Hereseas: Water in English and Irish Modernism

Abstract

This chapter argues for a spatial understanding of Irish modernity and modernism that stresses the island’s geographical, historical, and symbolic connection to the sea. Surrounded by sea and laced with waterways, Ireland has a long history of archipelagic and continental maritime connectivity. In the Irish imaginary, the sea has figured as both a threat and a lure, bringing imperialist invaders to the island but also fostering economic and cultural commerce with a wider world. At times Irish nationalism has adopted a defensive posture towards the sea by insisting on an insular conception of national identity that defies the multicultural influences of the sea. Irish modernism registers the island as both enmeshed in and estranged from water routes, both alienated from and participating in global circulation.