Eamon Maher Ordre des livres

French writers and intellectuals were to the forefront when it came to theorizing the concepts of modernity and postmodernity, and thus such a theme was considered appropriate for this, the second volume in the Studies in Franco-Irish Relations series. The postmodern Irish socio-cultural paradigm is interrogated through the lens of French thought. What is equally interesting is that Irish contexts can also help shed light on the French situation as the processes of secularisation and multicultural diversity, part of the French experience since the 1950s, begin to take root in a society that has become one of the most globalised in the Western world. The interchange and dialogue between the two cultures throws up a panoply of insights that have the capacity to be enriching for both societies.

Reinventing Ireland Through a French Prism explores concepts of Irish history, literature, culture and social development by subjecting them to a French perspective. Instead of using the monofocal lens that examines the effects of colonisation and postcolonialisation and Ireland’s problematic relationship with Britain, this book analyses Ireland in the context of the role the country has played in the broader European context, with particular reference to France. The book contains contributions in English and French. Comme le dit Michel Déon dans sa Préface : « Ces deux pays, l’Irlande avec sa diaspora si puissante, la France avec l’étendue des territoires restés francophones, représentent dans le monde actuel deux havres de paix qui ne souffrent d’aucun malentendu historique et ne peuvent que s’enrichir en se parlant, en s’écrivant en s’écoutant. »