In the U.S., a course on “Irish litature” would not be taught in Irish Gaelic. Likewise, a course on “English literature” would not be anything in English, but would be literature from the England/Scottland/Ireland. However, an “Enlish course” would be about literature in English. Etc., etc. In short, the word is used oddly here, in my opinion. Make sense?
drhess, I think you’re wrong about that. An English department at an American university would teach courses about English literature in any country where English is spoken. A lower-level course about English literature in such a department could include literature in English from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. A higher-level course in the department might be called “American Literature,” “British Literature,” etc. and thus be just about the literature of that country. A course in the English department of an American university about just the literature of the British Isles (or just about the literature of Great Britain) would be called “British Literature,” not “English Literature,” if it wanted to specify what it was about.
My ex-wife is on that list.
OK, relevance of that: she teaches Old Icelandic and Old Norse literature. At Oxford, medieval languages related to English are considered part of the English Literature faculty.
Now I’m off to try to forget that part of my life. Guess I’ll head over to the Gin thread in Cafe Society.
OK, I’ll bite.
The English department refers to english as a language not the country of England. Irish people don’t speak “Irish”, Americans don’t speak “American”, they speak (and write) english, although they should probably offer courses in both.
Think of it this way, the History department covers all history, including, for example, a course/class in Irish history.
I don’t think most of what you’re saying contradicts what I said, but other parts answer my question. Note that the original question wasn’t about US schools.
Except that some Irish people do indeed speak Irish although I think everyone now who can speak Irish can also speak English.
It’s still possible to find people for whom English is very much a second language, and who benefit from a translator for more than a basic conversation, but yes, they’re dying out.
OK, but if you want to nitpick they speak Irish Gaelic or Gaeltacht which would still not be a course in an English Department.
To nitpick a nitpick, Gaeltacht is not another name for Irish Gaelic. The Gaeltacht is the region of Ireland where the language is spoken.
Oops, I knew that, I meant Gaeilge!
But if you really want to nitpick “The Gaeltacht, or An Ghaeltacht, refers to any of the districts where the government recognizes that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home.”
Furthermore, they are not adjacent to each other forming a single region but spread throughout western Ireland.
These regions are known collectively as Gaeltachts, or in Irish Gaeltachtaí.
Still … not included in any English departments.
To nitpick even further its Irish, not Irish Gaelic, not Gaelic. Just Irish. If you were pronouncing the language “Irish” in Irish, it would be “Gaeilge” but nobody in Ireland would ever refer to the language itself as Gaelic.
Not true…
“In English
The language is usually referred to in English as Irish, sometimes as Gaelic or Irish Gaelic. The term Irish Gaelic is often used when English speakers discuss the relationship among the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx). Scottish Gaelic is often referred to in English as simply Gaelic. The archaic term Erse (from Erische), originally a Scots form of the word Irish applied in English-speaking Scotland (by Lowlanders) to all of the Goidelic languages, is no longer used for any Goidelic language, and in most current contexts is considered derogatory.”
Therefore, in the context of this discussion, which is in English, it may be called Irish Gaelic.
The language is refered to as Irish, Gaelic, Gaeilge, Irish Gaelic etc. It is definitely refered to by a significant chunk of the populace as Irish so when you say they don’t speak Irish in Ireland this is incorrect. Your nitpick is invalid.
Alot of Gaeilgoirí in Donegal do indeed use the term ‘Gaelic’ for the language they speak.
Ok, OK, some do speak Irish, now back to the OP, as asked
Yes, you would, but it would contain Irish Literature studied, discussed, and written in English, therefore, part of the English department.
For example,
http://prospectus.ulster.ac.uk/course/?id=6792
Personally, I think the OP was trying to be funny along the lines of “Do Chinese people just call it food?”
Here in Canada, it is possible to study Canadian literature, which could contain French Canadian literature in the Faculty of English.
In Canadian universities, when one studies French Canadian literature in a course in the English department, I presume that the course is taught in English and the literature being read is in English translation. Is that correct? I further presume that if one wishes to study French Canadian literature in the original French, one takes a course in the French department, where the course is taught in French. Is that correct?
Exactly, my point … except Canada is bilingual, so at a predominately French university, or if there is a sufficient demand at another, the administration may decide to offer the same course with instruction in French. Now, since the curriculum and syllabus have already been set by the English department, obstensibly you could take an English course in French in the Faculty of English at a French University.
Yes, but isn’t that redundant?
Not necessarily. I can imagine that at an American university a French department might decide to offer a course on French literature for non-French speakers. They would teach the course in English and have the students read the literature in English translation. I don’t know if any American universities have such courses, but it’s certainly possible.
Well, I’ve checked the University of Ottawa’s – Canada’s main bilingual university – website, and they have both a Department of English and a Department of French. The Department of English offers courses on Canadian literature, with focus on Canadian literature in English but also studying some French-language works in English translation. (Scroll for example to page 5 of the list of courses (warning: PDF), to ENG 2400: Introduction to Canadian Literature. The Department of French also offers courses on Canadian literature, and it appears to focus on Canadian literature in French (see for example FRA 3784: La Littérature canadienne des origines à 1895).
The University of Ottawa, being bilingual, may not be all that representative of Canadian universities. However, the University of Montreal, a French-language university, appears to have a Department of English Studies offering some courses on English Canadian literature, taught in English. The University of Toronto, an English-language university, has a Department of French Studies, and they appear to teach courses on French Canadian literature; it’s not obvious if these courses are in French or English but given that the French as a second language courses are given as prerequisites, it’s probable that they are taught in French.
The University of Montreal and University of Toronto are among Canada’s largest and most respected universities. Maybe it wouldn’t be the same with smaller universities, or universities in Western Canada (which are farther from Quebec).