers and their influence on the life of the average Irishperson.  We have talked about how the Easter Rising was the “poets’ rebellion,” but it hadn’t really hit home.  Seeing how important the literature is to the culture here shows me that
here it was a significant source for change – something that literature should often strive to do.