Irish English. Language, history and society

The book investigates the origins, development and key features of Irish English, a variety of English spoken and used in Ireland. The aim of the book is to offer a critical reading of the multiple effects of the protracted English colonization on Irish society, and to illustrate the importance of contact and retention in explaining features of Irish English. The main issues at stake are the inclusion of Ireland in the critical framework of postcolonial studies and the analysis of Irish English as one of the first varieties of world Englishes. Throughout the book, different types of texts in the Hallidayan tradition of units of meaning, appear as Insets, and exemplify how issues relating to representation and language go hand in hand and cannot be separated when discussing Irish English. The Insets include different genres and text types (letters, poems, pamphlets, portraits etc.) and may either be read side by side while reading the volume or, separately, as exempla. They also illustrate how Ireland can be considered, linguistically and culturally, as a colonial laboratory where the English applied, and experimented with, colonial strategies which contributed to the creation of the British Empire.