Ireland and the New Journalism ed. by Karen Steele and Michael de Nie (review)

Ireland and the New Journalism, edited by Karen Steele and Michael de Nie, is an important contribution to both periodical studies and Irish studies. Within Irish studies, periodicals have often been treated as subservient to the historical research of political issues, and the value of periodicals as a research interest has been diminished. By bringing Irish studies and New Journalism together, this collection challenges preconceived notions of Irish literary and cultural production, as well as Ireland’s relationship with the wider world between the famine of 1845–48 and the 1920s. By narrowing the focus of this collection to the theme of New Journalism, the editors have succeeded in providing a manageable research topic. The contributors have then expanded the research field to illustrate the vast breadth of both Irish periodical culture and the effects of the New Journalism on Irish culture. The essays are edited to complement each other very successfully, building upon one another throughout the collection. The interdisciplinary approach of the contributors provides a fresh perspective on both Ireland and the New Journalism.

The opening chapter by Christopher Morash radically re-examines the relationship between Ireland and the periodical press in the post-famine period, presenting Ireland not as an impoverished marginalized colony but as a nation at the centre of a technological and cultural revolution. Through the biographical accounts of nineteenth-century journalist Andrew Dunlop, Morash is able to provide evidence of New Journalism flourishing in an increasingly globalized Ireland. Similarly, Michael de Nie addresses themes of globalization by comparing Stead’s reactions to Britain’s intervention in Egypt with his attitudes towards the Irish Land War. Felix M. Larkin examines the early journalistic career of William O’Brien at the Freeman’s Journal between 1877 and 1890. He provides compelling evidence to suggest that O’Brien developed his investigative journalism and personal writing style, hallmarks of the New Journalism, independent of Stead’s work. Karen Steele persuasively illustrates the ways in which Stead and the New Journalism influenced both the Irish Independent and the Irish Worker, two papers representing opposing ideological positions that were brought into direct conflict during the lockout of 1913.

Elizabeth Tilley examines the illustrated publication Pat, a contemporary of Punch. She overcomes the lack of a central editorial intelligence in Pat by supplementing the cartoons with information gleaned from contemporary papers. In this way, she creates an intertextual critique of Irish periodicals while providing further evidence of a deeply, self-consciously interconnected Irish press network. Similarly, Úna Ní Bhroiméil examines illustrated depictions of John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, in Patrick Ford’s Irish World. This American newspaper was a key link between Ireland and the diaspora which provided support for the Home Rule movement. By investigating the changing depiction of Redmond between 1912 and 1918 resulting from his support of the British war effort, we can see a shift in attitude within the moderate Irish World from Home Rule towards more extreme alternatives. Kevin Rafter examines the relationship between Stead and E. J. Dillon, an Irish-born journalist who came to live in Russia. Despite their physical separation, the two journalists became fast friends and regularly corresponded with one another. Their relationship, correspondence, and the controversy that arose from their attempts to translate Tolstoy’s The Kreutzer Sonata into English provide new insight into the transnational nature of the New Journalism.

The final three chapters of the book examine the New Journalism as a formative influence on Irish modernism. Margot Gayle Backus explores the ways in which Joyce used the Maiden Tribute as a recurring theme in both Dubliners and Ulysses to explore gender and power roles in contemporary society. Kurt Bullock investigates how Thomas MacDonagh politicized the Irish Review after the journal was purchased by fellow revolutionary Joseph Plunkett. Bullock presents MacDonagh’s editorial voice as an attempt to raise readers’ consciousness about the cause of radical nationalism; his approach stood in...